A Helldivers 2 community manager had "almost" lost their job after reportedly encouraging players to take part in the review bombing of the game during the PlayStation Network controversy.
Community manager Spitz disclosed nearly getting themselves fired after finding out that favoring the rioting community "isn't a popular decision with the publisher." PC Gamer first reported the statement.
Spitz was among the Helldivers 2's community managers who pushed for players to leave negative reviews and request refunds for the game to make "their displeasure known" to Sony.
The message was in response to the earlier fan outrage against game developer Arrowhead and publisher PlayStation for requiring players to link their accounts to the region-locked PlayStation Network.
According to Spitz, the community protest would help the developers' position in reaching out to Sony and PlayStation to overturn the account-linking requirement.
PlayStation later walked back on their initial decision, stating that the planned May 30 PSN requirement "will not be moving forward" anymore.
Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 6, 2024
We’re still…
Although most announcements were made only on Arrowhead's Discord server, many of the statements made by the community managers were eventually leaked to other social platforms.
Helldivers 2 Slowly Recovers from Negative Reviews
Following PlayStation's decision to cancel the PSN account requirement, Helldivers 2 is slowly regaining all the lost positive reviews on its Steam page as the community heads back to the game.
As of writing, recent and overall reviews are at "Mixed," a massive improvement from the "Overwhelmingly Negative" reviews the game has earned in the span of a few days.
Earlier reports have indicated that over 100,000 users have left negative reviews on the game following the initial announcement.
Helldivers 2 Controversy Ignites Feud Between PC, Console Players
With community managers taking sides in the conflict, the Helldivers 2 community also came split into two between PC and console players.
Since the issue was mainly on Steam, the majority of the gamers who accessed the game on PlayStation had no problem as they already had their PSN accounts.
On the other hand, many players from non-PSN-supported countries decried the potential access loss to their accounts once the account linking requirements have started.
Only 69 countries have legal access to the PSN network, a contrast to PlayStation's decision to sell the game globally.
The ensuing debates between the two sides have resulted in many people, even Arrowhead community managers, getting harassed on X (formerly Twitter).
Spitz, along with other Discord staffers, has since private their X accounts amid the backlash and "cancelation" campaigns.
