Good news for Helldivers 2 fans! Sony retracts PSN link requirement. Read full statement

Sony's May 6 update reverses the previous mandatory requirment to link PSN accounts for players to access Helldivers 2 on Steam.

After massively review bombing the Arrowhead Game Studio and Sony project, Helldivers fans have finally won traction. On May 6 (IST), the squad-based shooter game's publisher, Sony Interactive Entertainment, released a retraction statement of their previous claims about making it mandatory for players to link their Steam and PlayStation Network accounts. The previously set deadline for this was May 6, which locked out gamers in over 170 countries.

An extract from Steam's official description of the game reads, "HELLDIVERS™ 2 is a 3rd person squad-based shooter that sees the elite forces of the Helldivers battling to win an intergalactic struggle to rid the galaxy of the rising alien threats."(Steam)

Fans bombed the platform with hundreds of thousands of negative reviews, driving Sony to the corner to address the elephant in the room.

Sony reverses PSN account requirement for Helldivers 2

Breaking silence on the unpopular policy, PlayStation wrote on its official X/Twitter account in the May 6 update: “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.”

The officials continued emphasising that they're “still learning what is best for PC players.” Fans' “invaluable” feedback helped push the landmark reversal as Sony promised to deliver updates on its future plans soon.

With the distasteful policy now shelved, Sony won't push Helldivers 2 players on Steam to link a PSN account to move forward with the gaming experience. This was especially a hindrance for those international gamers whose countries have no access to PSN.

The previously passed harsh mandate resulted in the game being delisted in around 177 regions, barring players from the game despite its initially initiated sales terms.

Helldivers 2 Reviews, as recorded on SteamDB. (Source: https://steamdb.info/app/553850/charts/#reviews)(SteamDB)

On Sunday, Arrowhead CEO and Helldivers 2 Creative Director Johan Pilestedt updated fans on social media that their team was “talking solutions with PlayStation, especially for non-PSN countries.” While he assured the community that their “voice has been heard,” he also laid down that he didn't have the final say. Arrowhead does “not handle selling the game.”

Meanwhile, the gaming community leaders urged players to specifically push for negative reviews for the game so that Sony would take notice. As seen in the May 6 update, their organised campaign succeeded. SteamDB's May 6 readings showed that 52.7% of positive reviews (400,580) had finally surpassed the (359,480) 47.3% of negative reviews (at the time of writing). In contrast, the previous stats on May 5 reflected 52.1% of negative reviews outweighing the positive traffic.