Sony Now Requiring ‘Helldivers 2’ PC Players To Link Steam And PSN Accounts In Order To Access Game: “This Is Our Main Way To Protect Players From Griefing And Abuse”
In a frustrating and unnecessary move that serves only to hurt the reputation of the fan-favorite Democracy Spreading simulator, Helldivers 2 publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that following the fixing of apparent “technical issues”, PC players will now be required to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account in order to play the game.
This soon-to-be-implemented change to Helldivers 2‘s terms of service was first revealed to the public via a post made by SIE to the game’s official Steam and Twitter pages on May 2nd.
“Attention Helldivers,” wrote Sony. “Due to technical issues at the launch of HELLDIVERS™ 2, we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional. That grace period will now expire.”
In defense of this move, the publisher asserted, “Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games.”
“This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behaviour,” they added. “It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal.”
Drawing their message to a close, SIE then explained to players that rather than rolling out this change immediately, they would be doing so gradually over the course of the next four weeks.
“As of May 6th, all new HELLDIVERS 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account,” said SIE. “Current players on Steam will start to see the mandatory login from May 30th and will be required to have linked a Steam and PlayStation Network account by June 4th.”
“We understand that while this may be an inconvenience to some of you, this step will help us to continue to build a community that you are all proud to be a part of,” the publisher ultimately concluded. “Many thanks for your continued support of HELLDIVERS 2!”
While some may question why this development would draw the ire of PC-based Helldivers – after all, a PlayStation Network account is completely free to create – it should be noted that the issue with SIE’s new requirements is not one of cost, but one of service.
Simply put, the more hoops a company requires a customer to jump through in order to enjoy their product, the less likely said customer is to do so.
As such, this introduction of mandatory account linking serves to benefit not the player, for whom convenience is the name of the game, nor Arrhowhead Games, who will likely see a small reputational hit due to this move, but only Sony, whose PSN ecosystem will likely see a boost in both engagement and financial revenue thanks to the forthcoming influx of new users.
In adding insult to injury, it should be noted that despite mandating players connect their Steam and PSN accounts, as of writing, Arrowhead Games has yet to announce any plans to introduce cross-account progression into the title.
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