Sony learned a valuable lesson about PC

This here is part of why so many users cherish Steam specifically -- it's a platform where your opinion can be seen, right there on the page where the game is sold.

The arrogance of ‘just make an account or get lost loser’ is very angering. They know they have a good product but not only do they want your money, they want your information as well. I won’t support practices that require that, even if it means I miss out on some cool games. I’ve already signed/created enough of these accounts, no more.

Very nice, it's about time companies start learning again that they're supposed to appeal to their customers in order to convince them to trade their money for products. That Californian brain rot also doesn't seem to help Sony much either.

W for the master race! Join us PS citizens.

Ghost of Tsushima legends mode will require the login but single player won’t. Just fyi

Steam is getting the treatment that Netfkix got from studios. Lame.

I disagree i would not get a psn account to play, i almost quit because of this

I left SONY entirely back in 2019/2020 during the Anthem debacle. Sony refused to refund my money for a game that was broken from the start. I was a lifetime Sony guy from 12 I had a PS1 all the way to PS4. I gave them thousands upon thousands of dollars over the years, and left a $2000 library behind when I switched to steam. BEST Gaming decision I ever made! I will never go back to that company.

only sony thought they could make more money by removing the ability to buy their game from half the planet

great video, but you got some desaturation going on in the talking head parts of the video, the colors look washed out.

Sony is still learning valuable lessons about the PC market that Microsoft and Epic Games had to be taught years ago - there's a very good reason PC gamers still don't have to pay a subscription fee to play online.

Change those reviews bros

what did eternalswede say prior? i bet that user was saying im going to leave and refund.. and spitz was referencing that comment too

We should really be concerned that they will not do anything on pc again

The collaboration between publisher and developer is irrelevant.

Requiring a PSN login is not, by itself, bad. A huge chunk of my steam library asks for third-party logins. But those games required the login FROM THE BEGINNING. What makes this so egregious is that a ton of people accepted what they thought were acceptable terms (no PSN login) and then got told later that they either had to link to PSN or lose access to a game they bought. If Sony had stood firm and required PSN account linking from the get-go, this is not an issue. The stupid move was waiving the requirement because they didn't have enough server capacity, thinking that they could reimpose the requirement later.

Damn even my gaming channels are tuned into the rap beef hahaha. Very cool vid as usual man 💪🏾

😂😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉🎉

Does this mean they want us to pay the monthly PSN to play the game too

Hey guys, reviews are already on their way back up!

Even though we got the W, still disgusting it took almost 300k negative reviews instead of realizing how countries that can’t play a game their paid for is bad

I love your stuff, man.
I like the way you express and present news/info.
I hope you keep up with the SteamDeck, but also, other topics too.

I would not hate on Sony for this. The sign on for PSN is so that there can be cross play and data analysis which they should 100% entitled to. Not only that, if we hope to see more Playstation games coming to PC, we should be all for having PSN logins. Too bad if you can't get one or don't want one.

Spitz was a gentleman. He understood the problem and right away corrected himself. There were other CM that was a total douchebag about it and was cheering because they would be able to ban people that they considered toxic in game.

It's so over for Drake; even the white guys in Zelda tees and cargo shorts know just how bad it is

I even saw a Japanese hip hop artist make his own diss against Drake; the international community knows, too

A few minor mistakes in your reporting.

Arrowhead disabled the PSN linking initially because of server demands. Also, the PSN linking window at first launch provided a "skip" button without have any indication that it is temporary and will be required in the future. The CEO of Arrowhead admitted that this was an oversight on him.

And one bit that I didn't catch (maybe I missed it) was that the CEO of Arrorhead also admitted that Sony had Arrowhead force PSN linking 6 months before release, so Arrowhead knew that PSN was going to be forced, and yet Sony still sold the game in countries that can not have PSN accounts. It's not just that Sony sold it, but it's that willfully sold it knowing full well those customers can't play it.

One other thing that came out, some countries (Ukraine specifically, but maybe others) do not give you the ability to make a PSN account on anything other than the PS4 or PS5. So, for the players in Ukraine were told that in order to keep playing HD2 they would need to buy a PS4/5 to create a PSN account.

Otherwise, good run down. Kudos.

Sony: actually you need a psn to play helldivers 2 moving forward

Helldiver community: points gun you have been reported to the ministry of truth for your treasonous actions

Gabe wins yet again.

look at the store page yourself "Requires 3rd-Party Account: PlayStation Network (Supports Linking to Steam Account)" is STILL there. Helldivers are being handed a cup of super diluted liber-tea so they can get their reviews hyped for their shareholder meeting, wake up, the fight is not over

This isn't over. Do not relent or forget what happened because this is still Sony. Until everyone can dive again nothing has changed. Until its confirmed that countries that were locked out of purchasing the game can again it's not over. All Sony has done is said things on social media. Talk is cheap, action speak louder. My review will stay negative because of the corporate meeting this may.

I think Sony’s days on Steam are now numbered, and they’ll be looking at fast-tracking a release of their own storefront, particularly now that Valve are actively being proactive with refunding players not happy with shady business practices.

However, like with most the other non-Steam storefronts, it’ll probably fail and Sony will come crawling back a few years down the line, particularly with console markets struggling too.

Burn goodwill in under 2 days lmao

LMAO what an opening line! Nice.

It's crazy seeing all of the sonyfanbois defending sony on this

Gonna see the reviews skyrocket back up to overwhelming positive after the change

What's different about Helldiver's 2 account linking when companies like EA, Ubisoft, and 2K do the same thing even for single player games? I'm not defending Sony, I just don't understand why this outcry never happened for similar games by different devs.

Where Sony really got this wrong was changing the rules after the game has been sold on the market, having a mandatory sign in before anyone brought the game, that would have been different, gamers would have been informed before they bought the game, but changing the rules months after the game was released is bad form.

I don't have a problem with PSN Network, but it should be optional, that offers perks like save transfer from and too PC and PS5, trying to force a mandatory sign-in was always going to get a backlash, especially when it offers little to no value to gamers.

Sony shot themselves in the foot here and created some bad PR on a game that was selling well on PC and PS5.

This is also what's great about the PC compared to consoles, it's far easier for gamers to get their voice heard, on consoles, Sony controls everything from top to bottom on its ecosystem, on the PC, it's a far more open platform, especially on Steam where you have reviewed a game, complaint on the forum and so on, basically, if this were to happen on the PS5, it would be much easier for Sony to bury it and force it onto gamers regardless for them not wanting it and Sony needs to understand that the PC audience is different from the PS audience.

Sony won't thrive without Steam, if they believe that they're delusionals. In order to thrive in PC they need to straighten up. This kind kf shenanigans don't work with PC gamers, we're not nearly as undisciplined and as mentally weak as ponies and Nintendroids. We'll simply fk them up like we did in the past

All this video did it show is it shows what company trying something so ridiculousness. But on the other hand you got to remember Microsoft is still trying to buy Value and make PC player submit to Game Pass

Regardless of whether or not PSN becomes required for PC users to play the game, All PS5 users outside the PSN-available countries will technically still have no legal means of playing the game.

Forget the Consoles vs PC debate or the whole PSN security BS, if you're not in a country with PSN available, PC was literally the only valid choice you had.

Then there are the idiots who call the disgruntled players stupid, arguing that the requirement had been disclaimed and that PSN was always going to be required since the beginning if not for "server issues". If that's the case then Sony willingly sold this game (as a full game at full price) to countries that, in their ideal scenario (PSN being strictly required on PC), would never be able to legitimately play the game in the first place.

I wish the community would do the same for Ubisoft and EA, I don't buy their games anymore because of their crappy third-party launcher that makes it impossible to play them offline.

For all that they should just put ps5 on steam deck and Xbox as well since now we have to sign on and link 🔗 the account to steam but I ain’t never bought that game and I never will

FYI Puerto Rico is part of the United States Of America!🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

I'm sorry but Sony has learned nothing, Sony will try to enforce a PSN sign in with another PC game, Just because Sony waived the PSN sign in requirement for Helldivers 2 doesn't mean they won't try the same trick with another game, it's not a question of 'if' but 'when'.

Die Sony

Steam wouldn't give me a refund they said I'd had it more than 2 weeks. A few hours later the news dropped that Sony was waving the white flag.

I honestly can't understand why Sony thought this was a good idea at all

Just enjoy the massive success of the game and leave it alone

Now we need to combat them on the price of all games

Guam and Puerto Rico are not countries. They are territories of the United States!

Sony learned nothing.