HELLDIVERS 2 will soon actually require a PlayStation Network account

so if you happen to live in any of those countries you are now blocked from playing the game you bought.

I just want to say this is not true at all, as someone from an African country that's not South Africa, this is not news at all, it's always been that for any of these global services, you just pick US/UK/EU, or whatever region where you have access to that region's currency so you can buy stuff from the service etc, since no one will support your local currency, obviously, that's just the status quo here. Steam itself until very recently (November last year) didn't officially support MENA countries either. Yeah yeah lying about your region probably breaks TOS or whatever, that's never been forced in any service that I know of for us here. Just because Sony or whoever doesn't "officially" support our regions, doesn't mean there are no PS5s here or no userbase or that we're "blocked" from playing.

This is just to give everyone an idea of how things go here.


Last edited by Pyrate on 3 May 2024 at 10:57 pm UTC

Just when I was considering hopping on that bandwagon. I think I'll give it more thought if it requires yet another account.

And Sony doesn't exactly have a stellar security record, they keep getting hacked :|

It's always been clear that a PSN account was required. The only thing changing now is that they're enforcing it. I don't even think you need to "sign up" for a PSN account - you just link straight through via Steam.

The people complaining about this (around 20 thousand review bombs so far) are the kind of people who probably complained about nGuard. And they'll keep playing, despite the negative review, no doubt.

This is a mountain out of a molehill. Entirely normal internet behaviour, of course.

so if you happen to live in any of those countries you are now blocked from playing the game you bought.

I just want to say this is not true at all, as someone from an African country that's not South Africa, this is not news at all, it's always been that for any of these global services, you just pick US/UK/EU, or whatever region where you have access to that region's currency so you can buy stuff from the service etc, since no one will support your local currency, obviously, that's just the status quo here. Steam itself until very recently (November last year) didn't officially support MENA countries either. Yeah yeah lying about your region probably breaks TOS or whatever, that's never been forced in any service that I know of for us here. Just because Sony or whoever doesn't "officially" support our regions, doesn't mean there are no PS5s here or no userbase or that we're "blocked" from playing.

This is just to give everyone an idea of how things go here.

Ok, well to be fair then the possibility to loose your account over lying about your actual locations sounds similar to "oh you bought this game, surprise we now require you to have PSN account or it will stop working" which is something I didn't think would happen before this either.

I don't even think you need to "sign up" for a PSN account - you just link straight through via Steam.

You do - they provide a link for it in the announcement, and talk up how it's free.

EDIT: Ahh, now I see the problem. Until May 3rd, Sony's FAQ said that PSN account use for PC releases is optional.


Last edited by Pengling on 4 May 2024 at 11:18 pm UTC

This is a non-issue to me and I've got zero sympathy to almost anyone pitching a bitch about it. You're a damn fool if you thought a fucking PlayStation game on PC wasn't gonna require a PSN account at some point (especially an online only game). The only people that I've got any form of sympathy for are folks that are in countries that don't have official PSN service. Though as someone with 5 (count 'em 5) PSN accounts from various regions. It's not that hard to make one that's most relevant to you if your country doesn't have its own PSN service. PSN accounts are free too. So WTFever, and just get on with playing and having fun.

Don't give me that fear mongering about "next is gonna be an additional launcher too" bullshit either. You're playing a "live service" game. You've got no room to bitch cause of that fact alone.

Sorry if this comes off as harsh, but there's way more pressing issues in gaming than crying about something like this. Like Valve still not actually fixing the Steam client like they should be doing.

The only people that I've got any form of sympathy for are folks that are in countries that don't have official PSN service. Though as someone with 5 (count 'em 5) PSN accounts from various regions. It's not that hard to make one that's most relevant to you if your country doesn't have its own PSN service. PSN accounts are free too. So WTFever, and just get on with playing and having fun.

What about the countries where you can't create an account without owning a PlayStation 5, though...?

The only people that I've got any form of sympathy for are folks that are in countries that don't have official PSN service. Though as someone with 5 (count 'em 5) PSN accounts from various regions. It's not that hard to make one that's most relevant to you if your country doesn't have its own PSN service. PSN accounts are free too. So WTFever, and just get on with playing and having fun.

What about the countries where you can't create an account without owning a PlayStation 5, though...?

Then just do it on their website with the country most relevant then? Like one that speaks the same language, or go with a Japanese, UK, Singapore (Hong Kong for Nintendo), or US account? All of which are easy to get currency card codes for online.

All you need to do is just pick a random address anyways. My Japanese address according to my Japanese PSN, Nintendo, and XBL accounts is the Japanese Communist Party headquarters in Tokyo. While my address for my Singapore (Asian English) PSN and XBL accounts is the Cuban Embassy there, and the Cuban Consulate in Hong Kong is for my Hong Kong Nintendo account. Then my UK PSN, Nintendo, and XBL accounts all use Sega's UK address.

If it's such a problem for someone having to have a PSN account to play a "live service" online only game, then just treat it like a burner account, and only have it for shit like this when you need it.

Then just do it on their website with the country most relevant then? Like one that speaks the same language, or go with a Japanese, UK, Singapore (Hong Kong for Nintendo), or US account? All of which are easy to get currency card codes for online.

All you need to do is just pick a random address anyways. My Japanese address according to my Japanese PSN, Nintendo, and XBL accounts is the Japanese Communist Party headquarters in Tokyo. While my address for my Singapore (Asian English) PSN and XBL accounts is the Cuban Embassy there, and the Cuban Consulate in Hong Kong is for my Hong Kong Nintendo account. Then my UK PSN, Nintendo, and XBL accounts all use Sega's UK address.

If it's such a problem for someone having to have a PSN account to play a "live service" online only game, then just treat it like a burner account, and only have it for shit like this when you need it.

Oh, I don't need it, it's not the sort of game I'd ever play - I'm just a curious observer.

What you suggest is against Sony's TOS, though, as I understand it.

I mean have you seen the review bombing on steam? It’s not a good look for them. Maybe they’ll change their minds ( maybe I’m being overly hopeful though )

I mean have you seen the review bombing on steam? It’s not a good look for them. Maybe they’ll change their minds ( maybe I’m being overly hopeful though )

One of their community-managers has stated that it's unrealistic to expect people to sign up for additional accounts, and is encouraging negative reviews and refund-requests. Apparently that gives them more power to attempt to get Sony to rewind their TOS to its state prior to May 3rd, where the PSN thing was stated by Sony to be optional for PlayStation PC games.

I bet they’re gonna add it to Zero Dawn and past games too, which should totally be illegal!
It should be illegal for companies to release a game without a launcher and account requirement but then patching it in years later.

I agree that retrofitting external dependencies should be illegal. But not that easy with these games. They're on GOG as well, where they would not be allowed to require this and at least on Steam you can always download an earlier build.

Then just do it on their website with the country most relevant then? Like one that speaks the same language, or go with a Japanese, UK, Singapore (Hong Kong for Nintendo), or US account? All of which are easy to get currency card codes for online.

All you need to do is just pick a random address anyways. My Japanese address according to my Japanese PSN, Nintendo, and XBL accounts is the Japanese Communist Party headquarters in Tokyo. While my address for my Singapore (Asian English) PSN and XBL accounts is the Cuban Embassy there, and the Cuban Consulate in Hong Kong is for my Hong Kong Nintendo account. Then my UK PSN, Nintendo, and XBL accounts all use Sega's UK address.

If it's such a problem for someone having to have a PSN account to play a "live service" online only game, then just treat it like a burner account, and only have it for shit like this when you need it.

Oh, I don't need it, it's not the sort of game I'd ever play - I'm just a curious observer.

What you suggest is against Sony's TOS, though, as I understand it.

There's no way they're gonna ban out of region accounts. You'd have to be doing something really stupid for it to happen. First, it's hard to prove that you're not who you claim, and second, they're not gonna wanna miss out on the money from importers. I've bought a decent amount of stuff off of the different stores that I couldn't get here.

You also get developers/publishers like Bandai Namco effectively supporting it for western fans with games like Super Robot Wars or even Gundam. Super Robot Wars 30 actually getting a western release in any form (on Steam) was a shock. The past several releases that have had English versions were region-free Asian English releases, with them suggesting western fans import due to licensing hell. Getting currency codes for the DLC is thankfully easy.

Also, sorry if I came off as rude. I'd never wanna be rude to you. I just can't stand entitled crybabies that exist in PC gaming, and this whole "ordeal" is just a great example of that to me.


Last edited by Linux_Rocks on 5 May 2024 at 4:15 pm UTC

Think I said before, but the PSN account requirement was clearly marked on the site page. Yes, they should have enforced it from day one, but it's been there since March, when I bought the game.

Also, sorry if I came off as rude. I'd never wanna be rude to you. I just can't stand entitled crybabies that exist in PC gaming, and this whole "ordeal" is just a great example of that to me.

Hey, no worries! You only came across as having strong feelings on the matter, rather than rude, so it's all good. Besides, we're all grown-ups here, differing opinions exist, which is how it should be, and I'm cool with that, which is also how it should be. !Bomberman victory-pose

I totally get where you're coming from - I'm just seeing it from a different angle, myself. There's a really interesting breakdown by a lawyer, here - it's all worth reading as it's not too long, but "7. Ratification - When Complacency Bites You" is a particularly interesting segment.

Think I said before, but the PSN account requirement was clearly marked on the site page. Yes, they should have enforced it from day one, but it's been there since March, when I bought the game.

!Sony FAQ
Source

As I understand it, it's this that people are peeved about*. Supposedly the Helldivers 2 page on Sony's website and the EULA also both suggested/stated that linking a PSN account to your Steam account was optional, per the original FAQ, though I can't confirm that as it's not a game I'd play and thus I'm not in a position to have seen either of those before they were changed.

*Well, this and the fact the game was knowingly sold in almost 200 countries that can't sign up for PSN accounts, plus some where you're required to purchase the console and make the account on there first.

You're playing a "live service" game. You've got no room to bitch cause of that fact alone.

Even if your language is harsh, I 100% agree with this, wherever the game comes from, if you play a live service game and they decide to fuck you in the ass on a whim, you shouldn't really be surprised, I'd even go and say you deserve it, it's almost written in the rules at this point with how often this happens.

I do like that the consooomers finally came together for something to stand up for, even if we both think it's comically exaggerated.


Last edited by Pyrate on 6 May 2024 at 6:37 am UTC

Seems like Sony has heard the concerns!

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/1787331667616829929

Seems like Sony has heard the concerns!

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/1787331667616829929

Did you mean:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/05/sony-gives-up-on-forcing-playstation-network-for-helldivers-2/

You're playing a "live service" game. You've got no room to bitch cause of that fact alone.

Even if your language is harsh, I 100% agree with this, wherever the game comes from, if you play a live service game and they decide to fuck you in the ass on a whim, you shouldn't really be surprised, I'd even go and say you deserve it, it's almost written in the rules at this point with how often this happens.

I do like that the consooomers finally came together for something to stand up for, even if we both think it's comically exaggerated.

that is a very depressing way to live... always expecting to get screwed over at all times... it shouldn't have to be that way.