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PayPalSony have announced that their PC game releases will no longer force a PlayStation Network Account requirement. Instead it will be optional and give you certain in-game rewards.
As announced in a blog post they said:
Starting with tomorrow’s release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PC, we’re working to add more benefits to playing with an account for PlayStation Network. The Last of Us Part II Remastered (coming April 3, 2025), in addition to God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, will all soon be adding in-game content unlocks for PlayStation Network account users.
An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC. Players who still opt to sign into a PlayStation Network account will also enjoy added benefits like trophies and friend management.
Emphasis ours.
Pictured - Marvel's Spider-Man 2
They've also revealed the first few benefits for signing in:
| Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Early unlock suits: the Spider-Man 2099 Black Suit and the Miles Morales 2099 Suit |
| God of War Ragnarok | Gain access to the Armor of the Black Bear set for Kratos at the first Lost Items chest in the Realm Between Realms (previously only accessible in a New Game+ run) and a resource bundle (500 Hacksilver and 250 XP) |
| The Last of Us Part II Remastered | +50 points to activate bonus features and unlock extras Jordan’s Jacket from Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet as a skin for Ellie |
| Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered | Gain access to Nora Valiant outfit |
This is a most unexpected move but an incredibly welcome one. It caused various regions to be unable to even buy some of their PC releases but even worse, requiring an online account for single-player games should never be a thing. Nice to see some sense come back to Sony. Hopefully this will mean the region restrictions on purchases can also be lifted.
Sony have clearly learned some lessons, likely a fair bit from the backlash they had with Helldivers 2 that eventually forced them to drop the requirement.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Well, this is an interesting decision from Sony and maybe they're starting to see that the mandatory PSN requirement on PC didn't give them the sells numbers that they were hoping for God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered since not every region/countries supported PSN.
At best, they shouldn't have pushed the mandatory PSN requirement on PC in the first place but going forward, they should continue to make it optional in future titles for those that want to use it.
Last edited by ToddL on 29 Jan 2025 at 5:01 pm UTC
At best, they shouldn't have pushed the mandatory PSN requirement on PC in the first place but going forward, they should continue to make it optional in future titles for those that want to use it.
Last edited by ToddL on 29 Jan 2025 at 5:01 pm UTC
4 Likes, Who?
kellerkindt 29 Jan 2025
Tbh, this is fine. Good even. If you want to connect your PSN Account, you do you. You even get a little reward, but without being a (too) big loss for people that dont want to.
Now really looking forward to TLoU2 without that silly PSN requirement :)
Now really looking forward to TLoU2 without that silly PSN requirement :)
6 Likes, Who?
Yeah, they never should have done this nonsense and kept it the way it was before.
Like the first Spider-Man game had this forever
Like the first Spider-Man game had this forever
Link your Steam Account to PlayStation™ Network to receive these early unlock bonuses:
Early access to the Resilient Suit
Early access to the powerful Concussive Blast Gadget
Two Skill Points
Link portal can be found on the Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered game menu.
1 Likes, Who?
Linux_Rocks 29 Jan 2025
Them flip-flopping on this is more annoying than the people overblowing and crying about the former requirement. It's also too bad that even with you logged into your PSN there's no cross-save between PC and PlayStation consoles either.
2 Likes, Who?
Still can't view any of their post-psn games on Steam here. Of course this issue will get 0 attention and it'll probably stay that way. Sucks but hey, you what they say about an unexplored market? 
Last edited by Pyrate on 29 Jan 2025 at 5:25 pm UTC
Last edited by Pyrate on 29 Jan 2025 at 5:25 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
So, will they unlock previous releases that need the PSN login?
1 Likes, Who?
Caldathras 29 Jan 2025
Guess Sony realized that the policy was costing them profits. Just shows that voting with your money works ... 
1 Likes, Who?
Great change from Sony. This is what they really should have done from the start and it wouldn't have caused the controversy that it did. Hopefully this means they will open their games up to other regions as well.
2 Likes, Who?
Is Ghost of Tsushima losing the PSN requirements too? Or did it sell too well for them to care?
1 Likes, Who?
Sony? Learning things?!
4 Likes, Who?
I guess someone crunched the numbers and found that it was taking away too much of the potential market. A reduction of the number of blacklist titles this time.
Wasn't that one always optional?
Is Ghost of Tsushima losing the PSN requirements too? Or did it sell too well for them to care?
Wasn't that one always optional?
1 Likes, Who?
Nice but when?
Is it already changed to be optional on the games that are already released or do we still have to wait?
Is it already changed to be optional on the games that are already released or do we still have to wait?
0 Likes
For those asking, it says "Starting with tomorrow's release" of Spider-Man 2, so one can assume that the changes will come into effect for other games at the same time.
2 Likes, Who?
Avehicle7887 29 Jan 2025
So they finally came to their senses.
Maybe this will be enough to have those games released on GOG.
Maybe this will be enough to have those games released on GOG.
4 Likes, Who?
Maybe this will be enough to have those games released on GOG.Yeah, my thought exactly. Still holding out for Horizon Forbidden West. This news gets my hope up a little.
3 Likes, Who?
Kimyrielle 29 Jan 2025
Glad to hear that they came to their senses. I am so tired of every Tom, Dick and Harry trying force an extra account down my throat I neither need nor want.
5 Likes, Who?
Pointless marketing move, they have removed the PSN requirement on some games, but they still restrict the sales to countries where PSN is available.
It shows they have no idea what they are doing, just winging it.
It shows they have no idea what they are doing, just winging it.
2 Likes, Who?
PSN is optional but Sony doesn't sell new games in countries where PSN isn't available. Nice move.
1 Likes, Who?
The only time a PSN account should be required is for the store for limited edition physical items, like goodies or Playstation 30years editions.
They don't do it. Scalpers say thank you.
They don't do it. Scalpers say thank you.
0 Likes
Eduardo Medina 30 Jan 2025
I switched from Steam to GOG through Heroic Games Launcher because Steam is undergoing an enshittification process for two years now.
The Steam client for Linux is giving many problems to many users, mainly to those who use Big Picture and especially through the Flatpak package. By other hand, the problem with intermediate launchers has worsened, with publishers that don't allow to install a game after several times or directly don't allow you to install the game after buying it through Steam (Dead Space 2 and Civilizations III are two cases of that). Valve is doing nothing to fix the situation.
I'm very grateful to Valve because the Linux Gaming would not exist without its contribution, but its greatest contributions were made seven years ago and the circumstances have changed. Today Steam is not that platform that puts the user in the first place and I see that GOG looks more like the Steam from ten years ago than Steam itself currently.
The Steam client for Linux is giving many problems to many users, mainly to those who use Big Picture and especially through the Flatpak package. By other hand, the problem with intermediate launchers has worsened, with publishers that don't allow to install a game after several times or directly don't allow you to install the game after buying it through Steam (Dead Space 2 and Civilizations III are two cases of that). Valve is doing nothing to fix the situation.
I'm very grateful to Valve because the Linux Gaming would not exist without its contribution, but its greatest contributions were made seven years ago and the circumstances have changed. Today Steam is not that platform that puts the user in the first place and I see that GOG looks more like the Steam from ten years ago than Steam itself currently.
0 Likes
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