Helldivers 2 Director Pushes PlayStation to Backtrack on 170 Steam Delistings

The fight for democracy is never ending

One wonders how many people have been put out by this. Obviously the vast majority of players will be in America and Western Europe, but one can't imagine that the population of, say, the Marshall Islands (pop. 42,000) would quite be putting up the same numbers.

Does someone is talking about that Ghost of Tsushima is refunding already Directors cut edition pre orders in those same 170+ countries from any retailer, because they can't sell game where multiplayer needs PSN account. Sony is ridiculous. And it is not only about Steam. That is from other stores already.

No reason not to resume sales in those countries if the account linking is optional.

I still think it's weirdly beautiful that a co-op game designed around having players focus on focused goals collectiely managed to spark a coordinated effort among nearly the entire fanbase to roll back the PSN account requirement.

Sony gonna learn the hard way, moving to PC is a complete waste of time.

So Sony, when you bring more multiplayer games to PC are you going to cave in to mob rule again for linking a FREE account while charging PS users to play online, with INCREASED Ps+ prices?

Speaking of which, how is Xbox doing right now?

Account linking is likely still the end goal overall and not just for this game. They now know which countries not to sell games to and once this game is less popular they will likely bring back the requirement.

hmm.. I just heard Ghosts of Tsushima is no longer available in countries without PSN and is being removed from stores in those regions, even if you just want to play single player.

What business is this? Sales will be indeed affected
Now it's evident that sony will continue to push for PSN account linking..

@Fatewalker Selling 1st party games is not how Playstation makes their money.

@BeerIsAwesome If I had to guess: a small amount. Most have long since been using US accounts because of things like this so the number of actual sales wont be impacted that much. And people have VPNs now, they'll just change there location and buy it. I know 3 Caribbean friends who do exactly that and made US and Japanese PSN accounts.

@TrickyDicky99 I would say, is not the only way they make their money, but is still a way they can maximise their profits now selling on PC.
Anyway hold on, for the moment this seems to a case only on greenmangaming, not on Steam yet.. We will see..

@TrickyDicky99 your comment is waste of time. Helldivers 2 playerbase is 75%+ on PC.
Sounds more that tou are salty, that you have to pay PS+ and PC don't.

@Fatewalker when Steam will understand how multiplayer part will work, they will do the same. They don't want to be liable for wrongfully sold items on their store. That is big problem.

Hats off to the devs.

@TrickyDicky99 I thought you were a PC guy anyway?

Don't delist in those countries, enforce the psn account everywhere else and make them get a ps+ sub on top of it. Would love to see the reaction lol.

Speaking of Steam, I can't freaking wait to get myself Hades 2 tomorrow on it, and then the physical PS5 version! 😃🤘

If I were Valve, I wouldn't want to open the game up for sale unless Sony offered assurances via a written contract. Clearly, Sony is wanting to force their agenda on PC and can't be trusted down the line without a contract

@TrickyDicky99 there are roughly 1.8 billion PC players...considerably more than the PS, MS, and Nintendo player bases combined. And with fewer people purchasing consoles it is most certainly "worth their time" to cater to PC players. They need us lol

@Ralizah from business standpoint, and you want people to join psn, it's better to just not even have it listed in those countries. I just don't know why psn isn't global.

@Fatewalker But moving to PC also mean less people using their console platform, so overall less money.

This is why since going to PC Playstation's profits have collapsed.

@8bitOG Selling 1st party games is not how Playstation makes their money.

@8bitOG there aren't 1 8 billion players on steam. You're taking a stat and adding it to pc gaming which isn't true.

@REALAIS most likely yeah. But crazy, basically kill sales in 170 countries, and it doesn't look good at all for Sony..
It seems they are all in - pushing hard for this PSN account linking with some plans behind the scenes to introduce their sub services on PC.. But I doubt PC players will ever accept this..

@8bitOG what agenda? Psn? Not too shill for playstation, but pc gamers aren't moving the needle forward. Neither is xbox. The truth is the truth.

@NEStalgia Been playing on PC longer than 99.9% of people, but I prefer consoles.

@TrickyDicky99 There are still many players sticking to consoles is a more affordable way to have access to the games. Also some players simply prefer to play on consoles.
For the time being not all games will release day and day with PC.. But will see in near future..

I know this is a PS site but dear Lord, I see more moaning about a perceived ‘PC Master Race’ on here than I’ve seen those actual attitudes since about 2014. Imagine if Helldivers had been removed off the PS Store in this many countries? There would rightfully be a backlash, not everything is ‘mob rule’.

@Fatewalker All multiplayer games will be on PC day one.

@8bitOG 1.8BN PC players who have the hardware to run these games? LOL!

@TrickyDicky99 I mean, you don't need a super computer unless you want 2,000+ mods on Skyrim. I could easily build a PC for like $600 that can play 99% of thr games out there. Most games cater to console hardware, so you don't need crazy specs to play games...sooooo, yes

@8bitOG You're talking to someone who has been PC gaming longer than you so you're nonsense will not work on me.

Also Playstation biggest market is Europe, PC hardware is far more expensive in Europe

@TrickyDicky99 you will be surprised what type computer can run those games in 1080p. Mister 99,9% PC player, but knowledge does not support that.

@REALAIS I'm not surprised at all.

When Sony releases their upcoming multiplayer games on PC day one like Concorde, Fairgame$ . . and the several other multiplayer games, we'll see what kind of PC can run these games.

Laptops with integrated graphics need not apply

@Cutmastavictory It's possible the market is small enough in a lot of underdeveloped countries that Sony doesn't see potential profitability in officially expanding a presence there.

I imagine they'd still grow their PSN numbers quite a bit if they merely incentivized account linking.

@nessisonett One thing I've learned: the audience this website pulls, and even some of the staff, is HEAVILY invested in console war tribalist nonsense like it's the 90s.

@TrickyDicky99 it's incredible how everyone in this blog, including yourself, complain about how much PC players complain. Maybe look into a mirror once in a while. I'm not going to argue on cost or quality, but there are significantly more PC players than console.

Edit: as a side note, Horizon FW plays at 150fps with DLSS with all the highest settings on. That's not on a 4090, either. A console couldn't touch that

@TrickyDicky99 if you imply that those games will be poorly optimised, then for sure, it can be poor experience

@AdamNovice they are not officially. You will still be able to buy it there. Because it sells.

@REALAIS intergrated graphics are barely running ps4 games let alone ps5 games

@8bitOG So what if there are more PC players than console?

I'll repeat for the 20th time, Playstation does not make it's money selling 1st party games.

Do I need to repeat it again? Playstation does not make it's money selling 1st party games.

@Ralizah It’s like Reddit from the early 2010s. Everything’s kinda gone down that road though, it’s all a bit like supporting your sports team to the detriment of everything else, complete tribal mentality. It’s stupid.

@nessisonett Yup. Western civilization has completely disappeared down the tribal rabbit hole. In the US, EVERYTHING is subsumed by the culture war, even down to the brand of beer you buy lol.

It's very tiring at times.

@TrickyDicky99 instal hoyoverse games on integrated graphics cards. You will be surprised what is possible.

@TrickyDicky99 then maybe continue where do they make money

@REALAIS Why would I install such a thing as that?

What I have found out from this Helldivers fiasco is that on Twitter, the accounts who are complaining about the PSN linking are real suspect with what they are into and what they follow, explains a lot.

@TrickyDicky99 your original argument was that the PC market wasn't worth Sony's time. Which is why I brought up the player count, which overwhelmingly confirms that it is "worth their time". Sony is looking for growth, so naturally they want to tap into that market. Not to mention younger generations, and old farts like me, who are bailing on consoles.

Now this is where you change the subject again...

@TrickyDicky99 Ahh, I see.

Personally I've been conflicted. I was a PC gamer long ago, back in the AGP into early PCIe days. All I remember is the cost, the extreme cost, and spending more hours troubleshooting drivers, firmware, and overheating/defective components more than actually playing games. That's why I went back to console with PS3. And then PS3 sucked for 3rd party, much as I didn't want to, bought a 360, and liked it. Ignored XB after 2013 and went PS4. But really liked where XB was going after 1X. So I jumped back into MS and since their digital ecosystem is much better than Sony have been buying all 3rd party there.

Now with them circling the drain, I'm debating whether to stick with them to the end just because I'm already heavily invested in library, jump ship to PS as primary, but I'm not sure if that's any safer a bet these days, or bite the bullet and go back to PC. But when I consider replacing 2 $500 boxes with 2 $1500-3000 boxes, for MAYBE the same performance, plus all the hassle, plus starting with 0 library, IDK that's really smart either. Even if it does get me a better VR kit. With another $500 purchase on top of it....

@NEStalgia My first x86 PC was an Matrox Millenium 2 AGP, but you'll have to go back to the BBC Micro for my first PC

Can we go back to talking about the censorship in Stellar Blade now? This story doesn't have enough spicy pics.

@MikeOrator Game has still so many spicy costumes. I already finished and some of those outfits was too much. but I only got like 60% of those. Need to find all Cans to see how looks lingerie outfit

@REALAIS Explains it all

@MikeOrator Since PSN accounts aren't required I'm sure the PC modders will put the soldiers in Speedos soon enough. Does that make you feel better? No?

@TrickyDicky99 486DX2 FTW! I remember when I was told I needed to have a video card with at least 512MB memory to run a game. I was so mad! Had to buy a whole new ISA card....No fancy PCI yet. What was it, a Diamond Stealth?

Ohh man takes me back. It was fun back then. Those were fun days to be a PC gamer. When AGP happened the nightmare began.

The consoles are so bad right now, and yet, I can't get myself to drag myself back to spending thousands on a gaming box that still goes obsolete in a few years AND steals my time tinkering. Part of me wants to, and yet I just can't get myself to do it. Even with proper VR.

@nessisonett "Imagine if Helldivers had been removed off the PS Store in this many countries? There would rightfully be a backlash, not everything is ‘mob rule’."

But since buying off the PS Store requires a PSN account how would those players even do it in those countries?

They likely already have PSN accounts from a different region because it's super easy to make one.

@NEStalgia @REALAIS

LOL, All I mean is that if we need to have a controversy to dissect in the comment section, PSN for Helldivers is WAAAAYYYY less interesting than censorship levelled at a Dressup doll game mechanic.

I think Sony was starting out the building blocks to have their own gaming hub app. Who knows. But that is my guess.

@MikeOrator I mean, the game is called Helldivers. Why are there no diving swimsuit costumes? This is Sony's false marketing. I blame Jim.

@NEStalgia

Ok good. I thought my sarcasm was being missed.

@3Above it wasn't the PS store, it was the Steam store

A better way to explain it is this, imagine you just brought a new popular game on your PC, after spending hours and hours and money on in game items suddenly Sony decides they will take that game away from people in over 100 countries with no refunds

That is why people were getting angry because essentially Sony was about to steal from 100s of thousands of players, luckily Steam stepped in and allowed refunds which in turned made Sony pay attention as they were seeing their money leaving their greedy little pile

The only reason Sony reversed this is because they were about to lose money and reputation

@Gamestation Good old Honest Gabe!

@MikeOrator Never!

@3Above I'm old enough to remember the old PlayStation Home region hopping. I think at this point about 50% of all PSN accounts ever made are foreign. But regardless, if the number of gamers from non-PSN supported countries is not especially high, I don't think it will be too much water off Sony or Valve's back to lose them.

Maybe the super diehard “playstation only” players should finally boycott paying twice to use their own internet

@BeerIsAwesome Region hopping in PS Home was so much fun! Central Plaza in Japan was stunning. Missing those days...