It has been the talk of the weekend: suddenly, ‘Helldivers 2’, one of the most beloved and admired games of 2024, has received so many negative reviews that it has been sunk into misery. The production company didn’t know what to do with the pressure from the public and in the end they agreed to refund the money to those who wanted it. A chaos, really, that was solely… Sony’s fault.
February 8, 2024
‘Helldivers 2’ is released for PlayStation 5 and PC. It sells eight million units in just two months and hides a little secret among its legal notices: sooner or later, it will require linking the account with PlayStation Network. But that day had not yet arrived. Everything seemed happy on Arrowhead’s horizon, their studio.
May 3, 2024
Sony announces that, finally, the PC version will require users to link their Steam game with a PlayStation Network account. New users will have to do it on Monday, June 6th and those who were already playing on Tuesday, June 4th. The (apparent) reason was to “maintain the security values of PlayStation Studios games”. The criticism is starting to become fierce… And rightfully so.
May 4, 2024
The ‘Helldivers 2’ Steam page already has over 14,000 negative reviews, and counting. Players are furious not only because they have to give their data to Sony (which has already had some security slip-ups with their PSN accounts), but also because Steam has been forced to remove it from 177 countries where there is no option to connect it with PlayStation Network. In other words, it’s complete chaos.
Players feel hurt and deceived. At Arrowhead, they have no choice but to agree with them by deflecting blame and pointing fingers at Sony, who ultimately decided to deliver the bad news. A showdown between users and companies that was yet to determine who would come out on top.
May 6, 2024
At the last moment, Sony decides to backtrack stating that “the update will not proceed”. At least for now, stating that “they are still trying to figure out what is best for PC players”. And, as a user on Reddit says, “Here’s an idea: do nothing”. It’s too late, and the hangover is painful: right now, ‘Helldivers 2’ only has a 34% positive reviews in the last month, and it will have to recover little by little. If it can.
