PlayStation Cancels PSN Linking for Helldivers 2 Players Following Massive Backlash

PlayStation has officially announced that they will not be moving forward with the Helldivers 2 update, which asked players to link their PSN accounts with Steam to play the game after receiving a massive backlash from fans. On May 3, Arrowhead Studios and PlayStation announced that all Helldivers 2 players must compulsively link their PlayStation Network account with Steam. While it was temporarily optional, they later announced that they would make it necessary.

According to Arrowhead and PlayStation, account linking plays a critical role in protecting players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games. 

Also read: Helldivers 2 Minor Patch 01.000.100: Weapon Tweaks, Balancing, And More

PlayStation Network Account Linking is No Longer Necessary for Helldivers 2 Players

Helldivers 2 is currently only available on PC and PlayStation 5. The game was received extremely positively by gamers due to its fan service and exciting gameplay loop. The game was released in February 2024. Fast forward two months after its release, the game received a huge backlash from fans due to one of the statements released by the studio and Sony. 

The PSN linking update was supposed to arrive on May 6, 2024, and would have made the action mandatory from May 30. However, following the backlash from fans, Sony will not move forward with it. 

In their recent tweet, Sony announced that they are still working on learning the best for PC gamers and are taking the feedback in a positive light. In the statement, they mentioned:

"We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on plans."

One of the biggest reasons fans were against the PSN linking with Steam was due to PlayStation Network's availability in most countries. Currently, PSN is available in 73 countries. However, the rest 118, cannot access PSN. Meaning if the update goes through, players from the mentioned countries will not be able to play Helldivers 2:

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• The Bahamas
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belize
• Benin
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brunei
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• The Cayman Islands
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Cote d' Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Cuba
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Georgia
• Ghana
• Grenada
• Guinea
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Iran
• Iraq
• Jamaica
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Kosovo
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Maldives
• Mali
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal
• Niger
• Nigeria
• North Macedonia
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Republic of the Congo
• Rwanda
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• San Marini
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• The Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Syria
• Tajikistan
• Tanzania
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tonga
• Tunisia
• Turkmenistan
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Venezuela
• Yemen
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe