The third-person sci-fi shooter Helldivers 2 launched in early February for the PlayStation 5 console and also for the PC via Steam. The PC launch turned into a huge hit for its developer, Arrowhead. Three months later, Helldivers 2 is still the sixth best-selling game on Steam, and its concurrent player count also remains high, with SteamDB showing a 24-hour number that"s over 100,000 players.
Because the game was so popular at launch, it had some initial issues where some players could not log into its servers. However, those launch problems have now been fixed. The bad news is that the game"s publisher, Sony, will soon enforce their initial plans to make Steam players sign up for a PlayStation Network account in order to continue to play Helldivers 2.
In a post on Steam, Sony says that beginning on May 6, new Helldivers 2 players will be required to set up a PlayStation Network account and link it to their Steam account. Current players of the game will need to have a PSN account linked to their Steam account by June 4.
Sony"s message stated:
Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games. This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behaviour. It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal.
However, this upcoming enforcement is not making many players happy. Indeed, the review page for Helldivers 2 on Steam is currently being review bombed by players who are now giving "Not Recommended" notices, with many stating they won"t be playing the game anymore once the PSN requirement goes into effect. It remains to be seen if this change will result in lower sales and online players for Helldivers 2.