Fans of Helldivers 2 were happy when Sony decided not to make a PSN account mandatory for playing the game on PC in the future.
However, the issue is not completely resolved, and Sony is still moving ahead with this requirement in other areas.
Despite Sony reversing the PSN account requirement for Helldivers 2, players in 177 regions still can’t buy the game.
Now, similar issues are affecting the upcoming PC release of Ghost of Tsushima. Players unable to create a PSN account in those regions are finding they cannot purchase the game, leading Steam to refund early buyers.
Sony has not made an official statement yet, but it is obvious that this situation is not a mistake. Sony planned to require PSN accounts for playing its online games in the future.
However, it was thought that because only a part of Tsushima, which is an optional multiplayer mode, was online, the single player part could be played without this requirement. This turns out not to be true. Here is the message Steam users are getting with their refunds:
“You are receiving a refund for a game you pre-purchased – Ghost of Tsushima. The publisher of this game is now requiring a secondary account to play portions of this game – and this account cannot be created from your country.”
Helldivers 2 purchase restrictions were updated to add Baltics.
Furthermore, Ghost of Tsushima now has the same purchase restrictions. pic.twitter.com/TbXjHzCfwb
— SteamDB (@SteamDB) May 10, 2024
Sony could have offered refunds for Helldivers 2 in regions where players can’t have PSN accounts, but that would mean removing a game that players had already spent many hours playing.
Sony’s management of this whole issue has been extremely poor, both with Helldivers 2 and now with a complete lack of information about the Ghost of Tsushima situation.
While it’s not unusual for game publishers to require accounts to play their games, Sony has turned what should be a simple process into a confusing ordeal for many players.
I wouldn’t anticipate a change in Sony’s approach similar to what happened with Helldivers 2. However, Sony needs to clearly communicate about this issue and explain how other current or future games will manage this PSN linking policy. At the moment, it’s completely chaotic.
What we think?
I think Sony will keep needing PSN accounts for most of their games. This makes many people unhappy because they can’t buy or play some games if they can’t make a PSN account.
Sony should be clearer about what games need a PSN account and why. Right now, it’s confusing and frustrating for many players. They might lose more customers if they don’t fix this.
