It seems like Sony’s controversial decision to enforce PSN account linking in Helldivers 2 and its subsequent backtracking of that decision has created a ripple effect. Those ripples of reached the upcoming Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Edition which is due to launch on Steam on May 16, 20204.
Unless you’ve been living under a stone, you probably know that Sony made the decision to re-active the mandatory PSN account linking for Helldivers 2 that was technically part of the game since day 1 but hadn’t been enforced. A major part of the controversy was that the PlayStation network is not actually accessible in the majority of the world, and yet Helldivers 2 was being sold in those areas. In other words, people who had bought the game and been playing without issue for weeks would be left unable to create a PSN account and thus locked out.
During the debacle, Helldivers 2 was pulled from 177 regions where PSN was not available on Steam. Valve, who own and operate the Steam platform, began to hand out refunds to anyone who be effected by Sony’s decision. Despite doing a u-turn on the decision, Helldivers 2 has not be put back up for sale in those regions.
While all of this was happening, the developers of Ghost of Tsushima took to X to clarify the need for a PSN account with their own game. Ghost of Tsushima’s PC edition is, of course, bringing with it a brand new PlayStation overlay along with support for PlayStation Trophies on PC.
They stated on X that the singleplayer portion of the game would not require a PSN account to be made. The online portion titled Legends however, does need a PSN account.
SteamDB, a website which tracks a variety of Steam data such as player numbers and updates, noted that Ghost of Tsushima has been updated with the same purchase restrictions as Helldivers 2 – all regions where PSN is unavailable.
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
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Following the change, people in those regions who had pre-ordered the game began receiving Emails from Steam informing them that their purchase had been cancelled and a refund issued. Why? Because “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. Cheers, The Steam Team.”
Based on the wording of the message, this decision seems to be coming directly from Valve.
This is likely Valve seeking to protect themselves from any legal problems that would arise from customers who have already pre-ordered the game only to discover Sony has removed it from sale in their region and that they cannot create the required account.
However, it also presents a problem: a PSN account is only needed for the multiplayer portion of the game. Anyone wanting to play the singleplayer can do so without a PSN account. Except now, they can’t because they’ve been locked out of buying it in their region.
It’s a frankly embarrassing situation for Sony, one created by their own stupidity at selling Helldivers 2 in countries that can’t set up a PSN account, and now that stupidity is effecting Ghost of Tsushima as well.
People are also reporting the situation is the same on Epic where the game is also available for pre-order ahead of its May 16 release.
Sony needs to get this handled quickly, or else might find Ghost of Tsushima being review bombed too as a way for the community to voice their displeasure at the situation.