Helldivers 2 players have made their voices loud and clear, after review-bombing not only Helldivers 2 but multiple PlayStation published games on Steam over Sony’s attempt at requiring PC players link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network Account.
In response, rather than try to brute force its way through the noise, Sony has walked-back its requirement, and announced that linking your Steam account to a PSN account will remain optional for all players.
The official PlayStation account on Twitter put up the notice as the clock struck midnight EST, addressing Helldivers 2 players by saying “we’ve heard your feedback,” and then claiming that Sony is still “learning what is best for PC players.”
“Helldivers fans – we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
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 future plans.”
https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/1787331667616829929
With all the pressure Helldivers 2 players were putting on Sony, it’s not surprising that this is the outcome. Especially when it became clear as this fiasco unfolded that Arrowhead was never on Sony’s side when it came to enforcing this requirement.
Arrowhead studio head Johan Pilestedt even told the Helldivers 2 community that he was “impressed” by their willpower in making this reversal happen. He also thanked the studio’s partners at PlayStation for coming to the decision quickly.
https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787365793379791051
At the same time though, it was only after Steam reviews dropped to “Overwhelmingly Negative” that the reversal announcement was made.
Pilestedt’s transparency with the Helldivers 2 community since launch has been a refreshing change of pace compared to the rest of the industry, and he stayed consistent with that throughout this whole debacle.
It’s arguable that while Arrowhead did catch a lot of unnecessary flack that should’ve been directed at Sony, Pilestedt’s efforts to be open with the community went a long way in curbing the backlash from wrongly hitting Arrowhead and his team.
Now that the decision has been reversed, thousands of players have already gone back and changed their reviews from negative back to positive. While players have no obligation to do so, Pilestedt and the rest of the Arrowhead team’s showcasing of their commitment to the player base is likely why thousands have already gone and changed their reviews.
Source – [PlayStation]