Helldivers 2 has now been removed from 100 COUNTRIES on STEAM following the extreme Sony PSN Link Backlash. This means that players cannot purchase the game if they reside in one of those 100 countries. But what about the individuals that have already purchased the game in the said regions? Well, the Helldivers 2 developers stated in their Discord that they are working on “something” to ensure that these players continue to gain access to Helldivers 2 and still be able to play it.
Helldivers 2 CEO, Pilestedt, Doesn’t Seem To Be Doing All Too Well
In addition, the CEO of Helldivers 2, Pilestedt has been leaving rather confusing comments on X (formerly known as Twitter), which could be an indication of his mental health. And he doesn’t seem to be doing well. Considering the time and effort put into Helldivers 2, this decision doesn’t seem to come from the devs, if speculation is brought into the equation. Sony seems to be pulling the strings in this whole debacle, where they have allegedly enforced Arrowhead to enforce the PSN Linking policy.
But for what reason exactly? Maybe to bolster their stock profits or to inflate the number of users on PSN via PlayStation Games For PC? We don’t exactly know Sony’s intentions, but the general facade paints the picture that Sony wants to ensure player safety and security by banning griefers and cheaters.
SONY PSN Account Link Debacle Turned Into Removing Helldivers from 100 Countries – Speculation
Still, it’s not entirely clear who issues this removal. All fingers point toward Sony, but Steam could also be involved in this entire debacle as well. If Sony doesn’t let players in those regions play Helldivers 2, then Steam might be trying to pull the game off of those restricted regions as to not deal with the full refunding process, considering players ARE asking for refunds on Helldivers 2, a game that has been out for more than 3 months. And the justifications do allow for a refund.
While the argument on the other end of the spectrum is “Just use a VPN”. That could work in theory, but the problem lies in the fact that using a VPN to sign up for PSN is against their TOS. If a player gets identified, BAM. It’s lights out for them.
Helldivers 2 Currently Has 300,000 Negative Reviews on Steam
The Helldivers 2 Steam Reviews, are in a ratio-ed circumstance, if put lightly. The game currently has a 50-50 positive-negative user-review score–the majority coming from users as a reaction to the Helldivers 2 PSN Account linking drama. TL;DR, Helldivers 2 now has nearly 300,000 Negative Reviews on Steam.
All-in-all, it feels like Sony has pretty much destroyed one of the best video-games of this generation. Helldivers 2 was an IP that was loved by everyone. With an active player base of 250,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, down to just 40,000-50,000 players–things don’t seem to be going too well.
I envisioned Helldivers 2 to be the second coming of the Golden Age of Gaming, similar to the magical days of an entirely different genre, like World of Warcraft. You can have your cake and eat it too, if the cake isn’t a lie.
Stay tuned for more Helldivers 2 news, updates, and guides, and we hope to see these terms and conditions to be revoked. I personally love this game. I wish Arrowhead Studios the best and hope there’s a silver lining to the dark clouds that gather around the Gaming Community right now.
