Videogames requiring outside account linking is nothing new, but many Helldivers 2 players are protesting this mandate arriving months after the game's release, and with an insufficient warning that it was coming (Who really reads the fine print?). Fans are also calling foul on Sony's reasoning for requiring PSN integration, citing security and "player protection" as things that are apparently only possible when you're signed into PSN. Today alone, Helldivers 2 has accrued over 20,000 negative Steam reviews, dropping the topselling coop shooter to a "Mixed" recent review rating. (Image credit Steam) All day, Arrowhead community managers have been fielding complaints on Discord, acknowledging players who feel their trust has been breached and assuring them that Sony is receiving the feedback. Only in the last few hours has Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who has been a core presence and personality in the Helldivers 2 community from the start, opened up about the announcement. "I understand that linking accounts and signing up for additional services may not be something that some users would like to do and that needs to be respected," Pilestedt tweeted. "While the steam page has always shown the requirements on the game page, I wish we had been more clear with the long term intent to not disappoint any of the divers out there." (Image credit Johan Pilestedt via Twitter) It's true that the Helldivers 2 Steam page has always listed a requirement for a PSN account (a small yellow box on the right side of the page), but as this the first time Arrowhead has clarified that Steamonly play was only "temporarily optional," you'd be forgiven for thinking Sony was not going to suddenly make PSN linking a requirement months after the fact. It's on this issuehow the announcement was communicatedthat Pilestedt was apologetic about in a followup tweet. Comic deals, prizes and latest to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors. Contact me with and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors "Ouch, right in the review score," the CEO wrote in the wake of the review bombing. "Well, I guess it's warranted. Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience. "I just want to make great games!" (Image credit Johan Pilestedt on Twitter) It's remarkable just how poorly this has been handled by all parties. There's the mandate itselfa transparent move from Sony to integrate millions of Steam users into the PSN ecosystemand the insulting effort to spin it as a security measure. There's Arrowhead, whose community managers were not given sufficient information to answer extremely important questions about how a PSN requirement will affect countries that don't have PSN. And then there's the suggestion that players should have known this was coming because of a yellow box on a Steam pagea fundamental misunderstanding of what people are upset about.
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