The discussions about Helldivers 2 seem never-ending. The community manager is also getting involved and is being a bit curt.
Helldivers 2 was the mega-hit on Steam for several weeks. Nothing could stop the game, and basically, everyone was talking about it. At least the last point is still true, though the discussion has completely turned negative. The reviews from the last few days are almost entirely negative and the mood has heated up.
The community manager recommends continuing with the negative reviews – as there are advantages to it. He also responds a bit snippily to people who threaten to leave but then still comment.
What is the problem with Helldivers 2? Helldivers 2 announced a few days ago that it will soon require the use of a PlayStation Network account – even if you are playing the game only on Steam.
This has caused many players to feel betrayed or even fear that they may not be able to play Helldivers 2 at all.
Why do you need a PSN account? In fact, the announcement that you have to register for PlayStation even if you are only playing Helldivers 2 on Steam was not that new. This was transparently explained on the game’s Steam page right on release day.
However, due to server problems at launch, this option was suspended, so all Steam players could start without a PSN account.
However, those players now feel betrayed.
What does the community manager say? The community manager “Spitz” is anything but satisfied with the current situation at Helldivers. In the game’s Discord, there is a lot of discussion about the announcements, and Spitz is actively participating.
Spitz repeatedly explains that the decision ultimately comes from Sony, and as developers, they have very little influence over it. All this negative feedback does hurt, but it is “good” because they can use it to approach Sony and bring it into the discussion.
At the same time, Spitz also shows that the name is programmatic, and sometimes you can also write sharp comments. A player wrote:
“This will kill Helldivers 2 on Steam. Step back or lose your player base.”
However, this was apparently not the first interaction with Spitz on this topic, as a response came:
“I thought you wanted your money back and then disappear.”
Spitz has also been a bit rude in tone and explained:
This is not the first or fourteenth mainstream game that requires you to create an account with a third party, which only takes a few minutes. But if it’s a dealbreaker for you to lose 120 seconds of your day to enter an email address and a password and then forget it anyway, then change your Steam rating and make your dissatisfaction known on a platform where it is relevant.
However, Spitz later regretted this statement. They were not aware beforehand that in many countries it is not possible or very difficult to create a PSN account:
I very much regret implying that it is that easy for everyone to just sign up and then not worry about it anymore. It is absolutely not our intention to force people to break Sony’s terms of use or not play the game at all when they live in an excluded region. There must be a better solution.
The entire discussion is also closely monitored by many streamers, such as Asmongold. He takes the position of the buyers and cannot understand the actions of Sony and the developers of Helldivers 2.
Asmongold says: “If it only takes 120 seconds and only requires an email, why do you expect me to have that to play the game? Just let me play the game normally. You can’t point to the triviality of this action when you are the reason I have to perform this trivial action.”
What is the problem with the PSN account? While some generally oppose having another account with another service, there are also much more serious reasons. For instance, it is not possible to create a PSN account in all countries of the world. Sony supports the creation of a PSN account only in 69 countries – in many others, it is simply not an option. The CEO of Helldivers 2 has also already commented on this.
