Sony delists Helldivers 2 purchase on Steam in 170+ countries; Arrowhead CEO addresses backlash

Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 has amassed about 52.1% negative reviews as the gaming community sends a message to Sony for locking out non-PSN countries.

It has not been a great week for Helldivers 2 and its fanatics. Despite its supreme position as one of the best-selling popular games of the year, the Arrowhead project's journey has hit a dead-end on Steam in over 170 countries around the globe.

Sony's contentious PlayStation Network sign-in requirement pulled the plug on the cooperative third-person shooter game. Merely days ago, the publisher doubled down on its enforcement of making it mandatory for users to link a PSN account to play the sequel to the 2015 shooter, with the deadline set for May 6. Enraged backlash intertwined with review-bombing claims took precedence as most blindsided PC players around the world have no PSN access.

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SteamDB announced earlier this morning that the sale of the 2024 people's champion had been delisted on Steam in 177 countries. As of May 5 (11:55 pm IST), SteamDB recorded (352,286) 52.1% negative reviews, pushing the game's status down to the "Mixed" pedestal. While the publishing party appears to be calling the shots in this mayhem, Helldivers 2's developer, Arrowhead Game Studios, is still hoping the level the playing field for international users.

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Arrowhead CEO responds to Helldivers 2 backlash

Arrowhead CEO and Helldivers 2 Creative Director Johan Pilestedt is trying his best to emerge on top with some happy news for the devastated players who've been locked out of the gaming experience. On May 5, he wrote on X/Twitter: "We are talking solutions with PlayStation, especially for non-PSN countries. Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community - but I don't have the final say."

As he opened the conversation on social media, more responses directly targeted him and raised significant queries. A user eventually wrote, "Why are you acting all blameless? Like you should have known for probably years that PSN would be a requirement?"

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Pilestedt acknowledged that he was equally culpable. He further explained, "It was my decision to disable account linking at launch so that players could play the game. I did not ensure players were aware of the requirement, and we didn't talk about it enough. We knew for about 6 months before launch that it would be mandatory for online PS titles."

Other interested parties further dug in, probing into why they sold the game to non-PSN countries if they'd been in the know about the issue for the past six months. The Arrowhead CEO then pushed the ball back into Sony's court, reiterating, "We do not handle selling the game."

Unequivocally, this has waged a diplomatic war between Sony and Arrowhead. Forbes even reported that community managers were pushing for a coordinated campaign, encouraging players to punch in their negative outpour for the game to send a message to Sony. On the other hand, reports also suggested Sony is weighing heavily on PSN linking to clamp down on cheaters. However, other controversial claims are contradicting the case.

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