Sony has reversed course on one of their most unpopular policies, making having a PlayStation Network account optional on PC. Instead of requiring a PSN log in they will offer incentives for signing up or logging into an existing account.
The change has been made just in time for tomorrow’s release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for PC, and will apply for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered when that releases in April. It is also being rolled back to God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered on PC, with in-game content unlocks being added soon.
For the rest of the PlayStation Studios library on PC, games with online multiplayer modes will still require PSN – Lego Horizon Adventures has online co-op, and Ghost of Tsushima’s Legends mode will still need PSN, but it is not needed for the single player. The exception to that is that the backlash to adding the requirement to Helldivers 2 was so severe that Sony backed down before implementing it.
There’s another exception with the completely single-player Until Dawn remake. Hopefully that will be amended soon to have a more clear-cut policy.
Prior to making PSN mandatory last year, Sony had been giving bonus unlocks and content to those logging in – bonus costumes for Horizon Forbidden West, for example – and they’ve basically gone back to that plan.
Here’s what’s coming to the four games mentioned:
Source: PS Blog
Steam
God of War: Ragnarok
PlayStation Network
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
PSN
Horizon Zero Dawn