Helldivers 2 PSN Account Linking Update Cancelled By Sony After Player Feedback

thegamer.com:

Glory to Democracy! Sony's controversial decision to make Helldivers 2players on Steam link their accounts to PSN has been reversed. The decision was met with a lot of backlash from players, which seems to have pressured Sony to cancel the update.

This was announced via a Tweet by the official PlayStation handle which mentioned that the update which was scheduled for May 6 has been cancelled after a wave of negative feedback by players. Players resorted to review-bombing the game on Steam, resulting in one of the most acclaimed launches of the year dropping to a Mostly Negative score.

"Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.

We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans."

This marks a major win for the Helldivers 2 community, which saw this move as a deliberate attempt by Sony to piggy-back off the game's success and boost sign-ups for PlayStation Network. Things had gotten so out of hand because of this that Steam made Helldivers 2 unavailable for purchase in 117 countries, affecting a major part of the player base.

Before the decision was reversed, Arrowhead creative director and CEO, Johan Pilestedt took to Twitter to address the game's removal from those countries. Responding to a fan that asked what they should do now that the game is unavailable, Pilestedt helplessly said "I don't know."

It was evident that the decision was out of Arrowhead's hands and came directly from Sony. However, with the update cancelled, it will probably be a matter of time until the game returns to Steam in the affected countries.