Helldivers 2 Pulled From 177 Countries Due to PSN Linking Requirement, Arrowhead 'Talking Solutions'

ign.com:

As Helldiver 2's reviews continue to collapse on Steam, Arrowhead's best-selling action game has been pulled from around 177 countries in the wake of the new PSN account linking requirement that has turned its fanbase upside down.

Egypt, Georgia, Jamaica, and Morocco are some of the notable countries where Helldivers 2 can no longer be purchased due PSN not being available, sparking confusion among fans. Japan is also among the countries listed, but according to SteamDB it has a separate package and is still available, though users can't buy the "global version."

Helldivers 2 is no longer purchasable in 177 countries where PSN is not available (but some are still available like Baltics).

This game has now received 215,000 negative reviews. pic.twitter.com/jJrb9QFafR

In the meantime, Helldivers 2's recent reviews on Steam are now "Overwhelmingly Negative" amid continued review bombing by fans. On Friday, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilstedt apologized for the requirement in a statement posted to X/Twitter, writing, "Ouch, right in the review score. 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!”

The controversy kicked off on Friday when Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that the "grace period" in which Helldivers 2 did not need to be connected to a PSN account was ending. Starting May 6, all new Helldivers 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to PSN. Existing Steam players will begin seeing a mandatory login on May 30.

The requirement has sparked a massive online backlash against SIE that has continued throughout the weekend.

"What a clusterf*ck," wrote independent developer Rami Ismail on X/Twitter. "For all my criticism of Steam — its incredible that they're choosing to take the hit for Sony's nonsense to ensure nobody ends up with a unusable game because of Playstation's super limited