In anew post on X(formerly Twitter) earlier today,PlayStationannounced it would reverse its decision toforce PC players to link their Steam and PSN accountsto playHelldivers 2. While it’s a big win for the game’s PC community, it appears as though users had already taken to review-bombing completely irrelevant games by developer Arrowhead Game Studios.
The decision to force PC users to link their Steam and PSN accounts was that of publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, not developer Arrowhead Game Studios. Unfortunately, many of the users expressing their disappointment with the requirement opted to target the incorrect studio.
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Following Sony’s announcement that players would be forced to link their accounts to play Helldivers 2, fans quickly review-bombed the game with negative reviews to show their disapproval of the requirement. While it’s certainly unfortunate that one of this year’s most-loved games is being barraged with negative reviews,Arrowhead encouraged users to do soas it would “give them more pull in the discussions with Sony.”
As Sony likely pays very little attention to the likes of X, Reddit, and Discord, dropping a 500KG review bomb on Helldivers 2 was sad to see, but logical. However, Arrowhead’s CEO has now expressed his “deep sadness” over players review bombing the studio’s other titles for seemingly no reason.
“It deeply saddens me that Helldivers is also being review bombed due to the recent Helldivers 2 controversy,” Arrowhead’s CEOJohn Pilestedt said on X. “The original post was about Helldivers 1 - which is unrelated to the situation with HD2. HD1 does not have PSN login. So, it doesn’t make sense for people to target unrelated titles. This is about Helldivers 2 and the PSN linking policy.”
Helldivers, which was released on Steam in 2015, still holds a “very positive” overall rating, but its recent reviews have been “mixed” with many citing the Helldivers 2 PSN controversy as the reason for the negative reviews. “They take away your access to the game as they please,“one negative reviewer said. “Watch out, PSN requirements might be added any day now,“another said.
But the review-bombing isn’t just confined to Helldivers 1 and 2, as other Arrowhead titles, such as 2011’s Magicka, are also receiving negative reviews. “Fix Helldivers 2! PSN gets hacked,” and “Forced account linking” are just some of themany comments left on the game’smost recent negative reviews. Not only is this completely unrelated to the Helldivers 2 controversy, but comments such as “forced account linking” imply that Magicka requires players to link their accounts when this is simply not the case.
PlayStation Walks Back Helldivers 2’s Account-Linking
After Helldivers 2 received hundreds of thousands of negative reviews, Sony announced earlier today that it would be reversing the PSN and Steam account-linking requirement. “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,” PlayStation said.
“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.”
With PlayStation reversing their decision, some players have begun reversing their negative reviews. But will it be enough to return Helldivers 2 back to a positive rating? Only time will tell.
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 Continues To Thrive Amid Controversy, While PlayStation Sneakily Changes PSN FAQ
While players promised to quit Helldivers 2 after yesterday’s account-linking fiasco, Steam charts show a very different story.
