Helldivers 2 has been delisted in 177 countries, despite the repealed PSN requirement

As of May 4th, restrictions were imposed on Helldivers 2 on Steam which prevented the game from being activated or purchased in listed regions.

While the initial decision to prevent PC players from accessing the game without a PSN account was being heavily scrutinised by Arrowhead, the communities playing the game, and PlayStation themselves, behind the scenes a firm decision had seemingly already been made.

The Helldivers 2 community was tricked by Sony.

Sony declared having a PSN account would be mandatory to play Helldivers 2. The community revolted and trashed the games review score to 13% positive. Sony walked it back and stated they wouldn't be making PSN mandatory.… pic.twitter.com/3zjeWZBE7O

— Pirate Software (@PirateSoftware) May 10, 2024

Above, a tweet details that the “Helldivers 2 community was tricked by Sony,” though there’s a point of contention to be made that any party–whether it was PlayStation, Valve, or Arrowhead themselves–who pushed the change.

That said, Arrowhead’s Pilestedt has addressed the issue and is “speaking to partners at PlayStation and Valve” to sort it out, suggesting that it’s unlikely to have been them.

PlayStation’s tweet repealing the PSN requirement says the following:

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.

PlayStation

In hindsight, the tweet only mentions account linking for new and current players, but nothing on those in the affected countries, and especially nothing relating to why 177 countries were suddenly made unable to buy the game. This is especially damaging considering the fact that there’s likely plenty of players who could play the game in those regions, who can now only play with overseas players and those who already own the game.

Since the backtracked PSN requirement was the reason these games couldn’t buy the game, it’s possible that this was implemented to prevent people from buying a game they couldn’t technically play, and it’s anybody’s game whether or not the restriction on regional purchasing will be lifted.

This is a developing story. More to follow.