As Helldivers2 developer Arrowhead continues to wrestle with the fallout of an unexpected and unpopular announcement, helldivers2Steam players all need a PlayStation account to keep playing

The video game is not new, but many Helldivers2 players have been using the game for a long time. It arrived a few months after its release and is protesting this mission with insufficient warning that it was coming (who really is reading the fine print?).). Fans also cite security and "player protection" as obviously only possible when signing in to psn, which requires PSN integration for Sony

Even today alone, Helldivers2 has garnered more than 20,000 negative Steam reviews, and it's a recent review of "mixing" the best-selling co-op shooter. I have dropped it on the view rating.

Arrowhead Community Managers have throughout the day addressed complaints about Discord, acknowledged players who felt their trust had been compromised, and assured Sony that they were receiving feedback. In the last few hours, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who has been a core presence and personality in the Helldivers2 community from the start, opened up about the announcement.

"I understand that linking accounts and signing up for additional services is not something some users want to do, but something they need to respect," Pilestedt tweeted. "While the Steam page always shows the requirements on the game page, we have been more clear with the long-term intention not to disappoint any of the divers out there

It is clear that the Helldivers2Steam page always lists the requirements for the PSN account (the small yellow box on the right side of the page), but it is clear that the As Arrowhead revealed for the first time that Steam-only play is "temporarily optional," it would be permissible to think that Sony suddenly didn't intend to make the PSN link a requirement months later.

It is about this issue (how the announcement was communicated) that Pilestedt apologized in a follow-up tweet.

"Ouch, it's in the review score," the CEO wrote in the wake of the review bombing. "Well, I think it's guaranteed. How all this happened, sorry to everyone. We hope to make up for it and regain trust by providing an ongoing great gaming experience.

"I just want to make a great game!"

It is noteworthy how poorly this news was handled by all parties. The transparent move from Sony to integrate millions of Steam users into the PSN ecosystem, and the insulting Arrowhead to spin it as a security measure, were not given enough information to answer the very important question of how psn requirements would affect countries that do not have PSN. And there's a suggestion that players should have known this because of the yellow box on the Steam page - a fundamental misconception that people are upset.

Most players create a PSN account and go ahead, but speaking as a daily Helldivers2 player, this is an episode that people remember. Access to the games we "own" is something that can be taken away at the whims of developers, and such an unwelcome surprise reminds us that this is exactly how you lose trust.