Something is going on over at PlayStation, and I don’t understand what it is. Just a few weeks ago, we had the Helldivers 2 nonsense. You know, with PlayStation forcing the PSN requirements months after the game was launched, which would have stripped it from countless owners, all because they weren’t in a region where the PlayStation Network was available. Now, it’s happening again, this time with the acclaimed title Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut from Sucker Punch, with Nixxes helping with the porting duties.
For months, Ghost of Tsushima was available for preorder on the Steam storefront, and it wasn’t until the Helldivers 2 mess took place that things took a turn for the worse. Now, instead of being available for anyone who wanted to play it, though, requiring PSN if you wanted to play Ghost of Tsushima’s online game mode, Legends. PlayStation is now denying regions without PSN the ability to even play the game. It was just a few days ago that it was noticed that the Steam game tracking website, SteamDB, updated its listing for the game, showing a vast number of regions that were being blocked or restricted from playing the game. Japan, which is crazy, was added to the list until it was realized that was a mistake.
Helldivers 2 purchase restrictions were updated to add Baltics.
Furthermore, Ghost of Tsushima now has the same purchase restrictions. pic.twitter.com/TbXjHzCfwb
— SteamDB (@SteamDB) May 10, 2024
This means that this game, this title that a high number of PC gamers were waiting for, is being held hostage thanks to PlayStation’s threat of forcing PSN onto PC gamers and its lack of insight into getting this working properly. Due to this, Steam has stepped in and has begun refunding people who had already pre-purchased the game, and this is where it is all getting highly frustrating. No, not because people won’t be able to play a game they want to play, but the implications this can cause.
Simply put, PlayStation seemingly doesn’t know how to handle the porting process of PlayStation to PC games. Sure, it seemed it was doing fine in the past, having already released several titles, including Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Horizon Forbidden West, and God of War, to name a few. Except, those games didn’t require players to log into PSN, and if you did log into the service, you’d get a perk. Now, requiring PSN for its online components for its games is locking out more than half of the number of countries in the world, with it being available in under 70 of those countries.
To me, this feels like PlayStation is purposely sabotaging the Ghost of Tsushima PC release, which is likely going to cause the game to sell considerably less than it would have before all this crap started. I can already see PlayStation claiming that bringing its games to the PC doesn’t work. Or worse, those PlayStation plastic box loyalists screaming something about piracy, or PlayStation games suck on the PC, or something else equally stupid.
Now, it’s not that I disagree that PlayStation shouldn’t have an option for its titles to access PSN. I’m actually 100% behind this. It’s a PlayStation title; it should have access to everything that is PlayStation. It’s just that the PlayStation Network isn’t ready for what PlayStation wants from it. Again, not being available in most of the world is a big issue. Back in 2020, PlayStation stated its intention to bring more of its games to the PC. Following that announcement, the company began searching for someone to lead this initiative. Did no one ever think to say, “Hey, maybe we’re going about this the wrong way?”
Just look at this. For everyone saying, “Just make an account,” it’s not so simple. Sure, people have created accounts in other regions for years. But with all of what’s happening, you really don’t think that PlayStation won’t be cracking down on this, especially with all of this happening now? Unlike Microsoft / Xbox accounts, these are a bit more restrictive, and the TOS (Terms of Service) tells you that if you are caught making an account in a region that doesn’t support PSN, your account will be suspended.
3.1. All information provided during Account creation, and during the use of your Account, must be accurate and complete. We reserve the right to suspend, terminate or restrict any Account (including as stated in Section 12.2 of this Agreement) that uses or was created using false information, or that we determine was created or used for a purpose that violates this Agreement.
3.2. During Account creation you must select the country or region of your residence and in which your account will be registered in. Once your account is created, you will not be able to change the country or region code associated with your account.
12.2. Suspension or Termination by SIE. With or without notice, we may restrict, suspend or terminate your PSN Account and PlayStation Device, or indefinitely restrict, suspend or discontinue your access to or, or use of, certain PSN Content, offerings, features, products and services, if you violate this Agreement or we have a reasonable belief such a violation has or will occur, or as otherwise may be reasonably necessary to protect our PSN users, our partners, our platform, or other SIE interests.
Then, you have specific GDPR regulations stating that it is illegal for a company to request more information than what is required during an account creation. With the Helldivers 2 situation, it was already proven that players didn’t need PSN in the first place to play the game on Steam. Granted, I’m not a lawyer, but I can read that this does not put PlayStation in a desirable position. All of these are significant roadblocks to PlayStation’s PSN plans. You can see why the company would rather shoot itself in the foot than do the right things to get PSN rolled out to more than the 69 countries it is available in now.
With Helldivers 2, PlayStation said it would go back and learn from that mess, and possibly do better.
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.
