Helldivers 2 has been pulled from Steam in 170 countries without PSN access, while Valve ignores its own policy to issue refunds for players with over 100 hours
May. 5, 2024Steam only issues refunds for players with less than 2 hours of playtime in-game, normally
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TheHelldivers 2debacle has reached new hellish lows as the year’s best-selling game is now unavailable on Steam in over 170 countries.
Earlier this week, publisherSonyannounced thatall Helldivers 2 PC players would soon need to link to an active PlayStation Network accountor lose access to the game, a mandate that was once a simple option at launch and has since led tothousands of negative user reviewshitting the once widely popular shooter.
A Helldivers 2 community manager just yesterday assured thatpeople in countries without PSN coverage could continue playingthe game and wouldn’t be blocked. But now, Helldivers 2 has been pulled from more than 170 territories lackingPSNcoverage, according to listings fromSteam Database. While some global players won’t be able to join the fight and buy the game, it’s unclear if existing Helldivers 2 owners will be able to continue playing if they live in unsupported regions.
Either way, that’s a massive blow to Helldivers 2 - a game that becameone of Sony’s all-time best-sellers thanks to the PC version- and it raises questions about why the game was available in those territories to begin with, especially if the PSN mandate was always planned, as Sony said in its announcement note.
Ignoring its own policies, Steam stewardsValvehave also reportedly beenissuingrefundsto several long-time Helldivers that have logged into Super Earth space for more than 100 hours. Steam policy normally doesn’t allow for refunds if a player exceeds two hours in-game, but since the PSN requirement came months after launch, Valve (rightly) seems to be making an exception.
A Helldivers 2 developer recently reiterated thatthe PSN change came from Sony, not the talented team at Arrowhead Studios, so issuing refunds is probably the most effective route to getting a message across, as opposed to shouting toxicity at devs. Sony also announced the mandate on a Friday, and thus, has yet to officially respond to the backlash that has escalated pretty wildly in just a few days.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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