Sure, I'll throw my hat in the ring, because why not.

This whole situation is sad. Picture a game that became an absolute hit, literally everyone loves it and the devs are having a blast because their game is an unexpected mass success. Now imagine that just a few months after, where people have already sunk hundreds of hours into the game; A simple change issued by the publishers - not the developers - causes a mass exodus and review bomb approaching the history books just like War Thunder's economy changes and Overwatch 2/Counter Strike 2's outright replacement of their predecessors.

Because of the required PSN account coming out in a few days, as of the time this review is being posted, accounts will go permanently offline for any of these reasons:
- PSN accounts are disavowed in most African, Asian, and East European countries such as Russia, Singapore, and the Phillipines; The three I mentioned have especially strong playerbases spanning tens of thousands between them, and no one from those countries will be allowed to play since accounts there are automatically banned.
- Countless players dislike the idea of giving their information to Sony. A quick reminder that this is what the whole PSN account linking debacle is about in the first place, people don't want Sony to have access to their personal information.
- As if that wasn't enough, Sony has had a near-monthly data breaches, meaning that it's not just Sony getting access to personal information, but hackers too. Considering the prolific playerbase on PC, safe to say that this could be a genuine problem.
- The argument has also been made that it's literally another linked account when countless players are here on Steam. Literally over 600 thousand people have MADE REVIEWS at the time of this post, think of Ubisoft and EA and other companies requiring additional accounts to play a game you purchased here on Steam. Understandably, people are getting sick of it.
- Here's one more. The morality behind it all. The PSN collar is unnecessarily restricting, and will outright ban a sizeable portion of the playerbase. I personally know someone who will be banned just because of where they live, can't play Helldivers 2 with them anymore if this goes through. So between the absolute corporate greed ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ this game and its community sideways over a bonfire, the sheer insecurity introduced and LITERAL OPPRESSION the update will introduce, it's no wonder that Sony's "Cracking down" attitude has caused such an overwhelming wave in hostility from the playerbase.

I was under the impression Sony's demand to have a PSN account linked had to do with server reliability, but apparently nah, it's just for data collection. The lesson is simple: Don't choke the leash on ecstatic gamers, especially when that game is very much still in its prime.

Speaking honestly, I really don't know if Helldivers II will ever recover. If Sony goes through with the PSN leash, then the game won't necessarily die, but its playerbase will be cut at minimum in half. Refunds will be going through the roof, even if Sony rescinds the PSN account requirement, the damage will have already been done to an irreparable extent. The game's future now is in question because everyone knows that they can and very well may pull another stunt like this.

I will still recommend the game, because the game itself is fun. But I cannot and will not abide in Sony's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Sure, I'll throw my hat in the ring, because why not. This whole situation is sad. Picture a game that became an absolute hit, literally everyone loves it and the devs are having a blast because their game is an unexpected mass success. Now imagine that just a few months after, where people have already sunk hundreds of hours into the game; A simple change issued by the publishers - not the developers - causes a mass exodus and review bomb approaching the history books just like War Thunder's economy changes and Overwatch 2/Counter Strike 2's outright replacement of their predecessors. Because of the required PSN account coming out in a few days, as of the time this review is being posted, accounts will go permanently offline for any of these reasons: - PSN accounts are disavowed in most African, Asian, and East European countries such as Russia, Singapore, and the Phillipines; The three I mentioned have especially strong playerbases spanning tens of thousands between them, and no one from those countries will be allowed to play since accounts there are automatically banned. - Countless players dislike the idea of giving their information to Sony. A quick reminder that this is what the whole PSN account linking debacle is about in the first place, people don't want Sony to have access to their personal information. - As if that wasn't enough, Sony has had a near-monthly data breaches, meaning that it's not just Sony getting access to personal information, but hackers too. Considering the prolific playerbase on PC, safe to say that this could be a genuine problem. - The argument has also been made that it's literally another linked account when countless players are here on Steam. Literally over 600 thousand people have MADE REVIEWS at the time of this post, think of Ubisoft and EA and other companies requiring additional accounts to play a game you purchased here on Steam. Understandably, people are getting sick of it. - Here's one more. The morality behind it all. The PSN collar is unnecessarily restricting, and will outright ban a sizeable portion of the playerbase. I personally know someone who will be banned just because of where they live, can't play Helldivers 2 with them anymore if this goes through. So between the absolute corporate greed fucking this game and its community sideways over a bonfire, the sheer insecurity introduced and LITERAL OPPRESSION the update will introduce, it's no wonder that Sony's "Cracking down" attitude has caused such an overwhelming wave in hostility from the playerbase. I was under the impression Sony's demand to have a PSN account linked had to do with server reliability, but apparently nah, it's just for data collection. The lesson is simple: Don't choke the leash on ecstatic gamers, especially when that game is very much still in its prime. Speaking honestly, I really don't know if Helldivers II will ever recover. If Sony goes through with the PSN leash, then the game won't necessarily die, but its playerbase will be cut at minimum in half. Refunds will be going through the roof, even if Sony rescinds the PSN account requirement, the damage will have already been done to an irreparable extent. The game's future now is in question because everyone knows that they can and very well may pull another stunt like this. I will still recommend the game, because the game itself is fun. But I cannot and will not abide in Sony's ass-fucking.