Helldivers 2 Is Falling from Grace

On Thursday Night, the official Twitter account for the massively successful Helldivers 2 sent out this message with some pretty bad news:

https://twitter.com/helldivers2/status/1786282176901742797?s=19

But why is this bad news and why has it caused a very polarizing storm over the weekend? Well, it is because of the fact that the PlayStation Network is not supported in a lot of big countries. This is causing mass hysteria for people that truly love the game and want to keep playing it. There are also various other smaller countries that will be cut off by this requirement:

The game has been recently made unavailable to purchase on Steam in these countries as well. This is an extensive list of countries where people are no longer going to be able to play, more so buy the game. This is extremely disheartening as people in these countries have probably invested hundreds of hours, and a lot of money via the microtransactions offered in game as well. But why is this happening? Well, it was revealed by one of the developers at Arrowhead Studios that this decision is all on Sony/PlayStation:

Update: Arrow Head Studios says Helldivers 2 PSN account requirement was Sony decision not studio

they are working to resolve the issue via @HelldiversAlert pic.twitter.com/odsth1BhCA

— HazzadorGamin, Dragon of Dojima (@HazzadorGamin) May 3, 2024

This is extremely baffling, as this decision has caused some other very big problems for Helldivers 2.

Review Bombing, and Refunds for Helldivers 2

The community has made a call to arms and has been review bombing the game on Steam. It is currently sitting at “Mostly Negative” on Steam in the recent reviews, and this has brought to “Mixed” for overall reviews:

Helldivers 2 is now reviewing as "mostly negative" and "mixed" on Steam pic.twitter.com/TXonHYhEf8

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 5, 2024

All of this is completely warranted as it serves as a warning to people who are not in the know that a change is coming that will negatively affect everyone. The game has also seen steep drop offs in player counts. As of the time of writing, on Steam, the game has fewer players than Destiny 2, when it always averaged into the top 4 games on the platform. Only behind by very popular titles, such as PUBG, DOTA 2 and CS: GO 2. This is not good for the game, as fewer players in a very community driven game will eventually cause everyone else to stop playing. But one other problem that has arisen, are refunds being issued by Steam:

Steam has now started Refunding Helldivers 2 even if you have over 100 hrs played

via @Helldiversmedia pic.twitter.com/5za0iGJlNC

— HazzadorGamin, Dragon of Dojima (@HazzadorGamin) May 4, 2024

Now while this is a negative for Helldivers 2, it is good for the people who going to be affected by this new requirement. Whether or not players in these regions will get refunds on any microtransactions has yet to be confirmed. But being allowed a refund when you are about to be locked out of a game by arbitration is a good step forward.

Does this mean that the game will sputter off into irrelevancy and die? Only time will tell, as reported by Jez Corden of Windows Central, that Arrowhead Studios is working on a way for people to still play the game in the unsupported regions:

Helldivers 2 is exploring ways to help users who are outside of PSN-supported regions to continue to play.

Details: https://t.co/P3pkYOSuzJ#Helldivers2

— Jez (@JezCorden) May 3, 2024

One can assume this is just putting a band aid on a bullet wound. As the trust with the community is slowly crumbling. With the conversation shifting to pure negativity.

Closing Remarks

It is a shame this is happening to Helldivers 2. As it launched to glowing positivity and maintained its own momentum. The developers are closely in tuned with their community. With people who picked up the game eager to play it every day. No amount of balance patches, or ridiculous mission orders could keep people away. But this issue may be a nail in a freshly made coffin. I do not hope for the worse, however. But we will have to see what happens. Things could change if Sony/PlayStation sees lower activity, and sales of the title.

But what do you think of this situation? Do you think things will change? Will Sony/PlayStation capitulate or stand their ground? Let us know in the comments below!