Steam's biggest game just became unplayable for millions of us, refunds issued

One of Steam's biggest 2024 games is about to become completely unplayable for millions of gamers, and the news is going down about as well as you'd expect.

PlayStation recently announced that it would be forcing Helldivers 2 Steam players to connect via a PlayStation Network account from 6 May, a move that is having serious repercussions.

In a statement, PlayStation claimed “technical issues” when Helldivers 2 allowed Steam players to access the game without linking accounts.

As a result, from 6 May all new Helldivers 2 players on Steam will need to connect their Steam account to a PSN account. Current players will need to link accounts by 4 June.

Given that Helldivers 2 has become one of 2024's biggest and most popular games, the backlash to this decision has been swift and brutal.

PlayStation argues the move is in the interests of "safety and security", writing: “Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games.

“This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behavior. It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal.”

Naturally, Steam gamers aren't taking this lying down. Helldivers 2 has been heavily review bombed over the last few days, moving from Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam to Mixed overall, while recent reviews have been Mostly Negative.

Meanwhile, to make matters worse, Twitter user Wario64 points out that Helldivers 2 is now completely unavailable to purchase in numerous countries.

Helldivers 2 on Steam is now unable to purchase in numerous countries after it was announced that a PSN login will soon be required.

Steam has also been approving refund requests for players even if they've played over 2 hours https://t.co/8O7etaebpH pic.twitter.com/0P5hcOyiaL

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 5, 2024

These largely appear to be the countries that don't have PSN, making Helldivers 2 literally unplayable for millions of gamers across the globe unless PlayStation changes its stance.

Further, Steam has been approving Helldivers 2 refund requests irregardless of how much time people have put into the game.

This is an incredibly messy situation, and Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has advised frustrated players direct any questions or concerns to PlayStation Support.