Steam users furious as their pre-orders for major 2024 release are cancelled with no warning

It would appear PlayStation and Xbox are in a competition to see exactly who can burn up all their remaining goodwill the fastest.

Last week PlayStation shocked and angered fans around the world by deciding Helldivers 2 on Steam now required a PSN login, effectively making the game unplayable in the 100+ countries that don't actually have PSN.

Following swift and furious backlash, PlayStation relented. Just days later Xbox announced it would be shutting down multiple beloved studios, a move that has been roundly criticised by gamers everywhere.

Not to be outdone, PlayStation has apparently demonstrated that it has learned nothing from last week's fiasco. Eurogamer reports that Steam, Green Man Gaming, and the Epic Games Store have all notified customers that their pre-orders for Ghost Of Tsushima's upcoming PC port have been cancelled.

Why? Once again, because PlayStation is attempting to make PSN logins a requirement. In spite of Ghost Of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch confirming that a PSN login would only be needed to access the game's multiplayer mode, those in countries without access to PSN are reporting their pre-orders have been cancelled and their money refunded.

According to Eurogamer, those affected have been sent emails with the following message: “The publisher of this game is now requiring a secondary account to play portions of this game — and this account cannot be created from your country.”

Ghost Of Tsushima has also been delisted from Steam in the affected countries.

That this is happening one week after the Helldivers 2 situation is nothing short of remarkable. I have no doubt PlayStation gamers will once again react in exactly the same way, so expect to see a lot of review bombing on the PlayStation game's Steam page when it launches later this week.

It remains to be seen if PlayStation will relent like it did with Helldivers 2, but with two PC-related controversies in the space of a week, you have to wonder how much of a success PlayStation's attempt to extend into the world of PC gaming can be.