PlayStation Almost DOOMED Helldivers 2

What is the most important aspect of a live-service game? Well if you know anything about myself and the fact that I absolutely despise live-service games with the intensity of a thousand suns…you would know that there must be an emphasis on player retention for the publisher and the developer to be successful throughout the game’s life cycle.

To put it in gamer-speak: no constant player-base, no game.

And how do you retain us? By continuously putting out updates, adding valuable new content, and providing gamers with an experience indicative of what they encountered when they first bought the game so that gamers are happy with the product, their lifetime value increases over time and, in turn, the publisher and developer are able to turn a profit.

THIS is not rocket science, and it shouldn’t have to be. Until…PlayStation decided to ignore their fans and, instead, do what they thought was in the “best interest” of the business. Which leads us to Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 may, in fact, be one of the best video games of 2024, and that is neither a shock nor hyperbole. With their unbelievable gameplay, incredible storytelling, and hilariously viral multiplayer experience, there’s no wonder why people are flocking to this game EVEN THOUGH it’s a live-service game. That is what Arrowhead Game Studios set out to do when they created Helldivers 2 and they delivered on that promise ten-fold. “Freedom. Peace. Democracy.” Queue the explosions, fighter jets, and bald eagles. And, with such an immensely engaged and active user base between the fans and the game developers to provide feedback and support, there were practically no obstructions throughout the customer journey, creating a seamless, and extremely lucrative, funnel.

But then PlayStation decided to ruin all of it, and all for one single misstep.

For those who were unaware of the Helldivers 2 fiasco, Arrowhead Game Studios, when they partnered with PlayStation Studios to be their publisher 6 months ago, had signed an agreement explaining that, in order for gamers to play Helldivers 2 on Steam from PC, they are required to create and provide a PSN Account before they play the game.

Now, I’m not particularly keen on the idea of forcing gamers to provide anything considering that they, oh I don’t know, BOUGHT THE GAME and are expecting a product for that payment. Though I do know that there are some other companies, specifically Ubisoft, that also do this for their first-party games so that the data gathered from the gamers integrates directly to their ecosystem and the company is able tailor their in-game purchases to the specific gamer. In order to create a more integrated customer journey for the end consumer, I completely understand why some companies would opt to require gamers to do this.

However, that was not the case for Helldivers 2 because this requirement was waived when PC gamers first bought the game back when the game was released in February. Therefore, for almost 4 months, PC gamers had been unimpeded in their efforts to play the game because the requirement to have a PSN account did not exist. But the moment that PlayStation announced that they would be requiring that all PC gamers have a PSN account to play the game…

200,000 negative reviews and an “Overwhelmingly Negative” rating on Steam. There’s an old adage that speaks to this result perfectly: “Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes”.

The worst part of this entire debacle is that it could have been entirely avoided if PlayStation decided to terminate the requirement and listen to their player base. Therefore, as of yesterday morning, PlayStation finally backed down and caved to the gamers.

Honestly, as a gamer myself, even though I have absolutely no stake in this game because I’m not invested in this game whatsoever, I am very proud of the gaming community and what they accomplished by speaking up and showing behemoth publishers like PlayStation that profits do not come first. The duty of the publisher, especially when speaking on a live-service game, is to provide the product and to facilitate a customer journey that cultivates a strong, lasting relationship so that gamers are happy and profits are high.

And, with the scandal coming to an end, let’s create something to remember it by:

I’m just saying, this would make for an absolutely LEGENDARY cape. Think about it, Arrowhead Game Studios.

Well that’s it from me! Thank you all so much for checking out this article, if you want to hear our video commentary on this entire situation, you can check out our latest podcast on the Not for Normies Podcast on YouTube here where we talk about it in-depth. As well, if you want to read more articles like this one, you can always check out the Not for Normies website here where we talk about all of the latest news in gaming every week. Have a great rest of your week, play some video games and, as always, don’t be a normie!