Helldivers 2 developer CEO responds to tragic review bombing controversy

The Helldivers 2 community has turned on the game after recent changes were announced by publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE).

SIE took to the Helldivers 2 Steam listing to post an update regarding coming changes to the game, particularly the ending of the grace period for optional PlayStation Network (PSN) account linking. According to SIE, at the game's launch technical issues enabled Steam accounts being linked to a PSN account to be temporarily optional, and now that time period will expire. As of May 6, all new Helldivers 2 players will be required to connect their Steam account to a PSN account.

Additionally, current Steam players will begin to see a mandatory login from May 30 and will be required to have linked a Steam and PlayStation Network account by June 4. These changes of forcing a PSN account connection haven't boded well with many Helldivers 2 players, as the reviews for the game are now experiencing an incredibly high influx of bad reviews. Just on May 3, the Helldivers 2 Steam listing received more than 36,000 negative reviews.

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Now, the CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Studios, Johan Pilestedt, has responded to the review bombing, admitting the backlash was "warranted" and apologizing to the Helldivers 2 community for "how this all transpired".

Additionally, the Helldivers 2 Community Manager for the title's Discord replied to a user asking what happens to their account if the country they live in doesn't have the PSN network, meaning they are unable to make an account and would be locked out of the game due to a PSN account being mandatory for play.

"First of all, it's Sony's decision, not ours. Secondly, we don't have all the details about region related issues yet. We're chasing Sony to get more info," wrote Twinbeard, Helldivers 2 Discord Community Manager