CEO of Arrowhead opens up about Helldivers 2 drama, 'I don't have the final say'

A week ago, Helldivers 2 was beloved by PC and console gamers alike and on track to become Game of the Year by many. Then Sony and developer Arrowhead announced that PC players would need to team up with a PlayStation Network account to continue playing the game in the months ahead.

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The news did not go down well, with many citing Sony's spotty track record regarding privacy and user accounts getting hacked. Also, with the PlayStation Network being unavailable in a long list of countries, lots of current Helldivers 2 players are set to lose access to the game. According to the studio, the game was always meant to have this requirement, with the PSN component only being optional at launch.

With hundreds of thousands of negative reviews on Steam, Helldivers II has gone from being one of the most beloved games on the platform to now sitting on a 'Mixed' user review score, with the most recent reviews being 'Overwhelmingly Negative.' With damage control in full effect, the CEO of Arrowhead, Johan Pilestedt, has taken to social media to state that the decision is out of their hands and was mandated by PlayStation.

"Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community - but I don't have the final say," Johan writes. The team is also speaking with Sony to find a solution for players and those in countries without access to PSN accounts.

Interestingly, in a reply, Johan adds that the team knew of the PSN requirement before the game's launch (six months before) and that it was a policy for all multiplayer games published by Sony - regardless of platform. "I am not blameless in all of this - it was my decision to disable account linking at launch so that players could play the game," Johan adds. "I did not ensure players were aware of the requirement, and we didn't talk about it enough."

So where to from here? The situation will evolve in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned. Sony is serious about PC gaming and bringing PC gamers into its PlayStation Network. Although this month's Ghost of Tsushima PC launch won't require a PSN login to play through the single-player campaign, the game is set to introduce a PlayStation Network overlay for PC, with Trophy integration. Plus, that game's multiplayer will require a PSN account to play.