Helldivers 2 Is Being Review Bombed

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They sold a game in 200 regions, 73 of those regions can actually make psn accounts

PSN isn't even available in my country. They're simply banning me from playing the game that I paid for...

I can’t wait till Sony goes "Technically, playing Hellduvers 2 online is a PS Plus feature so we're gonna need you to pay for PS Plus on Steam". Mark my words.

It's ironic that they gave a poorly described "grace period" for account linking to give them time to handle the massive number of new players... and by now making account linking mandatory they will likely drive away a large number of those new players.

Sony just chose the anti-consumer route yet again. Expect more layoffs soon.

Its not reviewing bombing. Im simply connecting my account to a negative review. Its for the safety and security of all Helldivers that I do this.

A few things that you didn't mention that I think are quite important to the story: 1.) A short prompt was shown to some players when starting the game for the first time prompting them to link their PlayStation accounts. However you could skip the step, with wording that seemed like this was completely optional. This page also didn't show for everyone. Some players, myself included, didn't even know it was an option until now. 2.) They could have limited what regions could buy the game on steam, however they did not. This means they willfully allowed people to buy and play the game in regions that they knew would not be able to play in the future. I say willfully instead of chopping it up to them being neglectful, due to the fact that the game can STILL be purchased in those regions even after this. 3.) While the United Kingdom and Ireland are both included in the 69 countries that are supported by the PlayStation, there is an issue when creating an account for those users. When creating a PlayStation account they are required to submit either a photo of themselves or a photo of their government issued identification. This is required to verify your age on your PlayStation account. I personally wouldn't trust any company with my ID, let alone one that has had a history of data breaches (as recent as 2022). 4.) I understand that this was Sony's doing, however Arrowhead is not an innocent party here. They at no time (prior to this or now) have done anything to rectify this issue, and they got themselves into this position. This was something that they could have fought on prior to launch. They could have mentioned this at, before, or even after launch, but instead stayed quiet about it until now. Now they may not have been able to change the accessible regions for purchase on Steam, as it was published my Sony and they may have been the only ones who could do that. However they could have very well geofenced players in those regions from being able to play, and stated this as being why. Not only would this have been a warning for what was to come, but it also would have likely alleviated some of the server issues at launch. In all both Arrowhead and Sony are to blame here, but mostly Sony. While they say its for moderation and safety, it clearly isn't as we have been fine without it with the current moderation. And there is nothing safe about Sony having your data. This to me seems like Sony using Helldivers 2 to get more playing information to sell, as MOST companies do. This isn't something that is isolated, but quite common. None the less it shouldn't be tolerated.

You are missing the part where many people on Twitter are showing that Sony has changed their FAQ about PC games in the past few hours as a result of this Helldivers incident. The wording changed from "linking PSN to Steam is optional" to "Some games will require linking PSN to Steam". And also, a different Community manager from Arrowhead said that the reason for mandatory linking now is "ONLY to make banning people easier".

For good reasons, why should pc players give their vital steam info to a 3rd party company that gets its database breached frequently?

The military simulation in HD2 is so deep, they've even added the part where leadership starts threatening punishments out of nowhere because you didn't make an account for something that they just now decided was important.

No, that "need a third party account" was NOT shown when I bought it on steam. I wouldn't have bought it if it had. I never agreed to Sonys EULA and TOS when I bought the game.

If you think I’m putting my literal photo ID anywhere near a Sony server you’re out of your damn mind. ‘Ooh making your account is just a bit annoying’ No. You shouldn’t be encouraging anyone to sign up to any network that has more holes in it than a sieve.

Almost like forcing a retroactive change to a game preventing people from playing after they buy is an issue

It's not review bombing... People are criticizing the changes that happened retroactively, so why can't they change their review retroactively without having it be called "Review bombing"

I don't think describing 127 regions that the game was sold in will no longer be able to access the game after this month as 'A bit bloody annoying'.

It's entirely possible to go to the store page and buy the game without scrolling down and seeing the steam warning.

I don't think "review bombing" applies when negative reviews are left for a valid reason.

its not "bombing", its a legitimate critic.

Sorry but "they put a disclaimer up" doesn't fly. The buy button is at the top of the store. That disclaimer is two screens down. "We technically put something in the small print so it's your fault for spending money" is a terrible argument. One of the largest drivers of sales for this game is existing players convincing their friends to grab it to join in... when you're buying it to jump into a friend's game, you don't decide to read through all the small print, you just want to get into the game. What this amounts to is they changed the rules after people had enough time to play past the refund window. If you're going to blame users for not spotting a tiny notification that's not on the first screen of the store page, then would you blame people for not reading a 500 page license agreement book, or the apple terms of service?