Helldivers 2 has enjoyed nothing but roaring success since its launch in February, though the last 24 hours have seen it on the receiving end of strong backlash. Sony recently announced that Helldivers 2 players on PC would have to link their Steam and PlayStation Network accounts to be able to play the game going forward, provoking strong criticism from the community. The game’s “Recent” user reviews rating on Steam – which takes into accounts user ratings for a game over the last 30 days – has fallen to “Mixed”, having received over 24,000 negative ratings on the platform just today.
Responding to the widespread backlash, Helldivers 2 director and developer Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt recently took to Twitter, calling the response from the community “warranted” and promising to make amends and “regain the trust” by continuing to deliver a compelling gameplay experience.
“Ouch, right in the review score,” Pilestedt wrote. “Well, I guess it’s warranted. Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience.”
One of the reasons that many have cited for their discontent with Helldivers 2’s account linking requirements is the fact that there’s a large number of countries where PlayStation Network simply isn’t available, which means many players may potentially be left out of the game altogether. That, however, is an issue that Arrowhead and Sony are currently looking into, according to Pilestedt.
“Agree that it’s an issue,” he wrote in response to a tweet bringing up the same. “We are looking into solutions on how to get around the country drop down menu if your country isn’t listed.”
Helldivers 2 is available on PS5 and PC. As of the end of March, it is Sony’s seventh best-selling game in the US to date.