PlayStation Drops Mandatory PSN Account Requirement for PC Players

PlayStation Drops Mandatory PSN Account Requirement for PC Players

It seems PlayStation has finally listened to the community. In a recent blog post, the company announced that a PlayStation Network (PSN) account will now be optional for upcoming PC titles, including Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us Part II. This decision comes after significant backlash from PC players when PlayStation made a PSN account mandatory for Helldivers 2 and later for Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.

Following a rough reception and a wave of review-bombing for Helldivers 2, PlayStation rolled back the requirement for that title but continued to enforce the PSN account for other games, seemingly ignoring the initial backlash. Now, it appears they’ve recognized that the mandatory sign-up was an unpopular move.

In the brief announcement, PlayStation framed the change as a way to provide “in-game content incentives” for those who choose to sign in to a PSN account. Players who opt to link their accounts will receive added benefits such as trophies and friend management features. The post included a table detailing the extras players can earn by linking their accounts for each game.

This approach mirrors what PlayStation did for Horizon Zero Dawn: Forbidden West, which rewarded players with a bonus outfit and spear for protagonist Aloy if they connected their Steam and PSN accounts. While the latest post doesn’t explicitly confirm this will be the standard going forward, it hints at a shift in strategy.

The entire saga has been quite absurd. PlayStation initially dropped the requirement for Helldivers 2 after the community and developers expressed their frustration, leading to significant repercussions, including the dismissal of a community manager. The mandatory account requirement was then applied to single-player games, which many players felt was unnecessary, especially considering the lack of need for online connectivity.

This decision previously made certain games inaccessible to PC players in over 100 countries where signing up for Sony’s service was not possible, irritating not only those without a PlayStation console but also many others. Most recently, the PSN account was required for the upcoming PC release of The Last of Us Part II, set to launch in April. However, that requirement has now been lifted as well, with an optional sign-in offering an in-game jacket inspired by Naughty Dog’s upcoming title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

Hopefully, this marks the end of a frustrating chapter. The initial decision was unpopular, upset a large segment of the player base, and likely only served the interests of some internal number crunchers at Sony. Now that linking accounts is purely optional, players can focus on what truly matters: whether the games themselves are enjoyable.