HELLDIVERS 2 Drops to Mixed Recent Reviews After Controversial Change — Arrowhead CEO Responds

EDIT: This has now since been changed — check out our other news piece for information.

The surprise hit of 2024 — HELLDIVERS 2 — has entered its biggest controversy yet, and Steam users worldwide aren't happy. From its previously triumphant release that matched even CAPCOM's behemoth Dragon's Dogma 2, the freedom third-person shooter has received over 40,000 negative reviews after Arrowhead Game Studios announces new requirements to access the title.

The short and sweet of it is that HELLDIVERS 2 will lock entry to players who do not create a PlayStation Network from accessing the title after the 4th of June, while new players will need to create one to access the game on the 6th of May. The newest requirement has brought the most significant wave of controversy HELLDIVERS 2 has met thus far, and it's not likely to recover from that any time soon.

Ouch, right in the review score 

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.

I just want to make great games! pic.twitter.com/EPO7apDUlc

— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 3, 2024

A major part of this controversy is focused on players who were able to buy and play HELLDIVERS 2 from countries that can't make a PlayStation Network account. There are a large number of players who own the game and might not be able to access it in just one month — considering the game has been out since the 8th of February, many can no longer refund it as per Steam's Refund Policy. Arrowhead Game Studios' response to all of this? "We are discussing that question with our partners at PlayStations and trying to find a solution."

Many are also reluctant to join the PlayStation Network, as it has been part of numerous hacker attacks over the course of the years, with several millions of users having their personal data accessed by these hackers. From April 2011 (with 77 million Sony PlayStation Network users being affected) to even October 2023, when there was an employee data breach, among many other numerous hacker attacks that have plagued Sony.

It's unclear how the entire process will unfold. Though it is true that HELLDIVERS 2 has always stated that PlayStation Network would eventually become mandatory, it was part of a small textbox on its Steam store page; it seems unplanned for neither PlayStation nor Arrowhead Game Studios to have a plan for gamers in countries that would be affected. This also joins a series of concerns regarding the "ownership" of titles, as was with the recent Ubisoft controversy regarding The Crew that sparked a UK petition to "Stop Killing Games", and it creates yet another barrier between videogame developers and publishers and the loyal consumers that have made this industry thrive, killing trust in the process.