Helldivers 2 to make Steam/PlayStation account linking mandatory by June

Helldivers 2 will soon require PC players to link their Steam account to the PlayStation Network.

On the game's Steam page, developer Arrowhead says new players will have to make a free PSN account (if they don't already have one) and link it starting on Monday, May 6. Current players will have to do so by June 4.

When the game launched and became suddenly popular, account linking was made "temporarily optional." Arrowhead and Sony had what it called a "grace period" for Steam users to play it without linking.

That time is now over, and Arrowhead said this "plays a critical role in protecting our players" from griefing and abuse.

Helldivers 2 and PlayStation's account linking plans

In mid-April, Sony revealed that a new PC overlay was coming with the port of Ghost of Tsushima. Like with Helldivers 2, Steam players will need a PSN account linked to play the co-op Legends mode.

Account linking makes it so players share trophy progress between PC and PlayStation consoles, though not cross-progression or cross-save. The feature officially came into being with the launch of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered.

The new requirement indicates that future PC ports of PlayStation games may ask the same of players.

At time of writing, the response from players has been swiftly negative. Per Kotaku writer Ethan Gach, Arrowhead said this was Sony's call, and was looking into how this will work for regions that don't support PSN accounts.

Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt encouraged players to send feedback to PlayStation customer support.