Sony Eases Story Linking Requirement for PC Games
Listing through Sony Santa Monica/Jetpack Interactive/PlayStation.
Sony is decreasing the number of its PC ports that necessitate a PlayStation Network account to function.
These accounts will now not be mandatory for four specific PC titles: Shock’s Spider-Man 2, the forthcoming Final of Us Part II Remastered, along with the already-released God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Sony is motivating gamers to assist in linking their accounts by providing trophy support, unique in-game skins, and additional advantages for the respective titles.
Last year, Sony made account linking a prerequisite for its PC adaptations, commencing with Arrowhead Studios’ Helldivers II. At that moment, they indicated that players would need to combine either a pre-existing or new PlayStation Network account with their Steam profiles, leading to significant backlash that resulted in Sony retracting the requirement. Players also opted to create a (now removed) mod to bypass the account requirement for Ragnarok’s Steam version.
Gamers have criticized Sony for this requirement, partly because PlayStation Network is not accessible in all countries where Steam operates. The latest announcement aims to better cater to gamers in those areas.
Currently, Sony has not disclosed if it will further ease the account linking stipulation for other titles. It stated its current intention is to enable its first-party studios to “continue working on bringing more perks to players who register for a PlayStation Network account.”
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Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
Originally from Kansas City, MO, Justin Carter has contributed to a wide array of websites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. Besides Game Developer, his work can also be found at io9 on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him about how much gum he has consumed, as the answer may be more than he is willing to admit.