![Following Ferocious PC Backlash, PSN Accounts Will Become Optional But Offer In-Game Rewards 1](https://images.pushsquare.com/487d7f049b8bd/following-ferocious-pc-backlash-psn-accounts-will-become-optional-but-offer-in-game-rewards-1.900x.jpg)
Sony has announced a couple of changes to the range of first-party games it's bringing to PC, and it's good news all around.
A particularly thorny issue is that players on PC have been forced to link up to a PSN account in order to play certain games — including a few that don't have any meaningful online functionality.
However, it seems the platform holder is softening on this requirement. For some of Sony's games on PC, a PSN account will no longer be mandatory.
The games in question include Marvel's Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, God of War Ragnarok, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.
"An account for PlayStation Network will become optional for these titles on PC," reads a new post on the PS Blog.
While that'll be welcome news for PC users, Sony obviously still wants you to engage with PSN, so it's also offering new incentives for linking your account on PC.
In addition to benefits like "trophies and friend management", the four aforementioned games "will all soon be adding in-game content unlocks for PlayStation Network account users".
The in-game benefits are as follows:
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 — Early unlock suits: the Spider-Man 2099 Black Suit and the Miles Morales 2099 Suit
- God of War Ragnarok — Gain access to the Armor of the Black Bear set for Kratos at the first Lost Items chest in the Realm Between Realms (previously only accessible in a New Game+ run) and a resource bundle (500 Hacksilver and 250 XP)
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered —
- +50 points to activate bonus features and unlock extras
- Jordan’s Jacket from Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet as a skin for Ellie
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered — Gain access to Nora Valiant outfit
Interestingly, the PS Blog post rounds out by adding that these in-game unlocks will be an incentive in other future titles. "Game creators at PlayStation Studios will continue to work on bringing more benefits to players who sign up for a PlayStation Network account, so be sure to follow studio channels for more information."
These feel like smart changes to us; requiring a PSN account for games like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered or God of War Ragnarok has been a pet peeve for PC players. Making PSN accounts a bit more attractive, while also making them optional for certain games, feels like it's pleasing both sides.
What do you think? Is this a good call from Sony? Are you interested in in-game incentives to link your PSN account on PC? Discuss in the comments section below.
[source blog.playstation.com]
Comments 55
This is how it should have been, to begin with. Better super late than never, I guess.
Finally a sensible outcome, incentivise people to sign up rather than forcing them into needless accounts
The way it always should've been.
Fully expecting the tribalistic sort around here to start crying about this, though, as if this is anything other than a positive development.
Is that step one damage control after the Hulst "demotion"?
I guess PC master race gets what they want but we the playstation fans what do we get?
What do you mean everyone doesn't want an additional arbitrary account to have to use to be able to play games, which also limits access to those games in countries where they can't sign up for the account? Who knew?
Do PlayStation 5 players also get these in game rewards?
Nice, hope this approach is picked by other publishers insisting on linking to their launcher! (looking at you, Ubi)
And some said that PC players are just being difficult and outrages don’t work)
Good for PC gamers, I guess? But I suppose this is a problem that Sony created themselves in the first place so I guess this is their way of backtracking to avoid further damage. Good on them still
Does that mean if we moan enough then we won't have to make a Microsoft account to play Minecraft or Sea of Theives?
@zebric21 Not sure what you expect?
@MrPeanutbutterz An incentive for being a loyal customer at a guess?
Another W for PC users. See what you can get when you complain instead of being complacent?
Glad they found a solution and made it optional. Making it a requirement was dumb.
This is a reinforcement of their commitment to be a big player on PC/steam in the future. Which is good for everyone.
@Oram77 You get the product you want. Otherwise you wouldn't be a customer to begin with.
Thats nice for them, suppose i better look down the back of the couch for some spare change for a 5090.
Once again proving that bullying works. Now we're only inches away from day and date PC single player releases, then it's a wrap.
Now they just need to relist the 177 blocked countries and all's well that ends well.
Ironic isn't Hulst gets sort of dropped as Co-Ceo and then they announce that it's sort of mandatory now for PC gamers?? Should have been like this in the first place Helldivers 2 would probably have a larger pool of players. Maybe the should just bring it back and say it's mandatory for that as well and offer maybe super credits like say 500 as a starting bonus
Helldivers 2 needs more trophies to be honest
Now, can Sony drop PS+ requirement to play online so i don't need to sub every year?
PSN accounts should not be mandatory for SP games, but 100% should be mandatory for online/MP games as it allows Sony some control over cheaters / toxic players. Same for all other publisher accounts.
There and back again to how things should have been. The issue was the games were not available worldwide. There is no coincidence that they reversed this before the release of Spider Man 2. They know this game will be popular worldwide.
The difference between comments here and comments on the PS blog are night and day, wow!!
I'm all about options, and I'm glad Sony is giving PC players the option to sign in if they want to. Never should have been mandatory, and I think the incentives are exactly right too. Now, please add a sign in option for Helldivers so I can get that sweet Platinum trophy!!
@truerbluer Ah yes, the poor multi billion company getting "bullied". Really I feel so bad for them lol
@Rich33 but isn't a Microsoft account required for all ms games on pc?
Won't make a lick of a difference. Ghost of Tsushima won't sell 2 million units on PC like it did on PS4 in just 3 days, regardless of PSN requirement nonsense or not. In fact, it won't sell 2 million on PC in 2000 days lol.
What does that tell you about how much of a waste of time it is bringing these single player games to PC when at the same time you are stumbling and not bringing brand new PS5 only games consistently to this same audience that supports and buys your games in the millions???
Absolutely ludicrous.
@twitchtvpat Yes. 100%. You need an Xbox account to play any Xbox game on Steam regardless of what it is. Just another of the many Xbox myths out there that people pretend isn't a thing.
@twitchtvpat
Honestly, I dont know about MS - my opinion is that it should be: SP no account, MP needs account (so they can ban cheats / toxic players), for all publishers etc.
I do think that Sony have been unfairly singled out here though (I get the argument that PSN accounts aren't available in all territories, but no one ever successfully argued that this affected a non-negligible number of actual gamers that would buy the games if available - the arguments were all about how many territories, which isnt the same).
Everyone did seem to jump on Sony for doing the exact same as others, and Im not sure they haven't given in to a loud minority who weren't intending to buy their games anyway. Even so, I dont see the need for accounts for SP games.
Edit: and I see the MS question has been answered while I was typing, which if correct for SP games, makes anyone who happily accepted an MS account, but not a Sony account, a bit of a hypocrite.
What about Helldivers 2? Does that require a PSN account?
@Papers92
I second this!
@Rich33
This how they handled the PSN requirement with Ghost of Tsushima on PC. An account was only needed to play the Legends mode; for single player, an account wasn't required.
Removed - trolling/baiting
Should've been like this from the beginning, glad they're making the change.
@twitchtvpat @andrewsqual No. it 100% not required for all Microsoft games on PC. It actually only required for games that have online features (Flight sim, Forza, Halo…etc)
You can play single player games without, and this how it has been since they went to Steam.
EDIT: If a game requires a 3rd party account. Steam listed it on the Steam page.
@Jacko11 advocates for physical games.
@andrewsqual not true. If a game on Steam requires the consumer to use another launcher or account, the page for the game has this information on it. There are numerous Xbox Game Studios games on Steam that don't require an Xbox account to play.
Yet another Sony walk back I'm happy they're doing. I've always said they should be providing an incentive, not straight up forcing the login, so good to see they're taking that to heart.
@twitchtvpat A microsoft account is required for most games on PC- not only microsoft ones. You need a Microsoft account to run Windows, and most PC games (including every Sony one) lists a version of Windows in it's spec- meaning these games do not (officially) work on other operating systems.
@Rich33 They aren't doing a good job, the most toxic players on helldivers play on playstation nothing but bad experiences with them
@Wiceheid when sony make their own OS then they can force accounts
@JustinTimberlake
I don't play it, so can't have an opinion either way on toxic players in HD.
Cheat software is thankfully fairly confined to PC.
My argument is that they need the mechanism in place to be able to suspend/ban for these behaviours, although I think maybe a different method is needed for toxic players to try and force a change quicker, without severely sanctioning players who are unfairly accused.
I won't say anything more about it.
Sony will notice if they continue to strengthen Valve and then destroy their biggest source of income because everyone gets a PC instead of a PS6.
Seriously, how stupid can a corporation be?
and no one can tell me that Totokoi didn't see that coming; there have been rumors for a long time that Valve is releasing a console.
So basically the Pc Crybaby Race.
@andrewsqual you realise that porting a ps5 game to pc is a lot cheaper and less time consuming than making a new ps5 game, right? Not to mention the large differences in staffing and roles.
Digital foundry has interviewed the pc port technical director of jet pack interactive, the studio responsible for bringing the original gow reboot and Ragnarök to pc, on separate occasions. Both interviews are quite technical and talk about the porting process, they also reveal that it is a technical team of about 4 full time people, with some additional support from QA that were largely responsible for working on the pc versions over several years.
The insomniac leaks also revealed that ratchet and clank; rift apart cost just over $80 million to make, over several years. The pc port cost $2.6 million and was completed in just 5 months.
Sony have clearly done the math, and compared to creating a new title, pc porting is very cost effective. The insomniac leaks also showed that ratchet and clank failed to recoup its costs on ps5. It makes sense that Sony are trying to maximise the return on their titles by tapping into the pc market, especially with the limited extra resources and costs involved.
The new ceo is the finance guy he saw that ***** was messing with there money 💰 and put the pin in that idea
See - voting with your wallet works!
I know you all are passionate about PlayStation, but Sony injecting its will onto PC gamers cost reputation and sales.
PC gamers couldn’t care less about PlayStation as a platform. If the game is great and publisher doesn’t do stupid stuff to the consumer, they will buy the game.
Sony makes great games. Sony makes stupid decisions against consumers.
This sucks.
Sony should have doubled down on PSN, anti-cheating and pirating.
Now, anyone can play first-party studio games outside of the walled-garden for free. This prevents sales, rewards the cheaters and keeps people from entering your eco-system as so many others did and became decade-long customers.
But the fact the whiners (and this issue was a non-issue) have inspired me to think that customers on the console should come together to protest the high prices of games these days. Why should loyal customers pay extra when Sony are giving it away for free on PC!?
It's absurd that some people are against this - but not unexpected, such is the world we live in. Anyway, it seems like common sense finally prevailed at Sony. Optional PSN logins with additional benefits was always the way to go for single-player titles.
@MrPeanutbutterz Many things can be done so ps5 players don't feel like second class citizens. The list is huge.
@zebric21 You're getting the games first, in most cases several years before the PC releases, and you're getting versions that are perfectly optimized for the system (something Sony's first-party studios are still very good at). How that makes you feel like a second class citizen is beyond me.
@Ainu20 @zebric21 I'm a PS5 player since launch day, and PlayStation has been my main platform since 1997. There's no "second-class citizen" complex happening here.
I also recognise this as a little bit of a sweetener for PC players after the mandatory PSN login debacle. It's Good Business 101.
If people feel like they're that hard-done by Sony here then the obvious answer is to move to PC, but we both know that for the vast majority of people that won't happen, especially over something as meaningless and inconsequential as PSN login bonuses.
As Ainu20 says, you're getting well-optimised versions of these games years before PC users. You're also getting great bang-for-buck hardware, one that typically gets the best versions of multiplatform games, and has the best third party support.
It's not a perfect platform, but such a thing doesn't exist.
@EfYI That's one of the worst takes I've ever seen on this site.
If pirating PC games is as common as you're intimating it is, then why is Steam such a massive and successful platform? And do you really care about people cheating in a single player game that much?
This bit...
... was deliciously ironic, by the way.
@MrPeanutbutterz
Haha, it's very healthy to laugh and I had to laugh as well. You think I wouldn't allow players to cheat in a single player game? I don't think the term applies to SP games - as it has to have a human victim.
I am sure that Sony wanted the PSN be ubiquitous like on its console. Having people on PSN allows you to have security and verification and onboarding processes that otherwise couldn't exist.
@EfYI Ha, good stuff so.
I broadly agree with you about PSN, it preventing cheats (which is one of the reasons I'm happy to sit in the paid-for walled garden than use PC), etc., but I find it being mandatory for use on PlayStation fair game, but other platforms? Not so much.
They definitely wanted all that delicious data, but went about it the wrong way. This seems far more palatable.
Good to see the sh*tshow is now ending, PSN accounts now being optional on PC with incentives, the way it really should always have been.
I could understand, to a point, why some may have found the reaction a little overblown. At least if you already had a legacy PSN account.
But for people in the UK, creating a new PSN account now requires ID authentication for an 18+ account. So not only were people required to create, let's face it, an unnecessary account for a PC game (especially egregious for singleplayer games), people in the UK then had the extra hurdle of having to submit ID, photo and/or phone number (likely only monthly, not a pay-go) for verification.
And of course PSN not being available worldwide, the account requirement immediately cut off vast swathes of the world's population from even being able to buy, or continue using a bought game.
@zebric21 you get more games you love with the added revenue
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...