Playing the best PS5 games is starting to feel like a bad case of deja vu
Sucker Punch’s massive samurai adventure Ghost of Tsushima has come under fire because of the PSN requirement. However, unlike Helldivers 2, things are a lot different and more logical this time.
"Sony has made it clear long before its release that the PSN requirement is strictly for the online multi-player Legends mode in Ghost of Tsushima and the PlayStation overlay. Online connection or PSN is not applied to the single-player campaign, which is honestly what the game is all about."
Legends clearly was based around using the pan they hardly want to have to design a whole new account structure just to play it, that's alot of effort and work. Ultimately people kicked up a fuss despite there being workarounds in most of those territories that people with a ps console have used over there for literally like 15/16 years. This is the consequence of that, be careful what you wish for or demand because you don't necessarily get to pick the method by which you get it.
This game is not Helldivers 2. Every game doesn’t need to be Call of Duty. I may or may not play one minute of the online component. I’m buying it solely for the story/campaign. Sony needs to integrate it better but Microsoft does the same with Xbox live account. It’s an ecosystem they will always want to tie into the console audience and frankly don’t know why this is such a big deal.
It is because the PC isn't a console and shouldn't be tied to the same restrictions the console gamers are. If Sony wants PC gamers to buy their games they will need to learn what I and many others will accept.
Trying to harvest our personal details for any of their games on PC will not fly.
If Pc gamers want to play Sony games on their PC they will need to have a PSN account. It's not that difficult, people just like to cry on the Internet.
Or they can keep the games exclusive and you can keep dreaming about god of war Ragnarok on PC. Sony under no obligation to release on PC. You don’t like it don’t play it. I pick my battles in life.
I want to play it for single player and if I want to try legends I am willing to log into my PSN account. What’s the big deal anyway? If I want to play a rockstar game from steam I still have to have a different launcher and account other that launcher and same goes for UBI. On PC we have so many store front anyway what’s another log in. BTW the way we the pc gamers reacted to HD2 will only mean Sony will make it clear before launch that their online is only available with PSN account
Ghost of Tsushima will have a fully playable single-player campaign on Steam Deck, but it's still technically Unsupported due to PSN shenanigans.
Well that's great. I've really been thinking of selling my deck for an ally anyways.
Because the Ally is a Windows handheld and the Steam Deck is a Linux handheld, the latter will pretty much be the only handheld PC to suffer from this issue, as it stems from Sony's lack of support for the PSN outside of Windows.
That said, the title of this article might be a bit misleading for those who aren't aware of Valve's nomenclature for Steam Deck compatibility. An "Unsupported" classification is given for games that have even a single feature not available on the Steam Deck. In this case, single-player will work just fine, but multiplayer will not. Which, mind you, is not a small feature, but those with a Steam Deck will be able to at least play the single player with apparently no issues.
oooooor just install windows on the deck. Been windeck since I got it with the DeckHD and i'm honestly never going back due to the fact I can run gamepass games natively
"In a post on X outlining the game's impending PC release, Nixxes says that Ghost of Tsushima's single-player mode, including its Iki Island expansion, will be fully playable on Steam Deck thanks to extensive optimization efforts.
"However, the game will technically sport an "Unsupported" rating on Steam Deck. That's the rating Valve assigns to games for which "some or all" of their functionality doesn't work on Steam Deck, and in Ghost of Tsushima's case, it's the multiplayer component."
"Nixxes says that because Ghost of Tsushima's multiplayer requires Windows "to access PlayStation Network integrated features", you won't be able to play the game on Steam Deck, which runs a custom Linux shell."
Smart move. The Ally is way better anyway. The only thing Steam Deck has on the Ally is ease of use .
Went from Steam Deck LCD to Ally Non Xtreme and it was the best decision ive ever made.
Updated the internal SSD to 2TB NVME for $100 and now its a beast.
It's labels "unsupported " because of the online component, but it will still be very much playable. There are plenty of unsupported deck titles that play with no problems,
But all their other games work just fine? Horizon just came out and it works just fine and doesn't require PSN log in. They really doubling down in this stupid decision.
What of all the MP games that work on Deck that use a third party log in system? I've had to log into at least one game I've tried playing and all it requires is to start it on Desktop mode so that the browser opens up to the login screen.
Sales of Arrowhead Studios' third-person shooter, Helldivers 2, have surpassed 12 million copies, beating God of War Ragnarok's record.
@Badz
Lol.
I hope you aren’t suggesting this is an all time sales forecast. I was referring to the actual time stated. FY2025 is in pretty much one year. Just under as I stated.
That would dip into hardware sales. This game did well on PC because it's a multi-player game.
am I correct in thinking games like helldivers can't be easily pirated, as they come with constant updates to the content, so new pirated/cracked version would have to be installed every bloody day
but single player one-and-done games, can EASILY be pirated. Choice.
maybe this is also why Helldivers sold well on pc, aside form fans liking it of course.
Sony makes more $$ off software anyways so it wouldnt hurt things as much as you think. There will still be the console only people to buy the specialized hardware... why make PC players wait any longer than they already do?
@Darth
The big money in consoles, or Steam for that matter, is in the 30% cut that you make on all games. This is why Xbox is pretty much screwed as they didn't target that. If Sony puts everything on PC they will lose their share of 3rd party games as those 3rd party games would be bought on PC. Its best to keep your platform the thriving ecosystem hence you give timed exclusives to your home console, unless the game is not relevant such as GAAS which might as well be on PC day one.
Dook, your assessment implies that console players are just jumping ship to PC and that is not the case. PC players play on PC, console players play on console and then you have this small segment that sits in the middle that go between the two. Sony would not lose 3rd party $$ as they still have their console fanbase who only play on their console. Sony putting their games more frequently on PC will yield them even greater sales as the PC players would not have to wait as long to buy. Now Sony may lose a percentage to Valve... but they make it back in overall revenue from both console and pc markets. We have seen what happens when sony releases a PS game on PC. Its nearly a hit every time, and sony sees this as well, so you know they are looking even more closely at the idea of more frequent PC releases.
And like S2 says, console people love consoles so, again, they really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting their games on PC as well as console. Like i siad, there will always be a console market to sell to... why not take advantage of the PC market in addition to that. Nobody can come up with a proper way to refute this. And this is why Sony is eyeballing PC more and more.
@darthv72
the one that makes real money from the sales of Helldivers 2 on PC is Valve! that sweet nectar of 30% cut while doing nothing is so addictive for Gaben. sorry to burst your bubble but Sony makes more money selling the game on PSN than on Steam
Will not happen. Some games do better on consoles and some extra money 2+ years later and I expect companies such as Sony and Rockstar will keep doing that
Didn’t this sell way better on PC by a large margin? Why would you, in the position of a business making money, want to limit yourself to possible poor sales on a single platform instead of releasing on more while the hype iron’s hot?
This whole console vs PC fanboyism isn’t making Sony money. Look at Square straight up pulling away from exclusivity and now going for an aggressive multiplatform release campaign. I’m pretty sure Day 1 on console and PC is happening.
@CrimsonWing69
You would be right if we all pretend Helldivers is the only game Sony has. As a business man, you look at history, not just one example. There is a reason Rockstar can release their games on consoles only, sell 10s of millions, then release them on PC later. Xbox has been doing day 1 and tell me, how high has their sales been? It's understandable for a live service game, but for single player games, Sony is better off doing what they planned. Release exclusively on PS, then wait 2-3 years, then re-release at full price again.
And no, it didn't sell better on PC by a large margin. It was initially 50/50, as stater by the director, but was later giving more information from NPD (Circana) as PC 60, PS 40, but that was in North America.
Absolutely no one thought Helldivers 2 was going to sell this much, not even the studio and I don't expect all live service games from Sony to sell that much.
"Didn’t this sell way better on PC by a large margin? "
60/40 is hardly a larger margin
All the games Sony is releasing on PC 2 years later aren't performing well. If they had put Spider-Man 2 day one on PC it would have sold millions on there.
@Tedakin
That might work for some games, but not most. I mean people were claiming Xbox games were going to sell more with day on PC. Tell me, how is that going? Also, keeping single player games exclusive is far more valuable than day 1 on PC. A new user's who buys a new Playstation for Spider-Man 2, GOWR or the Last of us 2 has far more value to Sony than a PC gamer.
I would stop supporting Sony hardware.. especially now that trophies are also on PC.
For their own sake they better keep making console exclusives and keep an eye on what big of a joke xbox has become
That worked out well for Xbox right I think a two year gap is actually extremely generous as a PC player and a console player if the game is first party comes to PC day and date it does devalue the purpose of console hardware and exclusives.
@darth Sony make no money on console hardware always has been the case give away the shaver and sell the razor model
They make 30 percent on everything sold first second or third party on the system.
If they did r sell hardware at a loss we would be seeing console proces spike as much as 50 percent
Doubt it.
Anyone with a PS5 that wanted Helldivers 2 probably has Helldivers 2 on PS5.
Otherwise, I don't see very many people buying a PS5 just to play this game.
Yeah also its really for the PC/Online gamers. I doubt it would have made as much just being on the PS5. Also as you said its not a game that would get people to go out and buy a 400 plus dollar console just to play it.
WelkinCole,
Right.
That would just be cavalier, if we're keeping it real. Typically, people buy into an ecosystem for the breadth of the games portfolio. Buying a PS5 for one game is just unrealistic.
Stripping away any of the convoluted reasons for buying a console, it's pretty simple:
1. You buy it knowing it'll eventually have the games you want (early adopters).
2. You buy it because it has the games you want now (enough of a portfolio).
3. Because it has the best version or one that your social circle bought into.
4. Because you can't play the games anywhere else (the caveat being that there are ENOUGH games to warrant the investment as an exclusives machine).
With the rise of PC ports of PlayStation titles however, there's another dimension here...
5. Immediacy.
Buying one just for what was once a niche franchise is absolutely an outlier.
The gaming business has evolved, and PC is now seen as just another platform to release games on rather than direct competition for the same market share. Most PC gamers don't own consoles. Personally, I was a console gamer until last year. I grew frustrated with the constant greed in the console market and the lack of unity among console gamers to demand change.
Take Helldivers 2 as an example—Sony tried to push their PSN policies, but PC gamers pushed back effectively. On consoles, though, there's a persistent defense of corporate practices. Look at the differing narratives around Microsoft's and Sony's actions among gamers and journalists. I don't miss consoles at all, and the PC community has been incredibly supportive for a newcomer like me.
On PC, I can enjoy games without spending on microtransactions thanks to mods. Cheat codes, which were fantastic back in the day, are still accessible on PC, whereas on consoles, they are monetized through things like XP boosters.
I still believe some console gamers just don't wanna deal with pc. Tye only thing pc has that I'd be interested in is mods other then that I'd rather not deal with it. Someday I'm sure I'll jump in but just not in a rush
Yeah and pc is also the plaform with most cheaters. Its a great platform but after a day of work on pc I just like to relax with my console and not think about anythink else.
I'm in a Helldivers group on Facebook and the amount of people who got the Spiderman bundle with Helldivers 2 was crazy 😂
Sony has a successful multiplayer title...who coulda guessed.
Arrowhead seems to be doing a great job with updates as well. Kudos!
I really hope the situation with Helldivers 2 on PC can clear up soon. Since the whole PSN account mandate, the player population has dropped significantly compared to what it was a few weeks ago.
It now takes much longer than normal to clear a major order. I remember when they released the order to kill the terminids and that got cleared the same day. Now we are struggling to do the same with the automatons.
Nope. Players from over 170 countries are unable to play the game because it was delisted from Steam.
This whole PSN issue has done significant damage to the community.
https://readwrite.com/helld...
Open world, narrative driven and third person, are not genres
Nope
What a sad excuse of a clickbait article.
With God of War: Ragnarok being the fastest selling first-party game launch in PlayStation history selling 5.1 million copies, I don't think there is much of a problem.
I don't really understand the whining. Yes they might play kind of similarly (I don't think so, but to each their own) but Sony's exclusives are like 1% of the gaming library. Would you rather they play just like every third party game out there?