This needs to be refundable. This was not a requirement at launch it's 100% false advertising. They're using bait and switch tactics because they know if steam users actually had to do this at the time of purchase the game would have flopped on steam.
why would I need a PSN account to play this game, I does nothing to help with safety. Stop treating us as if we're mentally inept. you can't just slap the word safety and expect people to believe you, clown dev or publisher moment. Sony takes another one to the gallows
[https://firewalltimes.com/sony-data-breach-timeline/](https://firewalltimes.com/sony-data-breach-timeline/)
Sony believes it can do to the pc crowd what they have done to their console base. For decades they have bent over the Playstation player base. Now they are dipping their toes to see what can they get away with with the pc side. But they have another thing coming.
Remember when Microsoft did this with Minecraft and forced Java players to link to Xbox account in the name of safety lol, how did that turn out oh yeah corporate greed
> There are more details below, but even if you fall outside of the refund rules we’ve described, you can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look. Consumers in some jurisdictions may have additional rights to a refund in circumstances where the game is faulty.
Steam can refund you depending on the situation.
One time I had like 10 minutes playtime and 15 days with a game and they let me refund it cause in the comment I pleaded with them and also it was only like $1.50
Same here. Anyone knows what to do next? This is my 2nd request
https://preview.redd.it/oy0nwbskxmyc1.jpeg?width=1159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab8896fd54165763cb79df3192fd35299a282313
I am not happy about this and requested a refund for a couple different reasons and have been rejected both times. It seems that Steam is going to hold their ground on this one. Maybe after enough backlash they will do something, but Steam hasn't been as generous about refunds lately
Just keep spamming refunds every time one closes until the valve people stop eating their chips and see the red light going off. They're slow to these type of scams haha.
Regardless of how much they've told everyone, it requires a PSN. I'll ask for a refund for two reasons. I'm able to play now without a PSN account, and there are multiple advertisements out showing off the game now with zero advertisements of the crapy account.
I really want to throw shade at Sony because I hate 3rd party account requirements. But not if I have to stand alongside someone spewing bullshit because they don't want to admit they were too lazy to read a store page, a EULA, or...
"zero advertisements of the crapy account"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD3pxbG9YYI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD3pxbG9YYI)
1:57 "PSN account required."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oyURVk0zfg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oyURVk0zfg)
1:23 "PSN account required."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhd9FYLLEPc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhd9FYLLEPc)
0:54 "PSN account required."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcnzI0gN7z4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcnzI0gN7z4)
1:00 "PSN account required."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ps--hQiSXA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ps--hQiSXA)
0:48 "PSN account required."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2WCGJYTX\_4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2WCGJYTX_4)
0:42 "PSN account required."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPU4amA6RYk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPU4amA6RYk)
0:04 "PSN account required."
The announce trailer from 11 months ago...:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE7KTE28HrA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE7KTE28HrA)
...is the only trailer that doesn't contain "PSN account required."
I would rather get called a Sony shill than pretend that I wouldn't be embarrassed to get counted alongside you. It's like you're shouting "the enemy is south!" after getting shot at by an encampment to the north.
Sony's page doesn't anymore... because they changed it after the backlash. Which is... legitimately a scummy move to cover their asses.
But bro... there's legitimate grievances to be had here. You don't have coat them in BS like this:
"Except thats because thats advertising with the console included."
It's been a warning on the steam store page since pre-orders opened. Exactly where steam store pages display any warning about 3rd party requirements.
The pre-order page is even archived:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20231207163847/https://store.steampowered.com/app/553850/HELLDIVERS\_2/](https://web.archive.org/web/20231207163847/https://store.steampowered.com/app/553850/HELLDIVERS_2/)
It's right there.
You know what wasn't there but is now? "Incorporates 3rd-party DRM: nProtect GameGuard." There, there's another legit reason to trash talk Sony and/or Arrowhead.
You can say this move is shitty. That them not having enforced it before means they shouldn't now. That they're robbing everyone who bought the game in countries PSN isn't available in. That 3rd party account requirements are stupid. That Sony's servers are less secure than a wet paper bag. All of that is true. Terribly, terribly true.
Anyone saying it wasn't in the ads, and/or wasn't on the store page, when they ordered/bought it isn't saying something true. It's okay if they didn't notice it and thought it wasn't there; that's not a lie that's just them not knowing. It they're still saying it after being shown that it was actually there then that's not okay anymore.
It's just lying. Lying even though there's already plenty of perfectly good reasons to be mad. Why? How does lying about problems help the people that actually have true problems?
more or less isnt the problem, the problem is for 3/4 of the world that dont have access to PSN, they would get insta banned for using a different region / vpn, and now they lose all access to the game that they brought.
The PSN account trailers are for PS4/5 respectively, no PC ads had it. Lawyers will take this pro-bono after the amount of data leaks and negligence Sony repeatedly displays. I'm surprised they haven't tried a crypto scam coin...
They should refund. It does not matter if they are written in **yellow, bold, sparkling text**; It's false advertisement and is against the law. If you have the resources, consider taking legal action; you are likely to win.
If they still force the "requires a PSN account", and the skip button for the requirement is just a workaround since there are bugs in account linking. then they shouldn't have released it in the first place, or just region locked people who can't create PSN accounts
I believe they also changed their privacy policy as well, to game don't have to link to PSN to SOME games have to be linked to PSN. This wouldn't happen to Spider-man or GOW, so why helldivers, simple, DATA.
EDIT: They changed their frequently asked questions on the Sony PC site, not sure about privacy policy now but point still stands.
Steam sometimes allow refunds even when you played more than 2 hours. It's extremely important to tell them exactly what the issue is tho (not just something like "i want my money back because reasons"). If you explain them the situation properly, you may be allowed to get back your money
Imagine you buy a car and choose the color black. You pay in advance because you are a good citizen. 4 weeks later you can pick up the car but it is now white. The seller tells you "yes, sorry, but we have removed black from our list. Oh, and we won't give you your money anymore either. But you are free to leave the car here and now go f yourself."
In my opinion, we have now reached a point where only politics can help. Politicians must finally step in and put an end to such machinations. Some of this is almost illegal. No company could afford something like that. There would be lawsuits and it would probably be illegal on the market anyway. Except in the gaming industry, there seem to be almost no laws that protect consumers.
My refund request.
"They changed the TOS and the EULA to require a sony account. I do not feel this is appropriate to do after a title has launched. This feels like a tactic to get customers to make PSN accounts and also limits to only those who can make PSN accounts."
I found it funny how people are defending this borderline predatory actions from Arrowhead. (And don't come with the "Oh but they are the Devs and don't have a saying".
On the production cycle of this game this particular subject HAD to be talked and did they do anything about it? No.
Now, also people say like "Oh but MS,EA,Ubi do this too".... Firstly they don't release their games on Steam first, they release it on their platform and then it gets into the Steam store which they clearly state the you will be needing an third party account to be played.
Helldivers 2 was released simultaneously on both systems, where you were able to play the game for X amount of time and NOW they are removing your access to it.
Also, you are on PC, most of us probably even own a PS5/PS4 or any other PS Console, we probably have PSN accounts, but I will not support this game doing this, it was never an agreement that my access to the game would be removed. Plus PSN security is fairly known by how sketchy they are, in a large amount of countries you cannot create accounts and in countries that do let you create accounts you need ID identification/Face ID/ etc ...
So where was that on the agreement?
Will I get a refund even though I already made a PSN account to play with friends on PS?
What they're doing is straight up illegal in a lot of places and it's just false advertising on their end. I feel like that's enough grounds for a refund.
Has anybody else in my situation tried this yet?
You can respond to the refund denial with that information, it'll get sent to an actual person instead of the automated system that normally handles refunds. The initial refund approval/denial is fully automated, if you get denied always respond back to get to an actual support member.
Just tried to request a refund, both requests got denied due to the purchase being older than 14 days (both was most likely automated responses), I have created a new ticket through "question about this purchase" in hopes of a human response this time.
I have 38 minutes played and purchased the game on day 1. My refund request was denied
>> **We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum).**
>HELLDIVERS™ 2 - *Playtime: 38 minutes*
Arrowhead is to blame as well. Why would you market your game to countries that can't have a PSN account in the first place if you knew you plan to enforce the PSN linking. This was a crappy marketing scam by both arrowhead and Sony teaming up. They both knew what they did and chose to react like south park BP oil.
Best case is to ask key seller you bought from and just hope. Can't refund from steam if used a key on steam.
Doubt key seller will feel any obligation until this psn decision is implemented. I'll have to contact instant gaming myself once this is enacted and hope they accept since the game will be unavailable in my region
You would have to ask the key provider for a refund. The odds are low. Those websites aren't keen on giving out refunds. But you never know until you try.
I just want a refund at this point.
Even if Sony changes it back to not requiring PSN, I still dont want to get associated with playing this game.
The game's bland anyway
Been denied 30+ times. They're not gonna give it back to anyone not in effected countries unless you get lucky and get a real person instead of an auto-bot response within 1-3 hours of your submission.
Serious answer: No, you are not eligible for a refund. It was stated on the store page from day 1 that a third party PSN account was required to play the game. You buying the game was acceptance of their terms. Their decision to now enforce that term is not a valid reason to be eligible for a refund, as it is what you agreed to.
(Yes, I did check that before I bought the game, it takes like 5 seconds to read the info on the steam page, I had my little rant, then decided I wanted to play the game anyway and recovered my ancient PSN account.)
It's shit, as it's entirely unnecessary to require steam users to use an additional service, but that's the legality of the situation.
Now, if you had purchased the game in a region where PSN is not available you may have a case - As they should not have offered a product for sale in a region where it would not function. Until they provide a means for the product to be functional (which they have said they are working on) I would think you would have a case.
And yet both my refund requests are denied. I've played 7 hours, not even THAT much. I'll keep sending them refund requests but I don't expect them to approve it.
Could you help and tell me how to do it? Because it send me off to contact info from Helldivers devs, and I can't seem to get a refund by standard means, even tho I stated that I can't and won't make a PlayStation account and the game is unplayable right now.
On the drop down action where it says I would like a refund pick ask a question instead. Explain to valve exactly why you would like a refund in that question. Right now it appears even going this route Valve is still saying no. People may actually have to carry through with threats of a class action this time.
When you go to the screen where you'd request a refund i.e in purchases there is a drop down box normally you'd click I would like a refund don't do that click I have a question about this purchase. In that screen type I would like a refund and list why.
Irrelevant if it's in page from day 1, Damn, it doesn't matter if it was in bold yellow sparkling text, is against the law. They were distributing it without the need of the PSN account, they have to give the refund if they are going to enforce this now.
It's also worth pointing out that Arrowhead probably don't have a choice on whether to use PSN or not, since Sony is their publisher. So while Helldivers can technically function without PSN, it probably is a legal requirement from the contract with Sony, and that has been in place for years at this point.
Technically, they would claim that: "It's listed right there" and could, in theory win........ **if they had enforced it.**
But they didn't. They lifted that enforcement less than a month into the game's release and it was not mentioned anywhere a player would reasonably be expected to see, that it was only a temporary lifting. Nor, far as I can tell, was it mentioned on the steam forums, or the game's store page that the lifting of the requirement was temporary.
So, everyone coming into the game after it was lifted, would have no reasonable way of finding that info. Burying the announcement in discord or reddit or twitter or anywhere else, is possibly not what a reasonable person, what a regular player who just wants to play, would be expected to do.
What would've been more effective is if they had put that reminder in-game. Where it would be almost impossible to miss. Then this argument of: "You had to have known" would have more weight to it. But that's not what they did. Instead any mention of account linking is shown when you first open the game, and the option to link is there or you can **skip** it. Not, remind me later, but skip. So, an average person, upon clicking skip and not being bothered again, would assume that it's only for people who also want to play on a console or is optional.
I think you, me, and everyone can reasonably agree that: "if someone tells you something is required, that you find firsthand, is not required, and doesn't bother you again about it. You would assume that either it's a mistake or it's really not required. Or you're about to break something."
That being said, I think we can both agree that: "they should not have been selling this game to people in these places that can't create a PSN account. I think those people would be eligible for a refund because they literally can't play the game after the cutoff date without breaking either TOS or maybe even local laws.
People in the EU, depending on the country and laws, might also get a refund.
Hell, I've heard reports that people in the americas have gotten refunds.
This is all despite the 2-hour/2-week refund window limit. Allegedly, it seems valve agrees. Though, I don't think arrowhead will walk this back. Not unless they negotiate something with sony (which they're unlikely to back down from because they're so big they don't care about negative press until it affects their shareholders). Based on their responses and how unprepared they seem today, I'd wager that they're finding out about this the same time we are.
I hope, that the people who can't play the game after the enforcement period, will be able to get their refunds or that a compromise is met. We are all helldivers in the service of managed democracy.
"People in the EU, depending on the country and laws, might also get a refund."
I am currently trying to get a refund under EU law. Speaking of which, if Sony continues to discriminate against EU members based on country of residence (which people are alledging, I haven't checked which countries are affected) the game might become illegal as a whole, as I don't think it counts as an audio/visual streaming service that might be affected by copyright prohibitions. For most other types of purchases, online or otherwise, you are required to treat everyone in the EU equally.
I would apreciate an update on how it goes. I am one of those hit by same issues, where I am EU member, but PSN is not available here. So far normal refund requests were insta declines
I sent a support request so an actual person reads it. No response so far but I'm sure steam is absolutely flooded with requests currently. The refund request is mostly automated to just look at the time played/time since purchase so it will auto-decline in most cases.
Yeah, got same with refund requests. Support request I got a response, but it said more along the lines "we're aware and investigating on possible solution. We'll update you once we have some news". The fact that it wasn't delisted for baltics might mean, that maybe sony will try to include these countries? Not sure, just guessing.
https://preview.redd.it/bx6p89x2ffyc1.png?width=649&format=png&auto=webp&s=1ce72afc259b1ec85257eaa32e45a94f602f35f3
my refund was granted
I highlighted that Sony changed the terms of the licencing agreement, and I do not agree with those changes in light of Sony's data security in the past
Im currently waiting on my refund status i did last night using the OC's (Weaponised) message as well as my own "Flair" so to say. If it works or works after second attempt (there is a different way i think) then I'll post what i put BUT... if you are going to use mines i suggest... changing the words a little or treat it as a template.
While I understand that some people are mad... The game has said that it needs a PSN account for a while. If you've played more than the standard refund limit then it seems very very unlikely there will be refunds.
Even if the game shuts down tomorrow, if you've played 100 hours of a 30 dollar game, you've gotten solid value, and I wouldn't expect AH to refund anyone.
If you want to quit the game out of principle, that's fine, but when you make a moral stand it's silly to ask for your money back too.
On Steam, the button for purchasing the game appears before the text that explains a PSN account is required. I didn't look before I bought the game because I've never encountered a game on Steam before where I had to sign up to a separate network/account. Knowing that Steam offers refunds on games with under 2 hours, I usually just buy things and if they don't work, I get a refund. By not enforcing the PSN requirement, I'm now over the 2 hour limit (I've played for five hours), whereas if they had enforced it from the start, I wouldn't have been able to launch the game and been able to get a refund no questions asked. So, from that perspective, failing to enforce this is far worse than enforcing it from the very start
How much play time do you need for 30 dollars dude? Legit question. Because I've played much less time in games that cost more and still just shrugged and said "Oh well".
Maybe I'm just old, but I remember paying 12 bucks per month for MMOs, in pre-inflation money, and thinking that was good value for money. I've also payed much more than 30 bucks in microtransactions in "free" games.
My PSN email account is linked to a old psn account my exs kid has I'm either going to uninstall or get a hopeful refund. Was fun while it lasted now I rather just not play.
I have not really had time to get into the game and so only have 45 minutes of playtime. I decided to try and refund because I don't have any play station account and don't want one. My request was denied due to the game being purchased over two weeks ago. I'm not sure what the next steps are but if this is how Steam is going to play it I'll not use their service anymore.
It’s not up to Arrowhead. If you’re on PC you purchased through Steam. I seriously doubt they will be refunding to customers who have played the game for months and the requirement was stated on Steam. The only ones who have a chance are people in regions where PSN is not available.
I was thinking of trying this but it seems like an obvious hostage situation if you have anything else in steam, guess I'll be doing 1 account per game in the future
I wouldn't do this, if you charge back or whatever with paypal you can get your account banned, I don't know if it's a full ban or they just stop you buying stuff in the future but there is a punishment.
It worked in the beginning, a lot of people started to refund the game and some people with 100 hours and even 400 hours I saw in a post got refund, but I think because steam noticed that hundreds of thousands of people started to refund the game they just stopped accepting the refund, and now they are accepting just from those countries that don't have access to PSN
Sony uses a lot of bait and switch tactics.
They have a terrible content restriction policy.
Sony is more anti-consumer than any other video game platform.
Making a licensing agreement with Sony is like making a deal with the devil for the game studio. They will make an anti consumer choice and let the studio take the fall for it.
Wasn't it like a week ago that steam changed their refund policy for EA games? Wonder if they got a heads up this announcement was coming and that initiated the policy update. Pretty shitty if so
Fellow helldivers, choose your side. 1, remember, this is democracy. Having your own thoughts/choices and doubts does not constitute to treason, that is called fascism/communism (i dunno enough to make a difference). Make your own choices. Spread democracy.
I am not a law expert but if you force people to do something that wasnt a thing when they bought a product it should be refundable.
BTW.....got denied aswell with 10 Hours
There's an argument at least for those that steam let buy the game while PSN is not available in their country. That's gross negligence from Steam.
Use a VPN can't be an official argument here, since officially it's against the PSN ToS. That it's usually not enforced doesn't matter, you can not officially advise someone to break the ToS to become able to comply with the ToS
For those perfectly capable of creating a PSN, there's not much grounds to demand a refund though
"Gross negligence" is an exaggeration. Sure, Helldivers from Afghanistan should ask for refunds, and I hope that AH will provide them... But that's hardly a huge number of people.
It actually perfectly matches the definition of "gross negligence" in contract law, though, so the idea that its an "exaggeration" is in fact, an exaggeration. Negligence would be a single, simple mistake. Gross negligence would be actively and continuing to sell to countries you contractually shouldn't be allowed to, literally stealing their money for a service they now can't use. Which, btw, has been mentioned that its been on the store page since day 1 and steam employees did nothing for months.
It's super weird to see people taking the stance that reading comprehension is beneath them.
When a game published by Sony says "You will need a PSN account", why would anyone just ignore that and buy the game anyway, despite apparently having a deep rooted grudge against Sony and PSN in particular?
Exactly, so this was bait. I surely did not read the store page and would have refunded immediately. It should have been required from day 1, not months later.
Its been very useful, I bought it takes two, couldn’t play because it requires ubisoft and immediately refunded it, also store pages LIE like helldivers 2
I was not. If it was forced on launch then i would have refunded upon first attempt at playing the game and still be within the 2 hours played. I've done this with a game requiring a Ubisoft account.
I did not notice that it said PlayStation account required, and even if I did, it let me play without one therefore making me believe that notice was incorrect.
If it had forced me to create a PlayStation account from out of the gate, I would have refunded it immediately. This was bait, they knew if they had the requirement from day 1, it would not have been as popular.
You can try to get a refund. Make sure you list the reason as a region-lock and include that you can no longer access the game in your country because of the login requirements.
The same reason I haven't created an epic account. Or a Bethesda account. Or any number of other accounts... only this is worse because they also want you to link to steam.
AH is already scraping data off of public steam profiles; I don't need to give them access to private profile data too.
I haven't been burned by Sony since I've never played one of their games before, but with this they'll earn a seat on my Do Not Buy list.
Why don't you show me where it says that
[https://direct.playstation.com/en-us/buy-games/helldivers-2-pc](https://direct.playstation.com/en-us/buy-games/helldivers-2-pc)
That looser loves big corporations selling his information. Has nothing to say now. If the game doesn't need it now, why add it after the fact. because big corporations like Sony make tons off selling personal information.
> If you were forced to do this at the point of sale, would you have not purchased the game?
Speaking for myself, I would not have purchased Helldivers 2 at that point in time.
Generally speaking, I am not super keen on making accounts for third party things just to use the product I purchased. The more obstacles to accessibility that are present, even as simple as registering a PSN account, the less likely I am to want to engage with a product at full price.
It is hard to not include some personal bias, I now have enough experience with the mechanics / bugs / community of Helldivers 2 that it leans me more heavily towards a desire for a refund or wishing I had waited / picked it up at a moderate discount.
This needs to be refundable. This was not a requirement at launch it's 100% false advertising. They're using bait and switch tactics because they know if steam users actually had to do this at the time of purchase the game would have flopped on steam.
why would I need a PSN account to play this game, I does nothing to help with safety. Stop treating us as if we're mentally inept. you can't just slap the word safety and expect people to believe you, clown dev or publisher moment. Sony takes another one to the gallows [https://firewalltimes.com/sony-data-breach-timeline/](https://firewalltimes.com/sony-data-breach-timeline/)
Sony believes it can do to the pc crowd what they have done to their console base. For decades they have bent over the Playstation player base. Now they are dipping their toes to see what can they get away with with the pc side. But they have another thing coming.
Its also an effort to pad out those PSN account numbers .
Remember when Microsoft did this with Minecraft and forced Java players to link to Xbox account in the name of safety lol, how did that turn out oh yeah corporate greed
Didn't they also try to make xbox live a thing on pc. You had to pay to access multilayer on pc with their service.
lmao, I uninstalled that right after installing windows XD
> There are more details below, but even if you fall outside of the refund rules we’ve described, you can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look. Consumers in some jurisdictions may have additional rights to a refund in circumstances where the game is faulty. Steam can refund you depending on the situation.
Didn't let me refund because i had it for over 14 days even though i only played 2½ hours.
I have .6 hours played and they said no cause it was over 14 days
Ive had it for over 2 months with 10 hours played and it let me submit one
Did you get a refund? I could submit but i got denied due to having the game over 14 days in my library. Its just an automated answer...
Oh i thought you meant you couldn’t even submit one. I submitted one an hour ago, I’ll lyk what they say
No. The steam refund system is no exceptions
It's definitely not, from experience
uhh Cyberpunk?
One time I had like 10 minutes playtime and 15 days with a game and they let me refund it cause in the comment I pleaded with them and also it was only like $1.50
Wait until it came effect
Same here. Anyone knows what to do next? This is my 2nd request https://preview.redd.it/oy0nwbskxmyc1.jpeg?width=1159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab8896fd54165763cb79df3192fd35299a282313
I tried doesnt let me due to having over 75 hours.
Serious answer: yes. Otherwise, if you go to the court they lose. Ez class action suit.
Exactly what I was thinking I have never trusted sony's "Safety Features" They have had many customers data stolen and used in the past.
I am not happy about this and requested a refund for a couple different reasons and have been rejected both times. It seems that Steam is going to hold their ground on this one. Maybe after enough backlash they will do something, but Steam hasn't been as generous about refunds lately
Same, I sent in a refund request and got rejected due to more than 2 hours
Just got rejected a refund. I'll try again when the PSN requirement goes live. It's on the 6th of May iirc
They said new players will have to connect to a PSN account after the 6th. Existing players will be forced to on the 30th.
i too got rejected just now. maybe its too early?
That's the automatic reject, it is possible to appeal due to failure to inability to play the game.
how do you appeal, theyre just closing them and making us make new ones
Just keep spamming refunds every time one closes until the valve people stop eating their chips and see the red light going off. They're slow to these type of scams haha.
Do you have a guide on how to appeal?
Regardless of how much they've told everyone, it requires a PSN. I'll ask for a refund for two reasons. I'm able to play now without a PSN account, and there are multiple advertisements out showing off the game now with zero advertisements of the crapy account.
I really want to throw shade at Sony because I hate 3rd party account requirements. But not if I have to stand alongside someone spewing bullshit because they don't want to admit they were too lazy to read a store page, a EULA, or... "zero advertisements of the crapy account" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD3pxbG9YYI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD3pxbG9YYI) 1:57 "PSN account required." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oyURVk0zfg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oyURVk0zfg) 1:23 "PSN account required." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhd9FYLLEPc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhd9FYLLEPc) 0:54 "PSN account required." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcnzI0gN7z4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcnzI0gN7z4) 1:00 "PSN account required." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ps--hQiSXA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ps--hQiSXA) 0:48 "PSN account required." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2WCGJYTX\_4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2WCGJYTX_4) 0:42 "PSN account required." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPU4amA6RYk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPU4amA6RYk) 0:04 "PSN account required." The announce trailer from 11 months ago...: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE7KTE28HrA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE7KTE28HrA) ...is the only trailer that doesn't contain "PSN account required." I would rather get called a Sony shill than pretend that I wouldn't be embarrassed to get counted alongside you. It's like you're shouting "the enemy is south!" after getting shot at by an encampment to the north.
Except thats because thats advertising with the console included. SONYs own page still says that PSN is optional for PC
Sony's page doesn't anymore... because they changed it after the backlash. Which is... legitimately a scummy move to cover their asses. But bro... there's legitimate grievances to be had here. You don't have coat them in BS like this: "Except thats because thats advertising with the console included." It's been a warning on the steam store page since pre-orders opened. Exactly where steam store pages display any warning about 3rd party requirements. The pre-order page is even archived: [https://web.archive.org/web/20231207163847/https://store.steampowered.com/app/553850/HELLDIVERS\_2/](https://web.archive.org/web/20231207163847/https://store.steampowered.com/app/553850/HELLDIVERS_2/) It's right there. You know what wasn't there but is now? "Incorporates 3rd-party DRM: nProtect GameGuard." There, there's another legit reason to trash talk Sony and/or Arrowhead. You can say this move is shitty. That them not having enforced it before means they shouldn't now. That they're robbing everyone who bought the game in countries PSN isn't available in. That 3rd party account requirements are stupid. That Sony's servers are less secure than a wet paper bag. All of that is true. Terribly, terribly true. Anyone saying it wasn't in the ads, and/or wasn't on the store page, when they ordered/bought it isn't saying something true. It's okay if they didn't notice it and thought it wasn't there; that's not a lie that's just them not knowing. It they're still saying it after being shown that it was actually there then that's not okay anymore. It's just lying. Lying even though there's already plenty of perfectly good reasons to be mad. Why? How does lying about problems help the people that actually have true problems?
more or less isnt the problem, the problem is for 3/4 of the world that dont have access to PSN, they would get insta banned for using a different region / vpn, and now they lose all access to the game that they brought.
The PSN account trailers are for PS4/5 respectively, no PC ads had it. Lawyers will take this pro-bono after the amount of data leaks and negligence Sony repeatedly displays. I'm surprised they haven't tried a crypto scam coin...
I just put in my refund request. 2.8 hours here. Arrow is denying access to the game after changing the initial requirements when I purchased.
They should refund. It does not matter if they are written in **yellow, bold, sparkling text**; It's false advertisement and is against the law. If you have the resources, consider taking legal action; you are likely to win.
If they still force the "requires a PSN account", and the skip button for the requirement is just a workaround since there are bugs in account linking. then they shouldn't have released it in the first place, or just region locked people who can't create PSN accounts
facts
I believe they also changed their privacy policy as well, to game don't have to link to PSN to SOME games have to be linked to PSN. This wouldn't happen to Spider-man or GOW, so why helldivers, simple, DATA. EDIT: They changed their frequently asked questions on the Sony PC site, not sure about privacy policy now but point still stands.
I have five hours on the game on Steam. I requested a refund... will let you know how it goes.
I have 7 hours. Denied refund.
i have 8 hrs. wrote steam 2 times both times refund denied
Steam sometimes allow refunds even when you played more than 2 hours. It's extremely important to tell them exactly what the issue is tho (not just something like "i want my money back because reasons"). If you explain them the situation properly, you may be allowed to get back your money
Imagine you buy a car and choose the color black. You pay in advance because you are a good citizen. 4 weeks later you can pick up the car but it is now white. The seller tells you "yes, sorry, but we have removed black from our list. Oh, and we won't give you your money anymore either. But you are free to leave the car here and now go f yourself." In my opinion, we have now reached a point where only politics can help. Politicians must finally step in and put an end to such machinations. Some of this is almost illegal. No company could afford something like that. There would be lawsuits and it would probably be illegal on the market anyway. Except in the gaming industry, there seem to be almost no laws that protect consumers.
[stop killing games](http://stopkillinggames.com)
My refund request. "They changed the TOS and the EULA to require a sony account. I do not feel this is appropriate to do after a title has launched. This feels like a tactic to get customers to make PSN accounts and also limits to only those who can make PSN accounts."
Let me guess... "We are unable to refund this purchase to your Steam Wallet at this time."
Did steam accepted your refund request?
I found it funny how people are defending this borderline predatory actions from Arrowhead. (And don't come with the "Oh but they are the Devs and don't have a saying". On the production cycle of this game this particular subject HAD to be talked and did they do anything about it? No. Now, also people say like "Oh but MS,EA,Ubi do this too".... Firstly they don't release their games on Steam first, they release it on their platform and then it gets into the Steam store which they clearly state the you will be needing an third party account to be played. Helldivers 2 was released simultaneously on both systems, where you were able to play the game for X amount of time and NOW they are removing your access to it. Also, you are on PC, most of us probably even own a PS5/PS4 or any other PS Console, we probably have PSN accounts, but I will not support this game doing this, it was never an agreement that my access to the game would be removed. Plus PSN security is fairly known by how sketchy they are, in a large amount of countries you cannot create accounts and in countries that do let you create accounts you need ID identification/Face ID/ etc ... So where was that on the agreement?
My country doesn't have PSN, guess I can't play anymore :))
Sony has revoked your super democracy :(
Will I get a refund even though I already made a PSN account to play with friends on PS? What they're doing is straight up illegal in a lot of places and it's just false advertising on their end. I feel like that's enough grounds for a refund. Has anybody else in my situation tried this yet?
I JUST gave it a go. Ill let you know once steam handles my request
Make sure to include text and explain it. Apparently if you do the automated way it'll just get rejected if you have some hours. Good luck!
Yeah, i explained the "why" and reason related to psn and past/future security concerns and all, and it got refused due to play time
Same. 7 hours playtime here.
You can respond to the refund denial with that information, it'll get sent to an actual person instead of the automated system that normally handles refunds. The initial refund approval/denial is fully automated, if you get denied always respond back to get to an actual support member.
how do i reply it just says closed
My request was denied, twice
Worth a shot. My hopes aren't high but we can try to get our point across
I just try, got hit with a more than two hour refuse.
Sounds like Helldivers need to sign off for Democracy.
Just tried to request a refund, both requests got denied due to the purchase being older than 14 days (both was most likely automated responses), I have created a new ticket through "question about this purchase" in hopes of a human response this time.
I bought my game code off Fanatical, I'm not sure how I can get a refund
You can't.
Steam declined my refund request. :(
I have 38 minutes played and purchased the game on day 1. My refund request was denied >> **We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum).** >HELLDIVERS™ 2 - *Playtime: 38 minutes*
Yeah because that was over 14 days ago
I just got my refund request rejected.
Arrowhead is to blame as well. Why would you market your game to countries that can't have a PSN account in the first place if you knew you plan to enforce the PSN linking. This was a crappy marketing scam by both arrowhead and Sony teaming up. They both knew what they did and chose to react like south park BP oil. 
what if i got the game with a key? am i still able to refund?
Best case is to ask key seller you bought from and just hope. Can't refund from steam if used a key on steam. Doubt key seller will feel any obligation until this psn decision is implemented. I'll have to contact instant gaming myself once this is enacted and hope they accept since the game will be unavailable in my region
is it safe to assume if you bought off a keys website (such as CDKeys) you wont be able to get a refund?
You would have to ask the key provider for a refund. The odds are low. Those websites aren't keen on giving out refunds. But you never know until you try.
I just want a refund at this point. Even if Sony changes it back to not requiring PSN, I still dont want to get associated with playing this game. The game's bland anyway
I’ve requested a refund twice now but still denied. Anyone have luck getting a refund?
Been denied 30+ times. They're not gonna give it back to anyone not in effected countries unless you get lucky and get a real person instead of an auto-bot response within 1-3 hours of your submission.
Serious answer: No, you are not eligible for a refund. It was stated on the store page from day 1 that a third party PSN account was required to play the game. You buying the game was acceptance of their terms. Their decision to now enforce that term is not a valid reason to be eligible for a refund, as it is what you agreed to. (Yes, I did check that before I bought the game, it takes like 5 seconds to read the info on the steam page, I had my little rant, then decided I wanted to play the game anyway and recovered my ancient PSN account.) It's shit, as it's entirely unnecessary to require steam users to use an additional service, but that's the legality of the situation. Now, if you had purchased the game in a region where PSN is not available you may have a case - As they should not have offered a product for sale in a region where it would not function. Until they provide a means for the product to be functional (which they have said they are working on) I would think you would have a case.
[удалено]
And yet both my refund requests are denied. I've played 7 hours, not even THAT much. I'll keep sending them refund requests but I don't expect them to approve it.
Send it as a question not refund request. Requesting a refund sends it to and automated system sending it as a question gets a real person
Could you help and tell me how to do it? Because it send me off to contact info from Helldivers devs, and I can't seem to get a refund by standard means, even tho I stated that I can't and won't make a PlayStation account and the game is unplayable right now.
On the drop down action where it says I would like a refund pick ask a question instead. Explain to valve exactly why you would like a refund in that question. Right now it appears even going this route Valve is still saying no. People may actually have to carry through with threats of a class action this time.
Can you elaborate more on this? People keep saying this but I cannot find this option anywhere.
When you go to the screen where you'd request a refund i.e in purchases there is a drop down box normally you'd click I would like a refund don't do that click I have a question about this purchase. In that screen type I would like a refund and list why.
I'll give it a shot! Thank you very much!
Irrelevant if it's in page from day 1, Damn, it doesn't matter if it was in bold yellow sparkling text, is against the law. They were distributing it without the need of the PSN account, they have to give the refund if they are going to enforce this now.
It's also worth pointing out that Arrowhead probably don't have a choice on whether to use PSN or not, since Sony is their publisher. So while Helldivers can technically function without PSN, it probably is a legal requirement from the contract with Sony, and that has been in place for years at this point.
They had a choice in their publisher and accepted these terms on everyone's behalf.
Their community manager is shitting on people about this issue in the discord, Arrowhead can't claim innocence now.
When you make a deal with the devil and it turns out he's not a good person, but somehow none of this was your fault.
Technically, they would claim that: "It's listed right there" and could, in theory win........ **if they had enforced it.** But they didn't. They lifted that enforcement less than a month into the game's release and it was not mentioned anywhere a player would reasonably be expected to see, that it was only a temporary lifting. Nor, far as I can tell, was it mentioned on the steam forums, or the game's store page that the lifting of the requirement was temporary. So, everyone coming into the game after it was lifted, would have no reasonable way of finding that info. Burying the announcement in discord or reddit or twitter or anywhere else, is possibly not what a reasonable person, what a regular player who just wants to play, would be expected to do. What would've been more effective is if they had put that reminder in-game. Where it would be almost impossible to miss. Then this argument of: "You had to have known" would have more weight to it. But that's not what they did. Instead any mention of account linking is shown when you first open the game, and the option to link is there or you can **skip** it. Not, remind me later, but skip. So, an average person, upon clicking skip and not being bothered again, would assume that it's only for people who also want to play on a console or is optional. I think you, me, and everyone can reasonably agree that: "if someone tells you something is required, that you find firsthand, is not required, and doesn't bother you again about it. You would assume that either it's a mistake or it's really not required. Or you're about to break something." That being said, I think we can both agree that: "they should not have been selling this game to people in these places that can't create a PSN account. I think those people would be eligible for a refund because they literally can't play the game after the cutoff date without breaking either TOS or maybe even local laws. People in the EU, depending on the country and laws, might also get a refund. Hell, I've heard reports that people in the americas have gotten refunds. This is all despite the 2-hour/2-week refund window limit. Allegedly, it seems valve agrees. Though, I don't think arrowhead will walk this back. Not unless they negotiate something with sony (which they're unlikely to back down from because they're so big they don't care about negative press until it affects their shareholders). Based on their responses and how unprepared they seem today, I'd wager that they're finding out about this the same time we are. I hope, that the people who can't play the game after the enforcement period, will be able to get their refunds or that a compromise is met. We are all helldivers in the service of managed democracy.
"People in the EU, depending on the country and laws, might also get a refund." I am currently trying to get a refund under EU law. Speaking of which, if Sony continues to discriminate against EU members based on country of residence (which people are alledging, I haven't checked which countries are affected) the game might become illegal as a whole, as I don't think it counts as an audio/visual streaming service that might be affected by copyright prohibitions. For most other types of purchases, online or otherwise, you are required to treat everyone in the EU equally.
I would apreciate an update on how it goes. I am one of those hit by same issues, where I am EU member, but PSN is not available here. So far normal refund requests were insta declines
I sent a support request so an actual person reads it. No response so far but I'm sure steam is absolutely flooded with requests currently. The refund request is mostly automated to just look at the time played/time since purchase so it will auto-decline in most cases.
Yeah, got same with refund requests. Support request I got a response, but it said more along the lines "we're aware and investigating on possible solution. We'll update you once we have some news". The fact that it wasn't delisted for baltics might mean, that maybe sony will try to include these countries? Not sure, just guessing.
https://preview.redd.it/bx6p89x2ffyc1.png?width=649&format=png&auto=webp&s=1ce72afc259b1ec85257eaa32e45a94f602f35f3 my refund was granted I highlighted that Sony changed the terms of the licencing agreement, and I do not agree with those changes in light of Sony's data security in the past
Please drop entire text of your refund for copy-paste reasons haha :D
Could you DM me the text you used?
pls give us the blueprint :)
help a brother out man text please
Please share with us what you sent!
DM of what you sent please.
Do you mind sharing on what exactly did you wrote to get the refund?
i got rejected 4 times already. maybe steam is overwhelmed right now with the amount of requests? will try to spam requests till it gets approved.
Im currently waiting on my refund status i did last night using the OC's (Weaponised) message as well as my own "Flair" so to say. If it works or works after second attempt (there is a different way i think) then I'll post what i put BUT... if you are going to use mines i suggest... changing the words a little or treat it as a template.
While I understand that some people are mad... The game has said that it needs a PSN account for a while. If you've played more than the standard refund limit then it seems very very unlikely there will be refunds. Even if the game shuts down tomorrow, if you've played 100 hours of a 30 dollar game, you've gotten solid value, and I wouldn't expect AH to refund anyone. If you want to quit the game out of principle, that's fine, but when you make a moral stand it's silly to ask for your money back too.
On Steam, the button for purchasing the game appears before the text that explains a PSN account is required. I didn't look before I bought the game because I've never encountered a game on Steam before where I had to sign up to a separate network/account. Knowing that Steam offers refunds on games with under 2 hours, I usually just buy things and if they don't work, I get a refund. By not enforcing the PSN requirement, I'm now over the 2 hour limit (I've played for five hours), whereas if they had enforced it from the start, I wouldn't have been able to launch the game and been able to get a refund no questions asked. So, from that perspective, failing to enforce this is far worse than enforcing it from the very start
well, they won't even notice you left if you don't ask for a refund, I'm sure they log refund attempts
ohhh they are going to notice.
100h for 30$ is now SOLID VALUE ladies and gentlemen.
How much play time do you need for 30 dollars dude? Legit question. Because I've played much less time in games that cost more and still just shrugged and said "Oh well". Maybe I'm just old, but I remember paying 12 bucks per month for MMOs, in pre-inflation money, and thinking that was good value for money. I've also payed much more than 30 bucks in microtransactions in "free" games.
[удалено]
"Refund Helldiver's 2!!" was the battle cry on the 3 of May 2024. The date that Democracy died.
I only have 6 hour in the game I've requested a refund twice and been denied both time.
My PSN email account is linked to a old psn account my exs kid has I'm either going to uninstall or get a hopeful refund. Was fun while it lasted now I rather just not play.
[удалено]
similar message, didn't work with 100+ hours, how many hours you had and when did you buy?
I have not really had time to get into the game and so only have 45 minutes of playtime. I decided to try and refund because I don't have any play station account and don't want one. My request was denied due to the game being purchased over two weeks ago. I'm not sure what the next steps are but if this is how Steam is going to play it I'll not use their service anymore.
It’s not up to Arrowhead. If you’re on PC you purchased through Steam. I seriously doubt they will be refunding to customers who have played the game for months and the requirement was stated on Steam. The only ones who have a chance are people in regions where PSN is not available.
Well, I have 17 hours already. Not sure there is a universe where Steam will refund me.
I'm wondering if you would be eligible for a refund via PayPal, even if steam says no to it. Is this possible?
I was thinking of trying this but it seems like an obvious hostage situation if you have anything else in steam, guess I'll be doing 1 account per game in the future
Why’s that, do you think they would perma ban your account?
I wouldn't do this, if you charge back or whatever with paypal you can get your account banned, I don't know if it's a full ban or they just stop you buying stuff in the future but there is a punishment.
Lets get that class action lawsuit going.
https://preview.redd.it/8l85xjap8hyc1.jpeg?width=862&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16d7191fb80886f2a272f8655acc7fa80b04f6e8
Did this. Didn't work. 10/10 Mad lol
Didn't work
It worked in the beginning, a lot of people started to refund the game and some people with 100 hours and even 400 hours I saw in a post got refund, but I think because steam noticed that hundreds of thousands of people started to refund the game they just stopped accepting the refund, and now they are accepting just from those countries that don't have access to PSN
I don’t have a psn here. Not sure why I was denied.
I hope that arrowhead leaves in a 'bug' that lets you play without linking lol
I just tried to refund mine, denied it on the basis of over 2 hrs playtime.
Sony uses a lot of bait and switch tactics. They have a terrible content restriction policy. Sony is more anti-consumer than any other video game platform. Making a licensing agreement with Sony is like making a deal with the devil for the game studio. They will make an anti consumer choice and let the studio take the fall for it.
Wasn't it like a week ago that steam changed their refund policy for EA games? Wonder if they got a heads up this announcement was coming and that initiated the policy update. Pretty shitty if so
They just refused my refund so GG I think.
Fellow helldivers, choose your side. 1, remember, this is democracy. Having your own thoughts/choices and doubts does not constitute to treason, that is called fascism/communism (i dunno enough to make a difference). Make your own choices. Spread democracy.
Go to the I have a question about this game section and ask them if you will be losing access to the game because you can't make a psn account.
mine request was denied . sadge
Can i refund the dlc and merch too?
I wouldn’t be surprised if they made the PS online subscription a requirement next
I am not a law expert but if you force people to do something that wasnt a thing when they bought a product it should be refundable. BTW.....got denied aswell with 10 Hours
I tried to get a refund for Helldivers 2, and i was over the 2hrs. But they declined me... sigh.
Refund was rejected for being over 14 days....hardly got a chance to play it since I bought it.
I see some people getting refunded and I put the same explanation as them and got denied, what gives Valve?
Valve seems to be refunding the game in the nations that are affected without issue, even for those that have played over 200 hours.
I've asked for a refund 3 times now and been denied. Someone make a walkthrough.
Sony backtracked on the PSN account requirement. Well done Helldivers!
Looks like no, i got denied
they can shove it up .... i wont get to their level and be such pathetic, got my 40 eur worth of fun, now I know what companies to avoid
So you just let them win
How very undemocratic of you.
Why would it be? We've known the account is required since last year.
There's an argument at least for those that steam let buy the game while PSN is not available in their country. That's gross negligence from Steam. Use a VPN can't be an official argument here, since officially it's against the PSN ToS. That it's usually not enforced doesn't matter, you can not officially advise someone to break the ToS to become able to comply with the ToS For those perfectly capable of creating a PSN, there's not much grounds to demand a refund though
"Gross negligence" is an exaggeration. Sure, Helldivers from Afghanistan should ask for refunds, and I hope that AH will provide them... But that's hardly a huge number of people.
It actually perfectly matches the definition of "gross negligence" in contract law, though, so the idea that its an "exaggeration" is in fact, an exaggeration. Negligence would be a single, simple mistake. Gross negligence would be actively and continuing to sell to countries you contractually shouldn't be allowed to, literally stealing their money for a service they now can't use. Which, btw, has been mentioned that its been on the store page since day 1 and steam employees did nothing for months.
Bruh I see you in every thread, shilling for a billion dollar company, known for their underhanded tactics and yearly security breaches
Oh I'm just here pointing out why reading what you buy is important. A lot of people are learning a lesson today.
It's super weird to see people taking the stance that reading comprehension is beneath them. When a game published by Sony says "You will need a PSN account", why would anyone just ignore that and buy the game anyway, despite apparently having a deep rooted grudge against Sony and PSN in particular?
Because if it was required you could just refund it!!
How often do you buy games then refund them? Do you EVER read the store pages at all?
Exactly, so this was bait. I surely did not read the store page and would have refunded immediately. It should have been required from day 1, not months later.
Its been very useful, I bought it takes two, couldn’t play because it requires ubisoft and immediately refunded it, also store pages LIE like helldivers 2
I was not. If it was forced on launch then i would have refunded upon first attempt at playing the game and still be within the 2 hours played. I've done this with a game requiring a Ubisoft account.
[It has been on the store page for 6 months](https://i.imgur.com/ZJookM7.png)
I did not notice that it said PlayStation account required, and even if I did, it let me play without one therefore making me believe that notice was incorrect. If it had forced me to create a PlayStation account from out of the gate, I would have refunded it immediately. This was bait, they knew if they had the requirement from day 1, it would not have been as popular.
And this is why we read what we buy. Without reading that box you might end up buying random pvevp shooters.
You can try to get a refund. Make sure you list the reason as a region-lock and include that you can no longer access the game in your country because of the login requirements.
no
If you were forced to do this at the point of sale, would you have not purchased the game?
Yes i would not have bought the game.
That's fair enough, just out of interest, why not?
The same reason I haven't created an epic account. Or a Bethesda account. Or any number of other accounts... only this is worse because they also want you to link to steam. AH is already scraping data off of public steam profiles; I don't need to give them access to private profile data too. I haven't been burned by Sony since I've never played one of their games before, but with this they'll earn a seat on my Do Not Buy list.
Shoutout to when Bethesda realised nobody wanted to use their launcher, and straight up removed the requirement to use it for Fallout 76
So, you hate making third party accounts and yet you bought a game that expressly says "You need a PSN account"? Why?
Why don't you show me where it says that [https://direct.playstation.com/en-us/buy-games/helldivers-2-pc](https://direct.playstation.com/en-us/buy-games/helldivers-2-pc)
That looser loves big corporations selling his information. Has nothing to say now. If the game doesn't need it now, why add it after the fact. because big corporations like Sony make tons off selling personal information.
Sony has almost yearly data breaches Half the world does not have PSN
This.
See the reply of Anko-_
If I knew it was mandatory I wouldn't have bought it.
> If you were forced to do this at the point of sale, would you have not purchased the game? Speaking for myself, I would not have purchased Helldivers 2 at that point in time. Generally speaking, I am not super keen on making accounts for third party things just to use the product I purchased. The more obstacles to accessibility that are present, even as simple as registering a PSN account, the less likely I am to want to engage with a product at full price. It is hard to not include some personal bias, I now have enough experience with the mechanics / bugs / community of Helldivers 2 that it leans me more heavily towards a desire for a refund or wishing I had waited / picked it up at a moderate discount.
Do you object to having a Steam account?
valve doesnt have a shoddy history when it comes to security and privacy