Apparently Valve is giving refunds on Helldivers 2 regardless of hour count. Details inside.

[Space Lynx]

Looks like Sony chose the dumb as shit option instead of just staying dumb as bricks, LMAO Guess who isn't buying Helldivers 2 or 3? this guy and many other guys.

Sauce with Spaghetti

 

[cvaldes]

I think what @dgianstefani is trying to say is it may be a grayer area than we realize from the outside looking in is all, and he provided evidence for that. I agree with you though, this is all very strange.

We will never know the exact details of the conversations between Arrowhead and SIE. We will basically only see the end result. We can only guess at what transpired between the start and end points.

We have to wait from a more official statement from SIE or Arrowhead.

But this may be the last time Arrowhead chooses SIE/PlayStation Games LLC as its publisher.

 

[Space Lynx]

We will never know the exact details of the conversations between Arrowhead and SIE. We will basically only see the end result. We can only guess at what transpired between the start and end points.

We have to wait from a more official statement from SIE or Arrowhead.

But this may be the last time Arrowhead chooses SIE/PlayStation Games LLC as its publisher.

Yeah, for Helldivers 3 Arrowhead now has enough leverage to go somewhere else. This would be a great IP for Microsoft to gobble up, I don't want that to happen, I am just saying Microsoft would probably love to have Helldivers 3, unless that game is already contracted to Sony, who knows. Sony is very good at contracting games so you can never make them. Case in point, one of my favorite PlayStation 2 games, Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 made by Level-5, they want to make a Dark Cloud 3 game, but Sony won't let them as Sony holds the rights. Clowns do what clowns do I guess.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Looks like Sony chose the dumb as shit option instead of just staying dumb as bricks, LMAO Guess who isn't buying Helldivers 2 or 3? this guy and many other guys.

View attachment 346268

Sauce with Spaghetti

May be a band-aid patch until they figure something out. Not trying to be a Sony apologist but it is best to watch the situation to a final conclusion before making any kind of commitment.

 

[Space Lynx]

May be a band-aid patch until they figure something out. Not trying to be a Sony apologist but it is best to watch the situation to a final conclusion before making any kind of commitment.

Fair. I just thought it was funny, meh

 

[nomdeplume]

Ghost of Tsushima

 

[cvaldes]

May be a band-aid patch until they figure something out. Not trying to be a Sony apologist but it is best to watch the situation to a final conclusion before making any kind of commitment.

Most likely this was Valve's decision to stop selling Helldivers 2 to non-PSN markets, not Sony's. They are inundated with refund requests, this is just a stop-gap measure until Sony-Arrowhead arrive at some agreement. Valve is really caught in the middle and this brouhaha puts a strain on the Steam customer support team and reputation.

But waiving the customary 2-hour time limit for refunds shows which side Valve is on...

 

[evernessince]

as far as this goes, Arrowhead made a huge mistake with its anti-cheat choice of software, and 99% of the community agrees with this, it doesn't work well and it causes issues from what I read. they really should have looked into some other form of anti-cheat software company, this was Helldivers 2 biggest mistake imo from the very beginning and the final reason I decided not to buy it, I gave up on multiplayer games around black ops 3 time when it came out on PC, every single multiplayer game I have ever played always has outright hackers or subtle cheaters that just ruin the fun, so if a game doesn't have offline mode with bots, I'm not playing it, that simple. been this way since I play SOCOM and SOCOM 2 on playstation 2, those games were fun as hell at first, but eventually the hackers came they always do. I learned my lesson. I don't waste my time on multi games for this reason anymore.

edit: imagine if Arrowhead went to Valve and asked for help in implementing the Valve anti-cheat software - and it had no account linking of any kind - this game would have skyrocketed to the top of the charts for longer than it did and sold more units to boot imo.

I was gifted Helldivers 2 and the anti-cheat was a very unpleasant surprise for me. Didn't realize the game had it until I found the process running on my system when the game wasn't even open. I uninstalled the game and ran the nGaurd uninstaller but you can never tell for sure what a kernel level anti-cheat did already that you aren't aware of. Honestly I think increasingly intrusive anti-hacking software is not the solution to hackers. A better approach would be to use a less intrusive anti-cheat along with attacking the funding, distribution, and marketing of cheats.

 

[Space Lynx]

I was gifted Helldivers 2 and the anti-cheat was a very unpleasant surprise for me. Didn't realize the game had it until I found the process running on my system when the game wasn't even open. I uninstalled the game and ran the nGaurd uninstaller but you can never tell for sure what a kernel level anti-cheat did already that you aren't aware of. Honestly I think increasingly intrusive anti-hacking software is not the solution to hackers. A better approach would be to use a less intrusive anti-cheat along with attacking the funding, distribution, and marketing of cheats.

yep nGuard has a notorious reputation from what I understand when I first looked into Helldivers 2, and as I said before one the main reasons I never bought the game. I agree with your solution, but also Valve Anti-Cheat seems to work really well for its games, I'm sure they would be willing to add it on if a game company were to give them w.e it is they paid nGuard, or maybe it is more expensive, I honestly don't know. Either way, Arrowhead should have went in a different direction than nGuard.

 

[AusWolf]

Helldivers 2 was the sleeper hit very positive rated game... this is quite the turn around, and another reason I don't bother with multiplayer games, they always get harvested in the end, in one way or another.

This! Paying full price for a game that you can only play as long as other people still play it is a waste of money, imo.

 

[Space Lynx]

This! Paying full price for a game that you can only play as long as other people still play it is a waste of money, imo.

I still play the old CoD games with bots sometimes, I think it's fun/nostalgia for old maps (wish I could do the same with SOCOM and SOCOM 2), if Helldivers 2 just had that option I would have bought it on day 1 honestly. I love the concept of it, I just can't stand other people.

no offline bots mode = no money from me

 

[AusWolf]

I love the concept of it, I just can't stand other people.

no offline bots mode = no money from me

Exactly and exactly!

 

[64K]

It's good that Valve is giving extended refunds.

There are too many big negatives for me to bother with almost all multiplayer only games.

Cheaters
Limited future playable time before the servers shut down
Using mods that aren't even for cheating can get you banned anyway

 

[Assimilator]

There are stupid decisions in gaming history, and then there are Sony decisions. As I said to my friend this morning, given how well Helldivers 2 has sold, this moronic after-the-fact policy change is very much a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It's also made me reconsider purchasing any Sony game on Steam, even non-online ones like Horizon, because I have no idea what sort of other stupidity Sony might decide to inflict down the line.

Really, this is a case of Sony - a company that is used to being bigger than anyone else and thus getting its own way - coming up against the sleeping giant Valve, and not having enough self-awareness to realise that in this case it's the small fish in the pond. Also, allowing MBAs to run companies.

 

[AsRock]

May be a band-aid patch until they figure something out. Not trying to be a Sony apologist but it is best to watch the situation to a final conclusion before making any kind of commitment.

They should just leave it as it is, toxic players are very rare in the 1st place. Plenty of idiots but that's a totally different thing it's a great game to be a idiot in haha.

 

[Space Lynx]

saw this on reddit, made me lulz

 

[AsRock]

Not true, only if they feel like they need too i guess.

It was stated that an account linking with a PSN account wasn't ready for the launch of the game, so it makes sense you wouldn't know about it until now, this was apparently something just in the written agreement sections that no one ever reads (but that it was optional)... but how is it optional if it isn't ready yet? I don't know, lol

When i got it it popped up that i had to agree to it, i did then later found out that people were saying no it to and were able to play still.

All so if you want to unlink your steam account you cannot as the site tells you that you do it in game but you cannot.

It's about time steam gave you this option to unlink places you have linked in the passed.

 

[cvaldes]

This is turning into a Grade A dumpster fire.

Sony doubles down, removing Helldivers 2 from sale in 177 countries and territories that can't access PSN while Arrowhead CEO says 'I don't have the final say'

211 thousand negative Steam reviews and counting for the former people's champion of 2024.

www.pcgamer.com

Sony Interactive Entertainment is handling this incredibly poorly. At the end of the year when people look back and summarize, this is going to go down as one of the worst cockups of 2024.

They are just tossing whatever goodwill and trust is left into the toilet.

It will be interesting to see what sort of statement they make on Tuesday when Japanese senior management returns from the Golden Week holiday. At some point they may capitulate. The game code obviously doesn't need the PSN login, people have been playing it for months without linking to PSN accounts.

A game publisher having a confrontational attitude toward its perpetually immature gamer audience simply isn't going to fly in 2024.

And some other publisher will eventually take advantage of this situation and relentlessly mock SIE. That would be super immature but the videogame industry is a bunch of juveniles catering to other juveniles.

This is bad all around for the entire videogame industry. The publishers look like idiots. The devs look like idiots. Valve/Steam look like idiots. Players look like idiots. The media looks like idiots. The whole thing is an epic idiot parade.

The only people who profit from this will be the lawyers (billable hourly rates) and the credit card payment networks (who charge for every transaction). Everyone else loses.

At this point, the videogame industry looks like a Saturday Night Live parody of the videogame industry.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Not true, only if they feel like they need too i guess.

View attachment 346336



When i got it it popped up that i had to agree to it, i did then later found out that people were saying no it to and were able to play still.

All so if you want to unlink your steam account you cannot as the site tells you that you do it in game but you cannot.

It's about time steam gave you this option to unlink places you have linked in the passed.

Might be that it was only in force for the places where the PSN account is unavailable.

 

[dgianstefani]

Not true, only if they feel like they need too i guess.

View attachment 346336



When i got it it popped up that i had to agree to it, i did then later found out that people were saying no it to and were able to play still.

All so if you want to unlink your steam account you cannot as the site tells you that you do it in game but you cannot.

It's about time steam gave you this option to unlink places you have linked in the passed.

You have to request it more than once. The first time is automatic.

The second time and onwards are manual reviews.

 

[64K]

Might be that it was only in force for the places where the PSN account is unavailable.

That seems to be the case. Refunds are for gamers that live in a country that doesn't permit PSN accounts. I think there are around 70 countries affected. Most seem to be in Africa and the Middle East. At least that is the current word spreading around the game sites. Once the dust settles we'll know.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Not true, only if they feel like they need too i guess.

View attachment 346336



When i got it it popped up that i had to agree to it, i did then later found out that people were saying no it to and were able to play still.

All so if you want to unlink your steam account you cannot as the site tells you that you do it in game but you cannot.

It's about time steam gave you this option to unlink places you have linked in the passed.

yep i can confirm ... they refused mine too ...

You have to request it more than once. The first time is automatic.

The second time and onwards are manual reviews.

oh, well i will try again then ...

That seems to be the case. Refunds are for gamers that live in a country that doesn't permit PSN accounts. I think there are around 70 countries affected. Most seem to be in Africa and the Middle East. At least that is the current word spreading around the game sites.

oh well another try will not hurt ... getting rejected a second time hurt less than the first time

 

[Dristun]

edit: imagine if Arrowhead went to Valve and asked for help in implementing the Valve anti-cheat software/

I agree with the sentiment but Valve's anti-cheat is not amazing, unfortunately, there are far too many owners of "good gaming chairs" around in CS2 and always have been in CS:GO.

 

[AsRock]

You have to request it more than once. The first time is automatic.

The second time and onwards are manual reviews.

Ok, i will try for a 3rd time, here's my steam review.

Buggy game from the start, starting of claiming when starting the game requiring PSN when at the time you could exit it and play. once you actually got to play and keep redoing your keys every time you started the game was extremely annoying ( they recently fixed this they claim ). By this time i had asked for a refund but testing takes time and was over my 2 hours and was denied.

Game has improved over the time but

SONY site telling you how to unlink your account you have to do it in game and there is no way you can do this and never has been.

Bugs have been fixed and AH seem like they are trying to please to many people and not just fix what was wrong in the 1st place but to add content and such at the same time.

Game was released way too soon.

Game is simple but can be fun with friends but i cannot support with forced PSN as i have friends in some of the restricted countys.

And as some thing else about linking or more so un-linking this should be possible though steam as well but seems like it's not the case..

As for SONY pushing the PSN on players so you can ban people i have only had 3 hostile players in over 500 hours.

 

[Veseleil]

Apparently the telemetry data and the PSN usage number boost is more important than anything else. PSN known for their security competence:

April 2011: Hackers Access Personal Data of 77 Million Sony PlayStation Network Users
May 2011: Personal Details on 25 Million Sony Online Entertainment Customers Stolen
June 2011: Sony Pictures Website Hacked, Exposing One Million Accounts
November 2014: Hackers Steal 100 Terabytes of Data from Sony Pictures
August 2017: Hacker Group Accesses Sony Social Media Accounts
September 2023: Sony Investigates Alleged Hack
October 2023: Sony Notifies Employees of Data Breach

Makes you really uncomfortable giving them photo of your ID, isn't it? Should you trust them your whole steam information as well?

I'll add the list of the countries with no access to PSN just for reference:

Afghanistan
Åland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Armenia
Aruba
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bonaire/Sint Eustatius/Saba
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Brunei Darussalam
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Christmas Island
Cocos(Keeling) Islands
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Côte d'Ivoire
Cuba
Curaçao
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Federated States of Micronesia
Fiji
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Holy See
Iraq
Islamic Republic of Iran
Isle of Man
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Macao
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
North Macedonia
Pakistan
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Pitcairn
Puerto Rico
Republic of Moldova
Réunion
Rwanda
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Helena/Ascension/Tristan da Cunha
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten(Dutchpart)
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
State of Palestine
Sudan
Suriname
Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
U.S. Virgin Islands
Uganda
United Republic of Tanzania
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wallis and Futuna
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Lucky us.