Sony, not Valve, is behind the recent unpopular decisions regarding PlayStation PC games.
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A bit ago, Sony learned a tough lesson about PC gamers: They’re an austere and fickle audience. This was proven by the mass orbital review bombings that Helldivers 2 recently suffered. Sony has a policy to require PlayStation Network accounts in its games that include online multiplayer. This included Helldivers 2, and gamers had to make a PSN account in order to keep playing.
Predictably, everyone pushed back against this mandate and Sony eventually reversed course. But something else happened along the way: Helldivers 2 was delisted and removed from sale in countries that don’t support PSN accounts, all 181 of them. This policy has led to a lot fewer players–and payers–for Sony.
Now this policy has extended to another one of Sony’s new PC games: Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut.
New reports show that Ghost of Tsushima has likewise been region restricted on Steam and Valve is issuing refunds for pre-orders made in the affected regions.
Despite, Ghost of Tsushima being a primarily singleplayer game, it does have an optional online mode called Legends. The game’s official Steam listing also says that PSN is required for online multiplayer. This policy apparently extends to the entirety of the game and not just the Legends mode.
“PlayStation Network Account required for Online Multiplayer (Legends Mode) and PlayStation overlay…”
Gamers have been wondering who is responsible for the decision: Sony or Valve? It turns out that Valve is just enforcing Sony’s policy.
Here’s what Steam support told one user, as per Reddit:
“Also, it looks like this game is not available in Steam right now for specific regions as decided by the publisher. This information is all we have right now, and we can’t tell when the game might be made available in those countries.
“You may consider getting in touch with the game’s publisher to ask more details about it or share your feedback to them.”