After bringing several first-party PlayStation games to PC, Sony’s decision to add a PlayStation Network login requirement to its releases this year has not been popular with PC gamers. Even single-player titles like God of War Ragnarol and the recent Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered require PC players to link and sign in to the PlayStation Network or PSN.
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One of the main criticisms surrounding this decision is that the PlayStation Network isn’t available in fewer countries than Valve’s Steam, so forcing a PSN sign-in has effectively prevented some gamers from playing PlayStation games on PC. According to Sony’s president, COO, and CFO, Hiroki Totoki, the PlayStation Network account requirement is about keeping gamers safe.
In a recent investor call, Sony’s president acknowledged that the decision to force PC gamers into the PlayStation Network would “invite pushback,” but it had to be done for safety.
“We have learned a lot,” Hiroki Totoki said in a response translated from Japanese to English. “The way to face the issues regarding PC, for instance, the PlayStation accounts that we have offered – by offering them, for instance, sometimes that tends to invite pushback. But for the live service games, in order to maintain order of the gaming, so that anybody can enjoy the game safely, we need to create [an] environment conducive to that, [and] of course enjoying the game freely.”
Adding, “Having some restrictions – [we] may not call it a rule – but to ask the users and gamers to follow the manner and [that] balance is very important. We have to continue to seek the best way to achieve this.”
The translation is rough, but the message is clear: Having gamers sign into their PSN accounts to play PC games – especially live service or multiplayer titles – allows Sony to maintain and promote a safe online environment. However, this doesn’t explain its inclusion in single-player games, which has seen first-party PlayStation PC ports like Ghost of Tsushima delisted in almost 200 countries.
For the more pragmatic people, the PSN requirement simply looks like a way for Sony to boost its monthly active user (MAU) counts, which analysts and the industry view as just as important a metric as sales. Also, it’s not hard to link your Steam account to a new PSN account, as it’s a one-time thing. However, it’s still an issue when you don’t offer offline modes for single-player titles or a way to play without signing into a different network.