Helldivers 2 / Arrowhead Game Studios
Sony has unlocked four major games for gamers in over 100 countries — God of War, The Last of Us, and more are now available on Steam without PSN regional restrictions.
The company has not officially commented on the reasons for this step, but Sony has obviously reconsidered its controversial policy. The requirement to link a PlayStation Network (PSN) account once caused massive blocking. But now, finally, in 177 countries where there were blockages, Steam hits — God of War Ragnarok have become available, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, Spider-Man 2, and Helldivers 2.
The situation escalated in the spring, when Helldivers 2 players were forced to link their Steam accounts to PSN. In many regions, PSN does not work, so the game was simply removed from sale. But for Sony and publishers, this step was financially unprofitable — Helldivers 2 was the fastest selling game for PlayStation. Then the game was recognized by one of the most successful on Steam so companies were actually losing money. Eventually, after a wave of criticism, Sony canceled the requirement and later extended it to its other PC games.
These four projects are now globally available on Steam. And this is great news not only for players from limited regions but also for the publishers themselves. At the same time, other Sony games, such as Ghost of Tsushima and Until Dawn, remain unavailable in certain regions. With the latest update, there’s a chance that these barriers will come down as well, but it’s a matter of time and community pressure.
Source: Engadget