Helldivers 2 Developer Arrowhead Shares Cape Design Based on Sony's PSN Error

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On Thursday, Helldivers 2 publisher Sony announced plans to reintroduce its PlayStation Network (PSN) account linking requirement to PC gaming. This requirement was initially disabled when the game launched to ease server load and as a result many players were unaware of it.
This led to an outcry from critics, as Sony sold Helldivers 2 in many regions where PSN is not available. If this requirement were enforced again, it would prevent players from these countries from playing the game they paid for.
After four days of intense backlash, Sony finally reversed course, reversing its decision and removing the account linking update altogether.
Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead, shared a community-created design for an in-game cosmetic cape that commemorates the ordeal. You can check it out below; notably, it looks like it could actually be added to the game, as he says “the team is talking about a good name for it right now.”

You can usually find the community around Arrowhead Game Studios’ hugely popular PC and PS5 co-op shooter, Helldivers 2, rallying against bugs and bots to complete major orders, but over the past few days, players on Steam were fighting a very different fight. After publisher Sony announced plans on Thursday to reintroduce a PlayStation Network (PSN) account linking requirement to the PC version of the game, fans launched into an uproar of criticism that it would prevent anyone from experiencing in one of the 121 countries where PSN is no longer available playing the game once it has come into effect.

Sony initially made the problem worse by stopping sales of Helldivers 2 in those regions while keeping radio silent, but ultimately reversed its decision on Sunday by removing the account linking update altogether. Since then, fans have updated their reviews, with the game’s score on Steam once again positive – but not before one community member turned a chart showing over 200,000 protest reviews posted in four days into a unique design for a cosmetic cape in the game.

The design was shared on X (Twitter) by Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead. “The accidental cape design is pretty cool. From a community member,” he wrote in the post. The simple chart features four red bars representing all the negative reviews written between Sony’s initial announcement and its decision to backtrack, and you can check it out below (there’s also this one too, although I would have liked it to have a fourth line):

Plus, the accidental design of the cape is pretty cool. From a community member. pic.twitter.com/7LQZA6RekwMay 6, 2024

Unsurprisingly, masses of Liberty’s finest are calling on Arrowhead to add the cape to Helldivers 2 as an unlockable to commemorate the community’s protest efforts. What East What’s surprising, however, is that it looks like the studio might actually do it – despite the fact that it represents a lot of anger and frustration towards the game’s publisher. Pilestedt has it revealed in a response to a hopeful Helldiver: “The team is thinking about a good name for it at the moment.”

Naturally, this has inspired everyone to come up with name suggestions, many of which are pretty interesting. My personal favorites so far are “The Will of Democracy” and “We Dive As One,” but I also have a soft spot for “The Voice of the People,” “United We Stand,” and “United Front “. Never mind What it’s called, however, Pilestedt says the cape will be free if it comes to the game.

It’s worth noting that Arrowhead was on the side of the player base throughout this ordeal, with Pilestedt apologizing for the situation on Friday and the developer communicating that it was working with Sony to get answers to the region lock issues. Community Manager Spitz even directly suggested in the official Helldivers Discord that fans should “make their displeasure known in a place where it could actually make a difference” by posting negative reviews on Steam and demanding refunds for Helldivers 2. Additionally, while the studio could have been more forthcoming about the existence of the PSN requirement – something Pilestedt acknowledged recently, saying he chose to disable it at launch to ease server load – Sony was behind the decision to bring it back, as well as allowing Helldivers 2 to be sold in countries where PSN is not supported.

Helldiverse 2

A pair of Helldivers embrace as Sweet Liberty’s fury rains down around them. NOW those are true patriots. (Image credit: PlayStation Studios)

In the end, I’m just glad this whole fiasco is over. As a huge fan of Helldivers 2, it was quite heartbreaking to see the game’s reputation fall harder than my chances of survival in missions on Helldive difficulty. Now that players no longer have to worry about having their access to the game taken away, we can get back to the good things: spreading managed democracy and blowing Terminides and Automata to smithereens.

As I said before, another piece of good news is that Helldivers 2’s Steam score is heading towards blue again. Its recent reviews, “extremely negative” before Sony’s backpedaling, have now risen back to “mixed”, with nearly 45,000 positive reviews so far. Thousands more will surely come; I would love to see the game return to “extremely positive”, although it may take a while. If you left a negative review and are happy with how things were resolved, consider replacing it with a thumbs up.

Helldivers 2 is available now for $39.99 on PS5 and PC, and so far it’s one of the best PC games of the year. Notably, the game also supports cross-platform play between PS5 and PC.