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

[AsRock]

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.

Seen that list on there so many times now ha.

The people in their discord have been complaining for days now, 7 people typing pretty much all the time.

The sad part is that they gave their phone number too which is a really good way to find every out about some one.

EDIT:
O yeah they turned me down again already.

 

[GreiverBlade]

EDIT:
O yeah they turned me down again already.

yep, me too ...

it's not against the game or the devs ... even the devs ask for review bombing ...

seriously ... Sony is upsetting me with that one, and i almost started to like them with H:ZD and H:FW release on PC ... way to go Sony ... way to go ...

 

[cvaldes]

Sony Interactive Entertainment really screwed the pooch this time.

Right now there are 244K recent reviews on Steam resulting in an Overwhelmingly Negative rating.

Any gamer with an ounce of self-respect isn't going to pay the full $40 retail price for this game. EVER. (Yes, I know there are many gamers who have zero self-respect and will shell out the forty bucks.)

This is a multiplayer online co-op game. If you and three pals consider playing this game together, all four of you have to agree to purchasing the game. If one of the group balks at paying the full $40 retail because they think SIE is scum, you will end up playing a different game.

If SIE wants to grow Helldivers 2 player count they will have to deeply discount this title on a regular basis. A simple apology won't be enough.

 

[Space Lynx]

Sony Interactive Entertainment really screwed the pooch this time.

Right now there are 244K recent reviews on Steam resulting in an Overwhelmingly Negative rating.

Any gamer with an ounce of self-respect isn't going to pay the full $40 retail price for this game. EVER. (Yes, I know there are a bunch of gamers who have zero self-respect.)

If SIE wants to grow Helldivers 2 player count they are going to have to discount this title on a regular basis. A simple apology won't be enough.

holy shit. you are right. wow, I have mad respect for the Helldivers 2 community not putting up with bs and ill-thought out plans.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Seen that list on there so many times now ha.

The people in their discord have been complaining for days now, 7 people typing pretty much all the time.

The sad part is that they gave their phone number too which is a really good way to find every out about some one.
View attachment 346356

EDIT:
O yeah they turned me down again already.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is a Discord anti-raid feature, by allowing only people with verified accounts to interact with the server, even if a raid occurred it'd be much easier to stave off. I hadn't realized so many people still had accounts without two-factor authentication, though...

Your phone number won't be shared with the Discord's staff/admins, though.

 

[Space Lynx]

Sony does own the IP of Helldivers, so Helldivers 3 probably won't be made by Arrowhead, lmao

Not after the head guy encouraged refunds and negative reviews. RIP Helldivers, may Democracy guide you!

 

[cvaldes]

Not sure any other game studio would want to work on Helldivers 3 for SIE at this point. SIE basically shot themselves in the foot (with a bazooka) and killed any future for this franchise.

Helldivers 2 is the end of the road for this IP.

 

[evernessince]

Sony does own the IP of Helldivers, so Helldivers 3 probably won't be made by Arrowhead, lmao

Not after the head guy encouraged refunds and negative reviews. RIP Helldivers, may Democracy guide you!

Might be for the best, if they are released from Sony's chains they could go on to make a game on their own terms. At the end of the day it's the talent behind the game that makes a franchise great. As far as I'm aware Sony is only the publisher in this case.

 

[Space Lynx]

Not sure any other game studio would want to work on Helldivers 3 for SIE at this point. SIE basically shot themselves in the foot and killed this franchise.

So, timeline of main events:

1. Game launches with optional account creation because it is not ready yet, but is sold in many countries that have no possible way of account creation.

2. Apparently it is ready and they force it on people.

3. Turns out it still wasn't ready.

I mean what kind of incompetence is this, these fucking executives make six figures, lol

Might be for the best, if they are released from Sony's chains they could go on to make a game on their own terms. At the end of the day it's the talent behind the game that makes a franchise great. As far as I'm aware Sony is only the publisher in this case.

100% Agree, hell if Microsoft was smart they would contact Arrowhead today for a AAA game in a similar style/idea, and promise everyone no account linking required, the entire community would rally behind that and Microsoft would get a huge boon from gamers.

I don't see this happening btw, but if I were an executive at Microsoft I would definitely turn this into a major PR win with the gaming community. lol

 

[cvaldes]

Might be for the best, if they are released from Sony's chains they could go on to make a game on their own terms. At the end of the day it's the talent behind the game that makes a franchise great. As far as I'm aware Sony is only the publisher in this case.

Most likely Arrowhead would have to buy the IP rights from SIE. The details are in the contract between the two, something we'll never know.

Look at Bloodborne. This title was developed by FromSoftware for Japan Studios (SIE's in-house subsidiary). When Japan Studios folded, the IP rights went to Sony. That's why FromSoftware can't remaster this game or bring it to PC. The future of Bloodborne is entirely up to Sony.

Basically whoever writes the checks owns the IP. And between Sony and Arrowhead, who do you think has better lawyers?

Once in a blue moon we see a dev buy back IP rights from their publisher. Remedy did this with Control.

But there are tons of other instances where the dev walks away. Look at the crazy journey the Tomb Raider franchise has taken. And when Hideki Kamiya left PlatinumGames, he explicitly stated on YouTube that he had no rights to the Bayonetta IP.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Doesn't matter if it is Microsoft. Could be EA, Ubi, Valve, MS, Epic, any of the big publishers with the money to finance a AAA game.

 

[Space Lynx]

Actually, I was thinking Arrowhead team could make a Kickstarter and probably get record funding for a game to do on their own in similar style, cut out the publisher as a whole - I think they have a strong enough community to pull that off, it would require some good rhetoric though and they would have to move fast why they have the attention of everyone.

Most likely Arrowhead would have to buy the IP rights from SIE. The details are in the contract between the two, something we'll never know.

Look at Bloodborne. This title was developed by FromSoftware for Japan Studios (SIE's in-house subsidiary). When Japan Studios folded, the IP rights went to Sony. That's why FromSoftware can't remaster this game or bring it to PC.

Just make a new IP in a similar style, new universe, etc.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Main problem is that any AAA game takes so long to develop, that everyone will have forgotten about this debacle by the time it releases.

 

[cvaldes]

Actually, I was thinking Arrowhead team could make a Kickstarter and probably get record funding for a game to do on their own in similar style, cut out the publisher as a whole - I think they have a strong enough community to pull that off, it would require some good rhetoric though and they would have to move fast why they have the attention of everyone.

Until the publisher of the original game sues the pants off the dev.

We have seen this very recently with Dark & Darker and the issue still hasn't been legally resolved.

Again, who do you think has better lawyers? Sony or Arrowhead?

 

[Space Lynx]

It's ironic that Sony sued Microsoft for so many years because they were deathly worried about CoD being M$ exclusive and not being able to compete with them, then they get a random gem like Helldivers 2 that falls right in their lap... and takes off at levels no one was ever expecting... and they just completely blow it. Helldivers 3 with a AAA budget could have been their CoD killer. lmao Sony, ffs, you were so close.

 

[64K]

Actually, I was thinking Arrowhead team could make a Kickstarter and probably get record funding for a game to do on their own in similar style, cut out the publisher as a whole - I think they have a strong enough community to pull that off, it would require some good rhetoric though and they would have to move fast why they have the attention of everyone.



Just make a new IP in a similar style, new universe, etc.

It would take a miracle to top the 675 million USD that Star Citizen has brought in but they wouldn't need anything like that absurd amount.

Still it costs a heck of a lot to develop an AAA game and then almost the same amount more for marketing. It would be nice to see them going out on their own but most likely they would have to go with another Publisher and there might be legal issues involved as well. Depends on what they signed in their contract with Sony.

 

[cvaldes]

In the end all this does is add yet another dreary chapter to the epic novel of the sheer incompetence of the videogame industry.

Anyhow the damage is done. It's not like Sony can say on Tuesday "sorry, we had a little brain fart -- my bad", laugh it off and everything will be back to normal in a week.

And the game industry has simpletons like Geoff who will flash a large sh!t eating grin and act like nothing happened.

 

[evernessince]

In the end all this does is add yet another dreary chapter to the epic novel of the sheer incompetence of the videogame industry.

Anyhow the damage is done. It's not like Sony can say on Tuesday "sorry, we had a little brain fart -- my bad", laugh it off and everything will be back to normal in a week.

And the game industry has simpletons like Geoff who will flash a large sh!t eating grin and act like nothing happened.

Please don't remind us of Geoff. When they first started the game awards I was hopeful that the gaming industry would finally get a respectable awards ceremony for the developers. Instead what we got is another advertising event that blows off celebrating developers for paid ads and a big wig circle jerk.

 

[N/A]

I don't see the problem with creating some limited account and never owning a console or running games on it, just using it once to link the accounts.
I started the creation and it didn't detect the country. I don't think they will be verifiying identity, just give them a country and that is all. no street no names no nothing esle.

Your home location is used to verify your identity when you contact us.

 

[Space Lynx]

I don't see the problem with creating some limited account and never owning a console or running games on it, just using it once to link the accounts.
I started the creation and it didn't detect the country. I don't think they will be verifiying identity, just give them a country and that is all. no street no names no nothing esle.

Nice find on the loophole here, this probably needs to be said more so those that paid for the game, but don't want a refund, can still play.

 

[Veseleil]

I don't see the problem with creating some limited account and never owning a console or running games on it, just using it once to link the accounts.
I started the creation and it didn't detect the country. I don't think they will be verifiying identity, just give them a country and that is all. no street no names no nothing esle.

Congratulations for completely missing the point people already made and are trying to make.

 

[Space Lynx]

Congratulations for completely missing the point people already made and are trying to make.

true, but what he/she is trying to say is the latter half, there is loophole. I did not know about this until that post.

 

[cvaldes]

Please don't remind us of Geoff. When they first started the game awards I was hopeful that the gaming industry would finally get a respectable awards ceremony for the developers. Instead what we got is another advertising event that blows off celebrating developers for paid ads and a big wig circle jerk.

Lol, Geoff is a very influential person in the videogame industry. You are free to dislike him but whether you like it or not he personifies a sizable portion of the videogame industry.

Again the tragic immaturity of the videogame industry (as a whole) is on vivid display in this episode.

There are people who run their videogame companies like real businesses. I know many people online love to hate on some of these companies but Nintendo happens to be one of them. Is it any surprise that Nintendo is eating Sony's and Xbox's lunch? Nintendo isn't perfect (no company is) but they aren't effing up like SIE currently is, not by a longshot.

Somewhere on this planet, Jim Ryan's phone is ringing and he's not picking up. It's going to voicemail but no one can leave a message since his mailbox is full.

 

[Kapone33]

This has to be the most asinine move a Company of this Space could make. I have friends who play DOTA2 all the time and the only Game I saw that took them away from that was Helldivers2. Even on PC hardware live streams people have been mentioning this Game since launch. How do you take a Game that got popular by word of mouth in the age of social media. Put a wall behind it when more than half of the PC players are at Level 20 and above. Talk about tone deaf. I am still beside myself.

 

[Easy Rhino]

The real issue to me is forcing a minor to read and understand a legal agreement, i.e. terms of service, signing away your privacy, creating separate accounts for tracking purposes, all to play a video game.