Sony removes PlayStation account requirement from 4 single-player Steam games

[Grogan]

Sony's game publishing arm has done a 180-degree turn on a controversial policy of requiring PC players to sign in with PlayStation accounts for some games, according to a blog post by the company.

A PlayStation account will "become optional" for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarok, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Sony hasn't lost hope that players will still go ahead and use a PlayStation account, though, as it's tying several benefits to signing in.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/01/ ... eam-games/

I guess losing sales hurts.

I will re-purchase God of War Ragnarok if the sign-in is optional. I sent it back in the first 10 minutes because it had client software that wouldn't run, requiring the game to be run in a Steam Deck Mode, which used a browser based sign-in. In Steam Deck mode, it disabled the mouse.

I bought that game for my nephew and he loved it. I watched him playing it a few times (on Windows 11) and I'd play it if not for that nonsense.

Also, maybe GoG can get the Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered if they remove that requirement. (it doesn't really need a remaster, it's a beautiful game, I can't see it looking that much better. I'd way rather have GoG freedom than a gimmicky remaster with ray tracing and stuff grafted on)

[Zema Bus]

That's great! Wish Ubisoft would do the same.

[Grogan]

At least Ubisoft's client works decently in Steam mode (thin client). It even updates and relaunches itself seamlessly. It's still unwanted shitware, though.

Sonybaloney's does not... and nobody trusts them because their shit often has malware-like components (e.g. installing a root kit if you stuck one of their music CDs in your drive)

[Grogan]

Oh yeah, another thing that stands out with Sony's sign-in requirement is that they don't allow PSN access in like 170+ countries around the world. People who live in those countries CAN'T have those games because of the PSN sign-in requirement. Some games that were previously listed on Steam got an update with this sign-in requirement to some existing games. Sony was just the PUBLISHER too, not the dev. Valve then started delisting the games in those countries where PSN wasn't available.

All because Sony are control freaks.