How to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam following PSN linking controversy
Spreading democracy comes with a price. In the case of Helldivers 2, that price is having to link your Steam account with PlayStation Network on PC.
What sounds like a fairly simple ask from Sony has turned into a much larger controversy — especially since PlayStation Network isn't available in every country. And even in places where PSN is supported, it's still an annoyance for many PC players who have been enjoying the game for months.
Helldivers 2 players have been vocal in their discontent of being forced to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account, despite the fact that every major publisher with online services does so for their games. But due to technical issues at launch, Sony made PSN account linking optional.
So here we are today. As of May 6, all new Helldivers 2 players will be forced to connect their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account. Existing players have until June 4th.
But not everyone is on board with this. Fans have taken to the Helldivers 2 Steam page to voice their frustration. What was once a game with overwhelmingly positive reviews is now "mixed." The recent reviews — of which there is nearly 200,000 of them — is now "overwhelmingly negative." Most of the recent reviews criticize Sony's decision to require a PSN account.
Making things all the more frustrating is that PSN is only supported is 69 approved countries. This means if you purchased the game from one of the 150+ territories that doesn't have PSN, you can no longer player.
But it seems that Steam is now offering refunds for Helldivers 2 players. A post on the Helldivers Reddit page appears to show Steam is actively refunding purchases of Helldivers 2, regardless of the amount of time you've played the game.
The user posted a screenshot that shows their purchase of Helldivers 2 has been successfully refunded by Steam, despite the fact that they've played nearly 100 hours.
How to request a Helldivers 2 refund on Steam?
Requesting a refund on Steam is fairly simple:
- Go to the Steam Support section of the Steam application
- Click "Help" in the top-right corner of the screen, then select "Steam Support."
- Choose "Helldivers 2" from the list of games
- Select the option: "It's not what I expected
- Request a refund and provide a reason for your request, such as the mandatory PSN account linking
In the post above, the user stated: "Sony has retroactively changed how the game works and forced legal agreements upon me I do not accept."
I don't know the fine print for Helldivers 2, but it seems that Steam would rather not get into the weeds in this controversy.