The newest PC port of the highly acclaimed PlayStation 4 game Ghost Of Tsushima has caused a huge controversy due to the requirement for a PlayStation Network (PSN) account before its launch. Sony has initially promised that the single-player mode is going to be available without a PSN account. Yet, on Steam, the game has been removed from the regions where a PSN account is not supported, thus leaving millions of players without the possibility to purchase and play the game.
PSN requirement causes regional unavailability
The situation escalated when Steam began issuing refunds for pre-orders with the following notification:
“Hello, You are receiving a refund for a game you pre-purchased – Ghost of Tsushima. The publisher of this game is now requiring a secondary account to play portions of this game – and this account cannot be created from your country.”
This incident has brought back the controversy of Sony’s PSN policy, one of the causes for the recent discussions about this issue. Players have verified a message by the Bandai Namco Entertainment, the leading company, that there were no PSN download connection planned for the Ghost of Tsushima. On the other hand, this promise seems to have been shattered after the game went on to use a PSN account for its online multiplayer and PlayStation overlay.
Global accessibility concerns
This is similar to the recent protest against Helldivers 2, a PS title that also came under the same PSN services scrutiny. In the case of Sony, the company had to reconsider its stance of charging a lot of money for the PS4 version of the remastered game after the massive protest by the players, which was followed by the same pattern as Ghost of Tsushima.
The gamers have expressed their discontent about the prioritization of the data collected from users for the pleasure of game playing. Some gamers have taken the restriction in the PlayStation Network Terms of Service and User Agreement to mean that the data of the user is more valuable than the play itself. The other gamers also believe that the terms of the service actually stripped the user of his rights and can ultimately left the user feeling powerless.
So far, Sony, Steam, and Sucker Punch Productions have declined to comment on the matter, and the destiny of the PC release version of Ghost of Tsushima remains in question until the developers or the vendors take action and tell their positions. Gamers expectantly look for the official statements of the companies involved, expecting to see a proper resolution that will solve diversity problems and honor the rights of players in all corners of the Earth.
