Highlights
- Helldivers faced backlash due to Helldivers 2 controversy over account-linking requirement, which has now been retracted by Sony.
- Negative reviews for original Helldivers spiked after announcement of a feature in Helldivers 2, leading to fan dissatisfaction.
- Helldivers creative director expressed disappointment with fans review bombing original game for issues unrelated to it.
Amid the turmoil of the recent Helldivers 2 controversy, its predecessor Helldivers has also been review bombed by disappointed fans. The original's latest negative reviews criticize the account-linking requirement of Helldivers 2, which was eventually retracted by publisher Sony.
Earlier this year, Helldivers 2 came out to much fanfare and quickly became one of the biggest Sony launches on PC. Recently, the announcement of a post-launch update that would have required Helldivers 2 PC players to link their Steam and PSN accounts together stirred a big controversy, leading to many players review bombing the game, eventually forcing Sony to ditch the plan. However, it turns out that the first game, 2015's Helldivers, has also been caught in the crossfire despite not being a part of the incident.
Helldivers 2 Fan Points Out Stratagem Problem You Can't Unsee
A Helldivers 2 fan uncovers a subtle error in the icon of a popular Stratagem, igniting community discussion and highlighting player dedication.
Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt took to Twitter and highlighted that fans dissatisfied with the online co-op game's account linking update were also leaving negative reviews for the original Helldivers game. Stating how the occurrence "deeply saddens" him, he rhetorically questioned if the backlash around the Helldivers 2 controversy warranted review bombing of developer Arrowhead's older games and other Sony-published titles. The developer also emphasized that Helldivers has no PSN linking requirement and, hence, should not be the "target" for disappointed fans.
Helldivers 2 Players Review Bomb Helldivers 1
Taking a look at the Steam reviews of Helldivers: Dive Harder Edition, the influence of the sequel's controversial update seems evident. At the time of writing, the first game's "Recent Reviews" on Steam, which constitute 1,136 reviews, show up as "Mixed." The surge in negative reviews seems to have started from May 3, around the same time Arrowhead announced the PSN account linking update for Helldivers 2. Diving deeper into the latest negative reviews, there is an obvious theme that involves criticizing PSN and Sony, further proving that the original game has been review bombed because of the Helldivers 2 controversy.
Given that Sony has now officially announced that it isn't going ahead with the account linking update, the review bombings can be expected to come to a stop for both Helldivers 2 and its prequel. As the PSN requirement has been dropped from plans, fans situated in countries that are not supported by PSN, and who had been locked out of purchasing Helldivers 2 earlier, may expect to get back access to the third-person shooter game soon. After PC players intensely opposed PSN account linking for Helldivers 2, it will be interesting to see how Sony handles the same for the multiplayer mode in Ghost of Tsushima when it rolls out for PC later this month.
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 is a third-person cooperative shooter developed by Arrowhead Games Studios for the PC and PlayStation 5 where players take control of a Helldiver set to protect the citizens of Super Earth by traveling to hostile alien worlds and destroying threats. Players undergo missions, defeat enemies, and use special items called Stratagems to help turn the tide of battle in this punishing release.
