You're probably familiar with the concept of the carrot and the stick. It's a metaphor for incentivization: You reward people who do what you want them to, and put a whoopin' on people who don't. Sony, having tried the stick to convince PC gamers to sign up for PlayStation Network accounts to access their games on Steam (with, let us say, mixed results), has now decided that maybe it's time to give the carrot a try.
Sony announced on the PlayStation Blog today, on the eve of the launch of Spider-Man 2 for PC, that the PlayStation Network account requirement for that game will in fact be optional, not mandatory. That will also be the case for the upcoming The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, as well as the previously released God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. If you don't don't want to bother with setting up and using a PSN account, you'll no longer have to.
So, you may ask, why would you? Simply put, for the stuff. Sony cited "added benefits like trophies and friend management" for those who sign up for PSN accounts, but we already have that through Steam so it's not likely to move the needle much. So it's also adding "in-game content unlocks" for PSN account holders. Here's what you'll get:
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: Early unlock suits: the Spider-Man 2099 Black Suit and the Miles Morales 2099 Suit
- God of War Ragnarok: Gain access to the Armor of the Black Bear set for Kratos at the first Lost Items chest in the Realm Between Realms (previously only accessible in a New Game+ run) and a resource bundle (500 Hacksilver and 250 XP)
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered: +50 points to activate bonus features and unlock extras, Jordan’s Jacket from Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet as a skin for Ellie
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered: Gain access to Nora Valiant outfit
"Game creators at PlayStation Studios will continue to work on bringing more benefits to players who sign up for a PlayStation Network account," Sony said.
It's quite a change from a year ago, when Sony went to war with Helldivers 2 players over that game's belated PSN requirement—a war it ultimately lost, but not before destroying untold amounts of goodwill amongst the player base. It also removed the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima from sale in nearly 200 countries that don't have PSN access in May 2024, even though an account is only required for its co-op multiplayer mode. It was all bafflingly hard-headed, and Sony's justification that a PSN account requirement was necessary "so that anybody can enjoy the game[s] safely" really didn't fly, especially since most of the games impacted are singleplayer.
PC gamers, meanwhile, seem determined to make the whole thing as much of a headache as possible for Sony: Just days after God of War Ragnarok launched on Steam, for instance, someone whipped up a mod enabling players to bypass the PSN login requirement entirely.
If there's one thing I've learned from life, it's that sometimes you have to take a step back and ask yourself, is this really worth the hassle? And, importantly, that it's okay if you decide the answer is "no." Honestly, I'm a little surprised it took Sony this long to figure it out, but I think it's a smart move: A PSN requirement for PC games is superfluous by just about any measure but if you're determined to run with it, you might as well do it in a way that's more likely to generate good PR than bad.
