Ghost of Tsushima Has Been De-Listed in Countries You Can't Create A PSN Account

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This has been a worrying week for two of the biggest video game companies in the world. It all started when PlayStation announced they would require PSN accounts to play HELLDIVERS 2. Then, they de-listed the game in 177 countries where you couldn't create an account. After that, they walked back the decision to require PSN accounts, but the game is still de-listed for those countries.

Then Microsoft closed four studios (our hearts go out to all the amazing devs affected), including Tango Gameworks, who created Hi-Fi Rush. The day after this happened, we had an internal comment from Xbox saying they wanted to support smaller studios making unique, award-winning games...which is exactly what Hi-Fi Rush was. Not wanting to be outdone, PlayStation decided to restrict their upcoming Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT from the 177 countries where you can't make a PSN account.

For comparison, here are both Ghost of Tsushima (Left) and HELLDIVERS 2 (Right) Restricted Countries (courtesy of SteamDB).

Now, this is a unique one. Yes, the game mentions on the Steam store page that you must link a PlayStation Network account, but it only says this for Online Multiplayer and the PlayStation Overlay. This means that the entirety of the single-player campaign does NOT need a PSN account, and this was further reinforced by Sucker Punch on X:

So, those who don't have access to PSN won't be able to purchase the game at all, not even to just play the single-player content. This is a weird one, and part of me is disappointed in PlayStation. After seeing how PC gamers reacted to HELLDIVERS 2's account linking, it feels like another step backward with this decision. While I can understand if there is a notice on the store page that the entire game requires a PSN account and these countries were delisted, it only mentions the Online Multiplayer needing it. It even has a notice above the purchase bar saying this, similar to how some games have a warning that you can only play a game in VR.

I want to give Sony/PlayStation the benefit of the doubt. I love that they are bringing their games to Steam, and they have been doing an incredible job optimizing and getting their titles running on the Steam Deck (mostly thanks to Nixxes Software). However, as a PC gamer, I think this is a huge mistake when the game's biggest feature doesn't require a PSN account.

I hope they restore both Ghost of Tsushima and HELLDIVERS 2 in the countries they were banned. They don't even need to change anything. The warning that some countries won't access the multiplayer is enough, and while it isn't the greatest, at least gamers in those countries will have a choice. The main game mode in Ghost of Tsushima is the single-player campaign, and since that doesn't need a PSN account, I feel it shouldn't be restricted like this, but instead given a warning to those countries that they won't be able to access all the game's features.

Ghost of Tsushima: DIRECTOR'S CUT can be pre-ordered on Steam for $59.99 before its May 16th release date.

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