In a resounding victory for the gaming community after Sony reversed its decision to mandate PSN connectivity, Arrowheads CEO Jhan Pilestedt praised Helldivers 2 players for standing together during difficult times and laying the foundation for a new standard for upcoming live service games.

“Together we want to set a new standard for what a live game is,” Pilestedt said on May 6, adding that “developers and the community need to support each other to create the best gaming experience.”

The developer of Helldivers 2 played with fire over the weekend, requiring players to link their PlayStation Network accounts to their Steam accounts in order to continue playing the game. The move drew criticism for the developer, resulting in Steam reviews dropping to "overwhelmingly negative," with everyone voicing their displeasure.

Millions of players from 177 countries feared losing access to Helldivers 2 because PlayStation Network was unavailable in their countries. According to the developer, account linking was temporarily optional due to technical issues. The developer made it a mandatory requirement after the issues were resolved.