Sony Keeps Requiring PSN Account For Offline Games, Modders Mod It Out
from the in-mods-we-trust dept
There’s that well known adage that if you want to teach a child not to touch a hot stove, just let them touch it once and that will be all the teaching needed to have them never do so again. Whoever came up with that saying obviously has never met my children, for starters. And it appears that Sony just can’t help but continue to touch the stove.
Earlier this year we talked about Helldivers 2, a Sony title that went cross-platform. That part is all well and good. Less good was that well after the game became a hit, the developers announced that the game would be patched to require that anyone playing on their PC also sign up for a PlayStation Network account, or else the game would be unplayable. While the patch came from the developer, it was done so as a planned requirement by Sony. And it was Sony that eventually rescinded that requirement after the backlash over it was extensive.
Which makes it all the more strange that Sony then decided to do the PSN requirement thing again, this time for the PC port of God of War Ragnarok. This resulted in all kinds of backlash again over the requirement, as this is a single player offline game that required an online connection communicating with a PSN account or the game wouldn’t run. In other words: a game that has no online component and is a standalone PC port of a game was saddled with online and PSN requirements that aren’t needed and that nobody but Sony wanted.
Fortunately, an enterprising modder out there has already created a mod that removes the requirements.
The NoPSSDK mod, hosted on NexusMods, promises to “fully strip the PlayStation PC SDK runtime requirement for God of War Ragnarok.” The open source mod makes use of a simple Microsoft Detours library to get around the game’s calls to the PlayStation Network API without “touch[ing] or modify[ing] any original game code.”
The mod, which has already seen one update related to simulating offline mode, has been downloaded just under 2,000 times as of this writing. “I will try to maintain the tool even if something changes, but hopefully nothing crucial happens,” mod author iArtorias wrote in a NexusMods post.
If you’re about to go click on those links and get the mod yourself, don’t bother. The creator of the mod has already pulled it down out of fear of reprisal from Sony. And I don’t blame them. My first thought when I started looking into all of this was to wonder whether Sony would DMCA the mod over anti-circumvention concerns. It appears that it didn’t have to. Merely the fear it might do so was enough to get the mod creator to do the takedown themselves.
t was my personal decision to remove the mod since it has become way too popular and people started promoting it on Steam forums as well thus generating tons of attention.
“I just wanted to avoid the possible threats from the Sony side, even though the code has never touched any of their products in memory. You never know and it’s really a grey area to me.”
So, let’s summarize. While Sony was very upfront on the game’s store page that a PSN and internet connection would be required to run the game, the fact of the matter is that nobody except Sony wanted any of that. Then a modder came along that made the game operate in a way that the public actually did want, likely making that game more attractive for purchase to more people. Then that modder voluntarily took the thing that made people happy down out of fear of reprisal from the same Sony that was pissing people off.
Everything is bad about this. Sony’s anti-consumer behavior is bad. The chilling effect that previous enforcement has had on the modding community is bad. And the fact that buyers of this game are saddled with these requirements they don’t want is bad. And now the press’ coverage of this is bad for Sony.
Is having people get PSN accounts really beneficial enough to Sony to make up for this ongoing giant headache?
Filed Under: god of war ragnarok, mods, offline games, psn, video games
Companies: sony
Comments on “Sony Keeps Requiring PSN Account For Offline Games, Modders Mod It Out”
Well that lie didn't last long...
With Helldivers 2 Sony at least had the semi-plausible excuse that they were requiring a PSN account to be linked in order to crack down on toxic or otherwise TOS violating players, but by applying the requirement to a purely single-player game that excuse goes right out the window and it’s exposed as just another form of DRM, screwing over paying customers if not outright preventing them from becoming a paying customer if they live in a part of the world where you can’t get a PSN account.
With the gaming industry, the bar is already low enough to be a tripping hazard in hell, yet every couple of weeks it seems I find Sony limboing with the Devil.
Flawless timing
Oh you can not make up this sort of timing… at around the same time that this article went up the Playstation Network went down, providing another perfect example of why such a requirement in order to play is a terrible idea.
Re: Sony dropped off after the PS2.
I almost bought shares of Sony earlier this year. Can’t play most of my offline games right now. Too many subscription tiers, but for what? To play classics that i already own.
My PS5 is a brick right now. Kingdom Hearts 3 won’t start. Darkest Dungeon won’t start. Stardew Valley won’t start. Guilty Gear Strive wont start. Etc.
This is not the same company that i grew up with. You don’t own offline access to half the games you buy on this thing!
At least Death Stranding is working. I will be switching to PC after this generation is over, but yeah–
If you needed a reminder of the importance of buying physical over digital licenses. Having half your library bricked in a network outage is example enough.
Re: Re:
Buying physical is no protection. The on disc game often isn’t complete. Not like they cut off bits and sold it to you as DLC, like they had to patch in half the game that wasn’t ready when it went to production. Nor will physical discs protect you from network outages when a PSN connection is required.
That will only get worse if you move to PC, where most physcial games are simply installing to a steam or epic or Uplay or EA or Blizzard (ect) launcher, and forcing you to link your PSN or XBOX or whatever account and its all actually being handled by digital distribution. If you plan to move to PC, your call for buying physical will have no impact.
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Hey thanks for reminding me why I only look at GOG for games.
lol
If you don’t want to comply with Sony’s terms, don’t buy their products or services. How hard is that?
Re:
For some people? Impossible.
Not everyone has a reliable internet connection. Some countries don’t have access to PSN so the Helldivers 2 patch actually cut people off from their games. PSN doesn’t have 100% uptime. And there are probably plenty of other scenarios.
Re: Re:
Since I’m pretty sure it being impossible for people to not buy Sony’s stuff is unreasonable (and the arguments given don’t make sense in that context), I think you may have misread the statement the OP made.
Re: Re: Re:
I just don’t understand giving money to companies that you feel are abusing you (or trying to circumvent onerous license terms that you yourself agreed to).
Re: Re: Re:2
Yeah. Me neither.
The one time I suggest it was because not enough people cared about the issue, I got informed it was a “collective action problem”.
As a software developer, I think copyright should be trimmed back. While Sony’s behavior here is super shitty, I can’t see a reasonable way it should be disallowed (since it’s very much first amendment protected).
HOWEVER I think it’s unconstitutional to give Sony legal authority over how people use or enjoy their own content. A ban on redistribution? That’s inline with the intent of the constitution. A “Ah but you can’t hold your book that way” is probably not (as well as a “you can’t draw on your book, or play this game with your own rules”).
Re: Re: Re:
I didn’t misread it. PSN isn’t the product or service I’m referring to. I’m talking about Helldivers 2, which was developed by Arrowhead Game Studios. I’m talking about God of War Ragnarök, developed by Santa Monica Studio. Sony is just the publisher. So if you want these games by these developers, but don’t want Sony involved, it’s impossible.
Again, again, if you’re confused by what I’ve said, feel free to ask for clarification. Your confidently incorrect assertions where you presume to understand more than others about what they’re talking about is getting old. And it’s trollish behavior.
Re: Re: Re:2
And yet I said
If that’s not a clue that I was suggesting maybe a mistake was made, the I don’t know that there is a way to suggest something to you without making “assertions”. What would you have said if you thought someone made a mistake, and wanted to suggest they look at the context and/or clarify their intent?
Also since the OP said “if you don’t like Sony’s behavior: don’t buy their products or serveries”, saying “impossible” (left unsaid is because you’d already bought them and will not consider parting with them) is… not a very honest disagreement. If you not willing to part ways with Sony, then you simply disagree with the OP’s stated philosophy. But making counter arguments with the important half of the context left out is… not a great communication tool
Re: Re: Re:3
I honestly wouldn’t say anything about their assumptions and just offered a different perspective.
It’s a very honest disagreement. If you want the games but don’t want Sony involved, you don’t have a choice. If you’ve already bought it and then Sony makes a change, you don’t have a choice. If Sony imposes always connected requirements, it’s likely impossible to legally get an offline version.
You’re confused. I don’t own either of the games. But yes, I do disagree with OP’s stated philosophy because the monopolistic, consumer-unfriendly practices of large corporations screws over the consumer and the small developers. The idea that people should just live with it implies that bad business practices are just fine rather than something that should be discouraged. Boycotts don’t really work against massive corporations. But something like patching software to increase barriers to access for paying customers should be considered a form of fraud.
The important context wasn’t left out. It was included in the article. You’re just saying you didn’t track the context. And it’s not the first time.
Re: Re: Re:4
sigh and yet you literally claim to have done exactly that at the start of our conversation
Any yet, you haven’t pointed out and “confidently [..] assertions” things[0] That I have said. Somewhat like you seem to be confidently assuming I’m someone you have talked to before.
Let me add context that I had originally thought was clearly conveyed in my first message (which was the first reply to you in this thread), but seems perhaps was not:
Upon reading your message:
I was under the impression (from the context of the very short message the OP gave, and that of the article) that your reply to them mean “Some people can not forgo transactions with Sony”
I will admit that as a non-gamer I glossed over some of the other details, but as my first message said, it did not appear to make make sense in that context.
Anyhow. It’s been… interesting? An experience? A something at least. At this point I think this conversation is dead.
Have fun.
Don’t yell at too many random, passing AC’s (I mean unless you want to be that kind of person).
[0] I ommitted incorrect, because it’s the confidently asserted things I’m talking about.
Re: Re:
Yeah, if you haven’t bought the game already, boycotting Sony is an option. OTOH, if you already bought the game, boycotting Sony won’t have any effect on them until the next problematic game comes out. And meanwhile, you’ve got this $70 software brick.
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Nobody is arguing that people should buy products from a company engaging in anti-consumer practices. Just that if said company would like to see improved sales numbers and press, they should stop engaging on anti-consumer behaviour.
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That’s exactly what I did. The second I saw the requirement; I DIDN’T purchase the game.
Re:
Sony should not be legally allowed to impose terms on a product after sale. I will happily pay them $60 or $70 or more for a product. Have repeatedly.
The PSN service only makes the product worse. And so I will pay for that content, dismissing any claims I am ‘stealing’ the content I want, and subsequently patch out the DRM, as I have for over a decade on PC games.
Like would you prefer I just go back to pirating their products or services instead of buying? I’m jumping through the hoops to give them money in exchange for culture, and people are making the best arguments for piracy.
Re:
“If you don’t want to comply with Sony’s terms, don’t buy their products or services. How hard is that?”
If you don’t want to be honest about your product, don’t sell your product. How hard is that?
Sony has a bad name for several instances where they screwed their customers, not sure why anyone would trust them again.
Re:
If you don’t like people rightly criticizing major companies for stupid and/or anti-consumer practices then just don’t read those articles. How hard is that?
What’s the actual cost to Sony here?
I’m told that for “collective action reasons” gamers will not, en-mass simply forgo Sony games or hardware.
So I guess Sony has to live with people just being unhappy when they open their wallets, but with no (significant) threat of actual profit loss?
If all that’s correct[0], that is basically the perfect environment for Sony to cram more leashes on their captive audience.
[0] I don’t keep my finger on the collective minds of gamers, so please don’t think I am asserting what they think. I’m only responding to what I’ve been told… sometimes here on techdirt.
Re:
That’s not quite the case. Since they closed down PSN access in 118 countries during the Helldivers 2 debacle, this unnecessary requirement is effectively costing them customers.
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Interesting. But if the same didn’t happen for God of War Ragnarok[0], then Sony can probably just “boil the frogs”.
[0] While I enjoy games, I’ve not found anything by a non-indie dev in the last 6 years or so that I really enjoyed. I suspect that disqualifies me from being a “gamer”.
Re: Re: Re:
Its not quite clear what ‘the same’ is in this context. The same 118 countries are still blacked from accessing PSN. So it did happen? God of War Ragnorock was limited in access. It cost some level of sales in those countries. It likely cost further sales as the frustration builds in the player base. Boiling a frog works with consumers until it doesn’t. Like with cord cutting or an avelanche, the damage is slow and ponderous until its suddenly quick and devestating.
Re: Re: Re:2
Oh, I see. I miss interpreted this sentence:
I though you were saying “gamers” shut down (presumable meaning some sort of protest) PSN access.
But you meant (I think) that Sony disabled PSN access in those countries.
Re: Re: Re:3
You’re talking to two different people, but yes, I did mean that Sony shut down PSN in those countries.
The writing was on the wall for this sort of greedy ratfuckery when Dragon Age (Origins?) Shipped with day 1 DLC with helpful npc to shill it at you.
Sony is obsessed with collecting data on users the easiest way to do this is make single player games require a PSN login
This is enshittification every service online requires more data from users
Single player games should not require online
access there’s no one making pirate copy’s of PS5 games
Sony is facing challenges as new console games now million of dollars to make on consoles
They are making more hd remakes of old games
Annoying gamers is a really bad idea
Re:
“there’s no one making pirate copy’s of PS5 games”
That’s not true…
Reminds me of this graffiti from 2006
“I’ll ride a Brompton bicycle
or I’ll teabag a mime,
before I’ll give the Sony corp
another fuckin’ dime.”
So, people are forced to create an account for Windows 11, for Stream, but people complain that they need a PSN account to play some (mostly played online) game?
This just requires full name, a postal address (they don’t check) and a verified email, not even a credit card.
Now, the magic of open-source is that there a bunch of forks, like https://github.com/dandykong/nopssdk
Re:
The issue is not having a PSN account, but the constant need to phone in under constant surveilance. Both windows and Steam can be setup to run without an active internet connection. the PSN requirement is an ‘requires an always connection’.
Moreover, the need to sign into multiple third party platforms in an ever increasing fractal is frustrating. Its a practice Ubisoft is finally abandoning because the data they had shows requiring a proprietary login was costing them increasing numbers of PC users. They knew it would before they tried. They estimated the lost sales were worth it. Their data now shows that is not true.
Sony’s recent efforts to move to the PC and tie PC games to a PSN account is a decade behind Ubisoft in this, but there is no reason to suggest the risk to profits isn’t high.
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GoW: Ragnarok isn’t mostly played online. There are online meta-elements, but it is effectively a single-player game with no in-game online features.
And as you say, people are forced to create a Win11 account, and required(not forced) to have a Steam account to buy this game on the platform. Adding a PSN requirement on top of that serves no purpose.
Apart from the fact that the companies are different...
What differentiates having to login to Steam to play a game from logging into PSN to play a game?
Both companies use the login to enforce DRM and gather data about you, even for games that don’t require online play.
Re:
The fact that one is already logged into Steam to play the game. One shouldn’t also have to log in to PSN. An extra unnecessary login just creates another point of potential failure.
Sony rootkit
We should never forget that Sony installed a rootkit on people’s computers without permission just because people wanted to play their CDs.
Sony still hasn't learned their lesson with PC users
Seems like Sony still hasn’t learned their lesson with PC users. They don’t trust them after the rootkit fiasco over a decade ago, why should they trust them now?
I have always wondered why nobody ever suspects the government e-snoops would want to access children’s computers through the games they play online.
Since most often, the kid’s computers are linked through daddy’s computer for internet connection, I would think that the NSA and FBI and CIA and all the foreign snoops would be drooling over that wide-open, legally forced connection.
But, somehow everyone just seems to assume that the spies would not use these games to access contents on gamers computers and any computers they link through.
When was the last time someone took Valve’s cache of code, and analyzed exactly what it all actually does.
For that matter, has anyone ever done this?
Is it even legal to do this?
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Home computers aren’t capable of that, so I don’t know what you’re referring to.
Re: Re:
“Since most often, the kid’s computers are linked through daddy’s computer for internet connection”
Home computers are incapable of “What” precisely??
Are you saying that every home computer needs it’s own separate link to the WWW??
Re: Re: Re:
Desktop and laptop computers typically connect to the internet through wired ethernet or wireless wifi connections that go through a modem and/or router and not through a different computer. Instead of “daddy’s computer” are you referring to “daddy’s internet access?”
Re: Re:
Wi-Fi hotspot has entered the chat.
Some asshole in the c-suite decided that they needed bigger numbers of people with PSN accounts to show to share holders or something.
Not that they had a new awesome IP that would more more product, but the illusion of thousands of new customers joining their network and that will TOTALLY drive more sales because players never have any concerns about us taking away what they thought they bought, or changing it at our whim, or installing a rootkit on their machines to make sure they never use them in a way we don’t like.
It doesn’t & should not matter how many people you have signed up for your service, it should matter how much you are selling to customers. Consumers are getting really tired of these individual services from every company that gets an idiot into the c-suite.
Instead of building a new platform no customer wants to deal with, maybe put that effort into making sure your customers are actually enjoying the game & experience.
Storyline Fan
The latest twist in Erone was incredible! I can’t believe [Character] turned out to be [Plot Twist]. What do you all think this means for the next chapter