you just know that this was an internal decision from Sony, made without any input from developers, and the deciders probably used a lot of cool words like KPI, metrics, engagement and brand awareness
I'm 100% sure this was a decision made by Sony. Apparently this was intended from the word go but they had technical issues during launch and disabled the PSN requirement 20-30 minutes after launch and are now trying to turn it back on.
The photo-ID thing seems to just be the UK's incredibly invasive security state making demands. I'm not clear if other countries actually require photo ID, i haven't been able to find any clear information.
With Sony in charge of setting revenue goals? The amount of money they're making will be downgraded from "obscene" and that might be enough to liquidate them
I suspect foreign policy and out of control US sanctions at play. This is a way they commit collective punishment without explicitly saying they're doing it.
Nah, you can make a PSN account as a PC player - I did on launch because I didn't realize it used to be optional. Problem is that PSN accounts are not available in some countries. This change will primarily impact people in Africa, Eastern Europe, and all those little island countries and colonies.