Sony finally surrenders: PSN accounts will be 'optional' for games on Steam, but they'll give you free stuff if you sign up

The stick didn't work out super well, so now it's time for the carrot.

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If there's one thing that Sony's transition from a quality electronics company to a copyright-heavy media-driven pro-DMCA-lobbying company back in then 00s has taught me it's to "Never, ever trust Sony".
- Having dealt with Sony for years as a engineer their non consumer hardware is a true pain. Trying to interface with some of their ccd image sensors was some of the most PITA integration i've ever dealt with.
- To be fair Sony may have produced quality electronics but their tactics have always been anti consumer.
  They always insist on proprietary everything and try to get first mover advantage for each new iteration of tech and then lock the market down. The problem is they hold out for so long with their proprietary formats that it makes their products unattractive. Case in point their memory cards.
  Requiring a psn account is just another anti consumer control tactic by the company.

Patient gamers be like: look, this is what they need to do to emulate a fraction of our power.

Smart tbh, just "give" them decent skin and most people will not hesitate
- I honestly don't know how a company that's supposed to know the industry took this long to figure it out. They've been giving people fortnite skins for a long time, they know the bar is super low for people to get super excited about changes instead of antagonizing them.

Great, now when will they restore the games for the rest of the world? They've been removed on Steam since forcing PS accounts.
- I've lost track, is Helldiver's 2 still PSN optional but still unavailable in non-PSN regions?
  
  As I understand it, there's not currently a PSN restriction on Helldivers 2. Valve themselves blocked it because Sony was making no promises that it would continue to be a legal and playable purchase in outside countries.
  I would guess Sony may still have to convince Valve to increase the game's availability. To sell a product that will remain usable, Valve needs a better commitment/promise than "We'we so sowwy consumews, we pwomise we won't do it again." Probably some kind of contract.

I'm surprised they did this. Would have assumed most people don't care and we were getting a PC PSN launcher very soon.
- I assume we still will and it will just lean more carrot than stick in terms of offering discounts and bonus items.

And for how long will they be optional this time?
- Until they need to inflate numbers before showing to shareholders
  
  Gamers should be wise enough to time their game playing of Sony games so that it doesn't overlap with Sony's quarterly shareholder reports!
  /s

And then they wait for everyone to buy their games before they bring it back. Not saying it will happen. Just that it might.
- I'm not saying I will eat this double cheeseburger......but I might.
  Pay no attention to my hungry stomach, or my staring gaze at this delicious double cheeseburger with just the perfect balance of meat to cheese ratio. Melting in almost a gooey waterfall down the sides of these patties. With just a hint of ketchup at the top, and topped with lettuce to give it a crunch.
  I'm not saying if I will eat this double cheeseburger.......but I might.

That's not exactly surrendering. It's still scummy. But it's less objectionable, at least.

It's easy, do not buy games from the billionaire companies who do not care about you. They are gonna do whatever is necessary to make money off of you, that's how they became billion dollar companies in the first place.

Cool, I've been wanting to play the new god of war but passed on it because of this bullshit. Time to put it back on my wishlist and ... wait some more for a sale, which is never much of a discount with Sony

Awesome! I will actually consider purchasing them now.
Great job for those of you that took a stance against this! Voting with your wallet works.
#fuckanticonsumerpractices

I'm OK with buying now based on the fact they reversed this. They did what I wanted and the reason I waited to buy so I'll hold up my end. They should be happy people are even buying the games. If they ever change this policy they are other options. I'd love to see what the sales numbers are from before and after the requirement. I'm guessing it wasn't just the articles but actual decline in sales.

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