DB

Disclaimer: this is a blogpost with more questions than answers.

I am writing this blogpost after the up and downs of the unification of the Helldivers 2 community in response to some interesting actions taken by Sony. In a story that is continuing to develop, 3 months after the release of the game Helldivers 2, Sony enforced a requirement for players to create a Playstation Network (PSN) account to continue playing. While this would all be fine and dandy, 177 countries do not have the ability to create 177 accounts–countries where Helldivers 2 was being sold. It was a choice to be made, for sure.

In response to several of their fellow helldivers being unable to play, the Helldivers 2 community began a campaign to review bomb and refund their games. In response, Sony paid lip service to the community, claiming that they would walk back their decision. It was words without the actions to back them up, as these purchase restrictions on Helldivers 2 continued to remain after the fact.

As a fellow helldiver, this is discouraging to me in the same way that the Open Gaming License fiasco of 2023, which Lin Codega broke the news on. Corporations who own your favorite games have the freedom to do whatever they want with them, including practices that hurt fellow consumers or that impact the ecosystem that surround and support the culture of the game.

The question is, what do you do when a corporation decides to screw you over, gamer?

Screaming in the town square

You go to your communities and you start bitching about it, that’s what.

Both in the OGL fiasco and in the recent Helldivers 2 mess, players took to their favorite community centers and rallied to inform each other of what was going on. Reddit, Twitter (no, I’m not calling it X), YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and all your other favorite social media platforms (Tumblr?), rallied together to inform their respective communities about what was going on, and how BAD things were.

The nice thing about a protest from the Internet is that you can do it while you are at home, and mostly comfortable…except for the wrong that was recently done to you that inspired the swift footsteps onto your keyboard and into the fray of dissent. Technology has democratized the ability for people to widely and rapidly communicate with one another, and while it has its pitfalls, it has been vital in the organizing of the angry mob of gamers. Community leaders, who are a little more clear in the D&D side of the house, and not-so-much for the Helldivers 2 democratic hivemind, pointed to actions that you could do to make your opinion be heard.

Repost and share, review bomb, and…well, hit them where it hurts.

In the wallet.

Fuck your shareholders.

Alt. text: A picture of the Sony stock continuing to plummet more than 10% in value over the past month.

In the Helldivers 2 fiasco, players took to their protest in the best way that they could–they requested for refunds. In a Reddit post (that has now been removed), and in other places like YouTube, Steam was reportedly approving refunds of Helldivers 2 in response to Sony’s changing policy.

A similar tactic was used in the OGL fiasco against Hasbro, as players canceled their D&D Beyond subscriptions to make their dissent tangible for a shareholder in lost revenue. The Rook & The Raven took a risk for themself by canceling licensing negotiations with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Other companies later canceled their involvement with Hasbro in other ways–making their own games.

With all the posturing and action that was made, that brings us to the greater question:

Will they move?

In the case of Hasbro, they did. In the case of Sony, it seemed like they did…but they aren’t, right now. Only time will tell, and it will take the vigilance of the public–their fans, journalists, and their partners–to hold them accountable in the ways that they are able.

I thought we were well and done with this, and I had griefs to lament about (about how a live service game, or any online game cannot be effectively preserved), but that’s a discussion for another time.

We continue on, and we’ll keep playing our games–

With or without the corporations who profit from them.