Is a PSN account ACTUALLY required? ANSWER: Kind of!

[CheeseBoar]

FINAL EDIT, PROBABLY: I kind of found an answer to my own question! You can check it out in the comment I left here:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/2322010/discussions/0/4843147760499825346/?ctp=9#c4843147950368848211

TL,DR: You do need to log into a PlayStation account, but only a single time. After that, you can log out and stay logged out, and the game will still work.

Here's the original post in its entirety:

I'm looking for a definitive answer on this, because I've heard so many conflicting answers already. I came across this stream:

https://www.youtube.com/live/5BQSPmhQJnY?si=9YH19N5q86mhbje7

...and he clearly isn't logged into a PlayStation account, as you can see on the title screen (where it says "Sign Into PlayStation"), but he's able to play. Other people have said that they get a pop-up saying that a PSN account must be linked to Steam, or the game can't be played.

EDIT: So, it's becoming pretty clear that the PlayStation account requirement is seemingly *completely random.* Some people are forced to log in or get booted to the desktop, and others can just play without ever having had a PlayStation account to begin with. I thought this was a regional thing, but it seems to be differing even for people in the same region.

EDIT 2: I've come to the conclusion that a PlayStation account is absolutely required, there's no way around it. *Linking* the accounts is optional, but the game won't let you even get to the title screen until you've logged into a PlayStation account either via this game or another one.

EDIT 3: Okay, so... I just manually logged out of my PlayStation account using the PlayStation overlay accessed from within the game, and I can still play, even if I exit the game and start it again, online or offline. Even after exiting the game and starting it again, I was able to play without logging in, when yesterday, I was blocked from playing until I logged in again after a restart.

[KillerAtWar]

Originally posted by ShootN-BlankZ:

I did not have to sign in to start the game...

same..Somebody called me a liar in a other post I did not need to & right now dont need to play this on a PSN account linked

[Chris]

i wasnt even presented the option to sign into PSN but ive played 90mins this evening without sign in.
also noticed that i got 2 steam achievements but zero PS trophies for the game (not that i care)

[༺T0XIC☬SA1NT༻]

no

[CheeseBoar]

Originally posted by Dystopia:

Originally posted by CheeseBoar:

This is so weird, I can't get it to let me play *at all* without logging into a PlayStation account. It's also interesting that your menu options on the title screen are centered, because for almost every other video I've watched, they're aligned to the left. That's another difference I noticed.

Did you try offline/blocking the game in your firewall outbound, and inbound?

Yeah, I fully disconnected my machine from my network.

[Seifer Leonheart]

Originally posted by CheeseBoar:

Originally posted by Seifer Leonheart:

I have a PSN account, it's supported in my region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw25GENSNno

This is so weird, I can't get it to let me play *at all* without logging into a PlayStation account. It's also interesting that your menu options on the title screen are centered, because for almost every other video I've watched, they're aligned to the left. That's another difference I noticed.

Dang... that sucks. When I started the game I've assumed people were going by the requirement on the store page instead of the game itself. As for the centered menu options, I guess it's because of the resolution? 5120x1440p is not too common and Sony ports usually have attention to detail for this kind of thing. Sided menus at this res don't look too good.

[CheeseBoar]

I finally got the option on launch to link my Steam and PlayStation accounts, and my options were Yes and No. This screen *only* appeared after I logged into a PlayStation account.

[bb10]

Originally posted by CheeseBoar:

I finally got the option on launch to link my Steam and PlayStation accounts, and my options were Yes and No. This screen *only* appeared after I logged into a PlayStation account.

Does the game kick you out if you disconnect the internet during play?

[Naamtar]

This is what the store page says:
https://gyazo.com/239d9d87209cecc088ef340f3c4ca3fd

This is what a store page on a game that does not require PSN to play (Ghosts of Tsushima):
https://gyazo.com/e7f02ba1ffeb4dbb8f732e7321798c32

[CheeseBoar]

Originally posted by bb10:

Originally posted by CheeseBoar:

I finally got the option on launch to link my Steam and PlayStation accounts, and my options were Yes and No. This screen *only* appeared after I logged into a PlayStation account.

Does the game kick you out if you disconnect the internet during play?

It didn't seem like it, no. I was able to log out of the PlayStation account after it had let me into the game, and it didn't bother me until I started the game again next time. That's still unacceptable, as far as I'm concerned.

It's worth noting, however, that I haven't been able to get it working a single time on the Steam Deck, no matter what I do. I've seen a bunch of people play it on the Deck already, but for the life of me, it just won't work at all on my end.

Originally posted by Naamtar:

This is what the store page says:
https://gyazo.com/239d9d87209cecc088ef340f3c4ca3fd

This is what a store page on a game that does not require PSN to play (Ghosts of Tsushima):
https://gyazo.com/e7f02ba1ffeb4dbb8f732e7321798c32

Yes, I know what both store pages say. The reason I tried any of this is because a bunch of people started reporting that you could play Ragnarok without a PlayStation account, despite what the warnings on the store pages said.

[Wakane]

Originally posted by KrówQa2k:

I didn't have to link my psn account and It let me play without it

So, the game requires a PSN account, but the linking with Steam account is the optional one?

[soul]

I'm in the US, haven't had to sign in, and have had no indicators that the account is required personally. I have the "sign in to PlayStation" button, but it has not even asked me if I want to link to PSN. This is very odd, IMO, but we will see how it develops over time.

[outlaw_hat]

Wow is this really random? Doesn't make sense.

Could it be related to the data sharing the game asks you when it starts? Like selecting "full" will ask you for an account, and selecting "limited" won't?

I selected "limited" and it didn't ask me to log in.

[LAZerTRUMP]

This is an interesting topic.Usually i dont mind required 3rd Party Accounts anymore (Even if its UBI or EA launcher) ,but PSN had its fair Share of scandals .Wont give them any of My personal Information,but would by this Game ASAP if it turns out ,i dont have to create an Account.

[Ambry]

Third-party account requirement for a single-player game?

Oh well, guess Sony doesn't want my money after all.

[Hypnotickiller]

It's not required. I've sunk 4 hours in and didn't even notice it wasn't even signed into my psn account.