How to skip "Connecting..." screen?

[agna86]

I'm stuck at the "Connecting..." screen, presumably game trying to connect to PSN network. Didn't they remove that malware?
Do you guys know any trick how to get past that? Some magical command line parameter or something?

[tcortese]

I bought the HZD remaster when it came out, and promptly refunded it when it required me to login to the PSN. Only reason that I re-bought it was because they announced that the PSN connection was optional.

If it turns out that this was BS, I'll simply refund again ...

[agna86]

Originally posted by tcortese:

I bought the HZD remaster when it came out, and promptly refunded it when it required me to login to the PSN. Only reason that I re-bought it was because they announced that the PSN connection was optional.

If it turns out that this was BS, I'll simply refund again ...

We're on the same boat here it seems. Decided to hard skip it when I saw it's getting PSN requirement. When I saw $ony is deleting PSN from HZDR, got really exited and waited patiently for the update.
Well, looks like you still need internet connection to play this, which basically changes very little to nothing. $ony is so hungry to harvest your yummy data...
Again, maybe someone still has the answer to my initial question.
If not, hard-refund is coming.

[tcortese]

Indeed - I too am curious to see if anybody replies to your question. I was just trying to show a little solidarity, hehe ...

At the very least, I can confirm that I am able to play the game after disabling my internet connection (now, whether the 'pooder stores up information, and then "phones home" back to Sony once I re-establish the internet connection, I dunno 'boud dat ...)

[Ordisoftware]

Unless there is a firewall blockage or something, can you try pressing F or Shift+F1 and going to Sign Out in Settings at the bottom left, then maybe restart.

[agna86]

Originally posted by Ordisoftware:

Try pressing F or Shift+F1 and go to Sign Out in Settings at the bottom left, then maybe reboot.

Thanks for the advice, but, unfortunately, that didn't work. I also tried to press any key on my keyboard, but to no avail.
To clarify a bit, this is my first time running the game. It asks you to choose the language, adjust contrast etc., and then it says "Connect to playstation", that's where I'm stuck. There's a white popup in the middle saying "Connecting...", and after 10 mins of waiting, nothing changes.
Gaming in 2025 is so much fun...

[Ordisoftware]

In this case we would need to know where the deactivation option is stored (file or registry) to manually deactivate it... but I haven't found anything in a few minutes and ChatGPT doesn't know too. Maybe the info will be released soon.

But what's strange is that it connects while patch 1.5 is supposed to take into account Sony's new policy of making the Overlay and therefore, logically, (loading and) connecting the PSN "optional". It seems to be a network issue if PSNSDK is just trying to connect to a server before offering the choice of connecting an account or not. You didn't have any choice to make at launch?

What happens if you close and restart the game after deleting the folder \Users\...\Documents\Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, or reboot both your computer and internet provider hardware?

There is these folders that can be deleted too before checking game files using Steam to repair all:

\ProgramData\Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc\PSPC_SDK\

\Users\...\AppData\Local\Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc\

You can also try from another computer or another Windows account.

[agna86]

Originally posted by Ordisoftware:

In this case we would need to know where the deactivation option is stored (file or registry) to manually deactivate it... but I haven't found anything in a few minutes and ChatGPT doesn't know too. Maybe the info will be released soon.

But what's strange is that it connects while patch 1.5 is supposed to take into account Sony's new policy of making the Overlay and therefore, logically, (loading and) connecting the PSN "optional". It seems to be a network issue if PSNSDK is just trying to connect to a server before offering the choice of connecting an account or not. You didn't have any choice to make at launch?

What happens if you close and restart the game after deleting the folder \Users\...\Documents\Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, or reboot both your computer and internet provider hardware?

There is these folders that can be deleted too before checking game files using Steam to repair all:

\ProgramData\Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc\PSPC_SDK\

\Users\...\AppData\Local\Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc\

You can also try from another computer or another Windows account.

I mean, what you say is reasonable, but to be realistic, the game is *obviously* closed source, ergo we don't really know how exactly the connection is handled. I'd guess it's handled by the EXE itself, so there isn't much anyone can do.
I eventually temporally allowed internet connection to the game, and after like 10 mins of an unskippable cutscene top notch game design... I finally reached the menu. I blocked the internet connection to the game again and renamed

\ProgramData\Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc

to some gibberish, so the EXEs can't run and I can confirm that the game runs just fine; once you take the L and allow the game to connect once in the beginning.

Highly doubt that anyone will find a solution for this, since people don't really care about privacy in the first place. Also, the game received very little attention on the PC, maybe due to PSN scaring off or maybe due to poor marketing.

[Ordisoftware]

It's great that it works when internet connection is enabled.

[tcortese]

One thing that I have discovered - I can disable my internet connection and start HZD remastered and play it, but when I save at a campfire and exit, the game HANGS and I have to force-quit it. Closes fine if internet connection is enabled.

So, I'm guessing that it is indeed "phoning home" to Sony as soon as you leave.

Save file seems to be valid in either case, but ...

[LilDipper]

I saw a connecting screen maybe once when I first played, but have never again seen it. This game has the fastest loading of pretty much any game I've ever played that is this graphically intensive. Maybe just create that PSN account, link it once and then forget about it, OP?

[agna86]

Originally posted by LilDipper:

I saw a connecting screen maybe once when I first played, but have never again seen it. This game has the fastest loading of pretty much any game I've ever played that is this graphically intensive. Maybe just create that PSN account, link it once and then forget about it, OP?

FYI, I've already passed that screen by letting it connect to the web ONCE. Then I blocked it again.
Also, create a PSN? Bro is literally crazy! The only reason I bought the remaster now is because $ony finally decided to remove it 💀 Otherwise, ain't no way in h*ck.

[LilDipper]

Originally posted by #anal:

Originally posted by LilDipper:

I saw a connecting screen maybe once when I first played, but have never again seen it. This game has the fastest loading of pretty much any game I've ever played that is this graphically intensive. Maybe just create that PSN account, link it once and then forget about it, OP?

FYI, I've already passed that screen by letting it connect to the web ONCE. Then I blocked it again.
Also, create a PSN? Bro is literally crazy! The only reason I bought the remaster now is because $ony finally decided to remove it 💀 Otherwise, ain't no way in h*ck.

You know you can just create a dummy email account on gmail or w/e that you use just for stuff like this if you're that paranoid, right?

[tcortese]

Also, the Playstation SDK software gets installed; I un-installed it, and when I start HZD I get a "system error: can't start Playstation SDK runtime" error -- but HZD does start normally after I click the OK box