You didn't "buy a game" when you paid for Helldivers 2

[Retrox]

You subscribed to a service, the terms of which are subject to change. It is our responsibility as consumers to understand the differences between a product and a service. It is our responsibility as consumers to make informed decisions on how and where we spend our money.

If you purchased a subscription to Helldivers 2, you agreed to the Terms of Service. You are still afforded consumer protections if you reside in the EU, but only if the product (or service, in this case) changes significantly from what was initially advertised. If the PSN account requirement had not been present in the service's description at the time of purchase, you would have legal recourse. Unfortunately in this case, it was and you do not.

Personally, I have no intention of creating a PSN account for this service because I do not want to create a PSN account. I will not be renewing my subscription to Helldivers 2. Thanks for all the fish.

[Tigerhawk71]

This isn't an airport tho, departures don't need to be announced

[joeredner]

That is all true. And the terms are no longer acceptable to me. So once they lock the game behind that PSN requirement I won't be playing it. I got my money worth and plenty more already so no hard feelings.

[Sinisteris]

What about EU countries where players won't be able to access the product, after PSN hard requirement comes into the effect? Besides, it was never advertised as a subscription.

[Transdude1996]

Originally posted by Sinisteris:

Besides, it was never advertised as a subscription.

The EULA is listed right on the game's store page, and you are required to agree to it in order to even play the game.

[Sanglaine]

Originally posted by Tigerhawk71:

This isn't an airport tho, departures don't need to be announced

They do if you're a support beam. Unless everyone is outside, then you're good.

[Chrissinglesix (bpd)]

Can you cuck any harder? I get its cheaper than hiring a leather daddy with your allowance but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dude.

Gay corporate legal ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that is brand new obviously overthrows hundreds of years of common law tradition.

[Vanythe]

I believe if the button on the store says "Buy Game" then there should be absolutely no way to ever twist that into "Rent Permanently" or "Buy License".

[CAUSTIC]

Originally posted by Retrox:

You subscribed to a service, the terms of which are subject to change. It is our responsibility as consumers to understand the differences between a product and a service. It is our responsibility as consumers to make informed decisions on how and where we spend our money.

If you purchased a subscription to Helldivers 2, you agreed to the Terms of Service. You are still afforded consumer protections if you reside in the EU, but only if the product (or service, in this case) changes significantly from what was initially advertised. If the PSN account requirement had not been present in the service's description at the time of purchase, you would have legal recourse. Unfortunately in this case, it was and you do not.

Personally, I have no intention of creating a PSN account for this service because I do not want to create a PSN account. I will not be renewing my subscription to Helldivers 2. Thanks for all the fish.

Is this Klaus Schwab?

[Dragkna]

If they set a rule and don't enforce it for 3 months then it was a false rule. Especially when they've been actively selling the game to people who can't make a playstation account in their country for those 3 months.

[Quill]

Breaking News: Players discover they don't own products anymore and instead just buy Game Licenses.

[Durzio]

Helldivers 2 was sold globally. Now they are requiring you to connect to PSN to play.

This will effectively lock out every country in the world except for the 69 or 70 that can use PSN, 4 billion potential players will be cut off.

Not only that, but Sony (and by extension PSN) has REGULAR data breaches. Many people, myself included, VERY REASONABLY do not want to connect any of their information to PSN. Things like my credit card and billing address will be at risk.

Arrowhead did a great job with this game. It's buggy sometimes, but fantastically fun. But they willingly sold a product into countries they knew would get locked out of it. And Sony can sit and spin.

Vote with your dollars. Spend yours elsewhere until they reverse this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of this post will be additional information and context:

HOW TO REPORT TO THE ECC (THIS COULD ACTUALLY WORK!)
PlayStation Studios website in the FAQ section states (regarding HD2 as well):
« Do I need an account for PlayStation Network to play PlayStation games on PC?
Some PlayStation Studios games on PC require an account for PlayStation Network to access certain modes or features. »
( https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/pc-games/%E2%81%A0faqs )
That means i can play the game on PC without creating a PSN account BUT they can only restrict the customer on some features (such as crossplay), what they CANNOT do is block the player from playing the whole game as that is not just "certain modes or features.".
EU Citizens have the right to report this behaviour to their own ECC (European Consumer Centre), it just takes an email and you are good to go.
ECC website (select your institution based on your country of residence): https://commission.europa.eu/live-work-travel-eu/consumer-rights-and-complaints/resolve-your-consumer-complaint/european-consumer-centres-network-ecc-net_en
Remember, never let such behaviour pass, that is straight out lying in their own website and locking consumers from using the product.
PSN is NOT available in the Baltics! Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are not on the PSN list! EU citizens are being blocked from using their products, report it to Baltic's ECCs as well!

LIST OF COUNTRIES WHERE PEOPLE CANT MAKE PSN ACCOUNTS:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa), Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville),Djibouti Dominica, Dominican Republic East Timor (Timor-Leste), Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini(Swaziland), Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, N!ger(i guess i have to spell the country that way or it gets censored?), Nigeria, North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts, Nevis Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenadines Samoa, San Marino, Sao, Tome, Principe Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Suriname

IF YOU ARE REFUNDING, USE THIS AS YOUR REFUND MESSAGE:
"The developers have announced that they will restrict my access to the game unless I sign up for and use a third-party service and account. This requirement was obfuscated at release and waived for three months, before it was announced as a REQUIREMENT to continue to play the game at all."

A COMMUNITY MANAGERS ACTUAL (AND NOW DELETED) RESPONSE:
https://m.twitch.tv/piratesoftware/clip/TangentialBashfulFlamingoKAPOW-u0fayVxa0jR8ZcyK

Much of the above information was gathered from the Helldivers reddit, which seems to now be gone, or from the Helldivers Discord, which is actively muting posting things like that. If this game dies, it will be a premature death, and the autopsy will read "CORPORATE GREED". Godspeed fellow Helldivers, and good luck to us.

[Transdude1996]

Originally posted by Dragkna:

If they set a rule and don't enforce it for 3 months then it was a false rule.

That's not how it works. They establish the rule and then choose to enforce it whenever they want.

[CloversDrop]

Video games are actually covered by name in the UKs consumer rights act 2015.

You're not buying the software, you buying a licence to use the software, yes

This act still provides that digital content must be as described, fit for purpose, and of satisfactory quality. However, it doesn't change the basic nature of the licensing agreement. It does ensure that digital goods must meet certain standards, and consumers have legal rights if the product doesn't.
If an update means the product isn't for purpose anymore, you have a legal right to refund.

Apple has faced fines and legal action related to updates that impacted the battery life of their phones. Notably, Apple was fined in France and Italy for issues related to slowing down older iPhones through software updates.

In February 2020, Apple agreed to pay a fine of 25 million euros to France's competition and fraud watchdog.

In October 2018, Apple and Samsung were fined by the Italian antitrust authority for engaging in practices that it claimed "caused serious dysfunctions and reduced performance significantly, thereby accelerating the process of replacing them."

[Pressed_Virgin_Rapeseed_Oil]

Originally posted by Tigerhawk71:

This isn't an airport tho, departures don't need to be announced

the only people who say this tend to have huge hormonal issues, maybe perhaps such as cortisol.

[Retrox]

I don't have a dog in this fight. Without exception, I don't subscribe to live service games unless they're F2P and I'm able to choose the level of financial resources I invest in ongoing service and development based on how much I enjoy the title. If a game is not playable offline, I consider it a service and not a game. It is very quick and easy to determine whether or not a given release is playable offline.

I am neither condemning nor supporting the live service model. I am only advocating for consumer awareness.

For the sake of context, I was gifted this subscription by a friend who wanted to play.