this post was submitted on 05 May 2024
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Or, Arrowhead didn't know that only certain regions of the world can make PSN accounts and Steam isn't directly involved in the creation of any individual store page unless they have reason to be - like limiting the regions Helldivers 2 is sold in after the fact.
You and I both have no way of knowing whether or not Arrowhead knew that they were selling their game in regions where people wouldn't be able to play it, but I could totally see it being the case where Sony didn't tell them and it just never occurred to them that that was a possibility because it's not an issue where the company is located. The PSN account requirement was in the game and listed on the store page from day one; it was only temporarily made optional due to how overloaded the servers were at launch. Arrowhead themselves said they expected an active userbase of around 10k people.
And if Steam is anything like Etsy, then the most involvement they have with setting up any individual store page is their automated systems like the profanity filter. I run a business on Etsy and they have no direct involvement with any of my store besides providing the hosting platform and systems to create the storefront and listings (as well as backend systems like tracking pageviews and such). The only time that they'd get involved personally would be if something like this happened.
Regardless of where the blame lies, I think Arrowhead are the only ones who will suffer unless Sony relents on the PSN account requirement. The money for refunds isn't gonna come out of Valve's pockets, and I can't imagine Sony forking over the cash now that they've taken their cut.
Ignorance? Really?
It would go without saying that they would be informed of returns, so after the first return of the game in one of those markets that defense would no longer be valid.
Arrowhead has no excuse for not educating themselves before agreeing to a contract, and for continuing to sell it after obviously knowing about the issue for months.
Except that people didn't realize that the account was mandatory until this announcement because they didn't read the store page nor the message you get the first time you launch the game, and Steam probably doesn't tell devs why a game was refunded.
The PSN account was mandatory when you first logged in on day one, but was made optional later that day due to server load while Sony rolled out extra infrastructure. Why would they knowingly sell a game in 20 countries that would just refund it 10 minutes after first launching it?
Simple answer greed. Sony is the most greedy and bullshit company ever. Proprietary ports, storage media, software. Never following open standards. They know of all the people they have screwed over won't ask for refund. Even if a big chunk do ask majority of thise demands will be rejected. All companies are willing to take that small a risk.
I don't disagree there, I was talking about Arrowhead specifically. I've now seen people saying that Sony is the one in charge of the Steam store page, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Sony had done it knowingly.
Sony responsible for selling the game where there is no PSN and arrowhead's responsible for making it optional when they knew it was a requirement for 6 months before the launch. They made it optional so that people would play it making refunds difficult. It also seems they were aware that if it would have been compulsory from beginning people wouldn't have played it or bought.
Why are you blaming Sony for Arrowheads greed here? Sony sucks, but it’s arrowhead and steam in this case.
Because the refunds stopped after the first day as you said, why would they stop a cash flow coming in knowing it would now no longer be refunded anymore?
And yes of course steam passes that information along, why would you claim they don’t?
Since posting, I've learned some extra context that may or may not be true but would be very relevant here. Supposedly, Sony are the ones in charge of the actual store page. Which would mean that it was their decision to have it listed in countries where you can't make PSN accounts.
Meaning that there are two mistakes here: Sony knowingly listing it, and Arrowhead not making it clear that the optional account linking was temporary. The second of which the CEO of Arrowhead has already taken the blame for on Twitter.