After Sony’s audacious PSN move left thousands on the verge of losing access to Helldivers 2, an empathetic Discord community manager suggested those affected ask Steam for refunds—and was nearly fired for it.
Replying to a player’s comment in one of Helldivers’ Discord channels, the community manager, Spitz, revealed they were “almost” sacked for telling players to refund the game. In fact, Spitz had also (indirectly) suggested players review bomb Helldivers 2 to “make their displeasure known.”
Naturally, no publisher would tolerate a conflict of interest of this nature. But despite the turbulence, luckily, Spitz hasn’t lost their job. “Turns out telling people to review-bomb and refund a game isn’t a popular decision with the publisher,” Spitz shared in the Discord. “But I’m still here and I’m glad that we all made a difference.”
For those unaware of the controversy, on May 3, Sony announced plans to add account linking to Helldivers 2 on Steam, requiring players to connect a PSN account to continue playing the game. Unfortunately, several regions don’t have access to PlayStation’s services, barring players from those areas the right to keep playing the game. Naturally, players took to the official Discord server to complain about the situation, bringing Spitz and other community managers into the picture.
Interestingly, Spitz had angered a significant fraction of the Helldivers community with “arrogant” comments after the backlash started on May 3. Players had even petitioned to get them fired. To tackle the backlash against them, Spitz had apologized and clarified that they wanted players to use their anger in the right place, possibly on Helldivers 2’s Steam page.
Be that as it may, Spitz’s suggestion played a crucial role in bringing together a community of frustrated Helldivers players, eventually leading to Sony reversing its decision.
