The release of God of War Ragnarök on PC hasn’t been all that easy, with many bemoaning the technical issues and steep requirements needed to run the game. But the most unpopular requirement is that you have to have a PlayStation Network account in order to play.
This has led to the game getting several mixed reviews on Steam simply because of the PSN backlash, and some players taking matters into their own hands to find some workarounds. One player by the name of iArtorias created a mod that allowed people to bypass the PSN requirement, and even vowed to keep the mod online as long as possible. However, an update by Nexus mods seems to have dashed any hopes of that, as the site tweeted a message stating that the PSN-bypass mod was removed by the author and that the site was working on contacting them to figure out why.
Even to those who already downloaded the mod and have been using it, this news is still very shocking given the declarations given by iArtorias in defiance of Sony’s practices. The replies to the tweet are already suggesting the move was made by Sony, probably forcing iArtorias to remove the mod or face some kind of legal action by the company. If Sony is responsible for this, then they would be following in the footsteps of other companies like Nintendo by going against the modding community.
It also means Sony is serious about enforcing these policies players don’t like, and will bring the hammer down on those trying to find ways around it—which means there will be even more contention between Sony and players regarding PSN accounts. As more PlayStation games get ported to PC, you can expect this controversy to come back every so often as more gamers try to fight back.
Update Sept. 30 10:35am CT: iArtorias clarified their reasoning for removing the mod, stating that they did not like how much attention the mod was getting and removed it in order to avoid any potential legal action from Sony. An understandable reason, but that hasn’t stopped those in the replies from accusing iArtorias of lying about the mod’s removal.
