This mod lets you bypass God of War Ragnarök’s controversial PSN login on PC

Non-PSN country residents still can't buy the game though.

Kratos shield-bashing an enemy and Atreus jumping and drawing his bow on another enemy
Image via Sony

Computer-based PlayStation Network naysayers can now rest easy: God of War Ragnarök now has a new add-on that removes the PSN account requirement on PC.

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Titled NoPSSDK, this mod from iArtorias fully strips the PlayStation PC SDK runtime requirement for God of War Ragnarök. This means you won’t have to log in to the PlayStation Network (or deal with any corresponding errors) with this mod installed. As for the actual installation, it’s quite simple; you just have to download the mod and paste both of its files into the game directory.

Kratos standing upright with his axe with a torch in front and a thunder strike in the far sky in background
Mods to the rescue. Image via Sony

The modder also mentioned players still facing the login error should remove the file located in “C:\Users\[Username]\\Saved Games\God of War Ragnarök\[AccountID]\userpreferences.” An additional step that might be required in some cases is to head into the Windows Firewall settings and restrict the God of War Ragnarök application file from connecting to the internet.

As with most mods, NoPSSDK too might be prone to breaking when the game gets updated. Although the mod author promises that they’d maintain the tool if and when that happens.

screenshot of iArtorias' comment about maintaining the NoPSSDK mod
That’s reassuring. Screenshot by Dot Esports

The mod only solves half of the problems created by the PSN requirement though. As is the case with every other PlayStation title on PC this year, God of War Ragnarök is unavailable in almost two-thirds of the world where PSN isn’t available. This includes all of Africa, and even the Baltics in the European Union. That means players from these regions can’t buy the game legally.

The God of War sequel’s been at the forefront of controversy during its PC launch, with most negative Steam reviews pointing to Sony’s stance of enforcing PSN accounts on a wholly singleplayer game. And as it turns out, the game is running mighty fine without it.

Ragnarök‘s rating sits at “mostly positive” on Steam right now with 70 percent positive reviews, up from “mixed” at launch. Interestingly, the top review on the Steam page recommends the mod in question; that seems to be the general mood of PC gamers across the board.

Screenshot of the top user review on God of War Ragnarok's steam page
Sony might not be too happy about this. Screenshot by Dot Esports

We have to see whether Sony takes steps to take down the mod or just make bypassing PSN impossible. Until then though, we will hopefully see mods like this crop up eventually for Ghost of Tsushima, Helldivers 2, and every upcoming PlayStation title heading to PC.

Author
Image of Manodeep Mukherjee
Manodeep Mukherjee
Freelance writer for Dot Esports since May 2023. Started writing about esports and gaming three years ago. English Major. Favorite game: Disco Elysium. Has played an awful lot of Dota 2.