How to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam?

After Sony and Arrowhead's recent announcement, players are looking at ways to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam. The title has come under a lot of heat from players and fans due to mandatory PSN accounts required to access the game. This announcement comes two months after the release of Helldivers 2 and is seen as a breach of consumer trust.

Helldivers 2 has been one of the largest releases of 2024 with the game garnering a massive cult following. It has been praised for its gameplay, enemy and world design, and endless missions to complete. Seen as the ideal co-op PVE shooter, it has earned a lot of goodwill, which is slowly deteriorating due to the recent announcement to link Steam accounts to PSN. This has led to users looking for ways to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam.

This article will explore how to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam even after the two-hour gameplay window has lapsed.

Step-by-step guide to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam

Below is a detailed guide to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam.

Head to the Support tab on Steam.
Select Helldivers 2 and click on Gameplay or Technical Issue.
Click on the last option in this tab - "I am having another problem."
After selecting where to refund your amount, you must provide Steam support with a compelling reason for refunding the game.
In the Notes section, type the following message - "Sony Interactive has retroactively changed how the game works and forced legal agreements on me that I do not accept." You can tweak this message accordingly, but remember to be civil.
Submit your refund request.

This method of requesting a refund for Helldivers 2 on Steam may not work on the first try as most Steam support requests go through a bot before they are looked at by a dedicated support staff. The above method is ideal for requesting a refund for Helldivers 2 on Steam.

The ideal window for Steam refunds is gameplay not exceeding two hours and purchases that are not older than 14 days. In the case of Helldivers 2 where consumers were falsely misled at launch, Steam will offer refunds for the game. This is shown by Reddit user u/lockes5hadow, who successfully got a refund for Helldivers 2 on Steam.

Refunds on Steam work - here is good guy Steam accepting simple, straightforward logic. byu/lockes5hadow inHelldivers

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The discourse online has boiled down to greedy corporate and unethical business practices undertaken by Sony. This has been a major blow for the publisher and the developer, with tons of users on social media platforms attempting to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam.

For players whose countries do not have PSN and have been directly impacted by this announcement, they can refund Helldivers 2 on Steam by following the above steps, but citing the reason - "PSN is not available in my country and I can no longer access the game."

Update (May 6, 2024): PlayStation has stated that players will no longer be required to log in using a PSN account to continue playing Helldivers 2. The game will function similarly to how it currently does, with PSN account being optional and only required for cross-play between PC and PS5.

Also Read: PlayStation provides an update on Helldivers 2 PSN account linking

Why does Helldivers 2 have 'Mostly Negative' reviews on Steam?

Democracy is in danger (image via Arrowhead || Sony Interactive Entertainment)

The recent announcement that Helldivers 2 will now require a PSN account has alienated a majority of players, which has led to many demanding a refund for Helldivers 2 on Steam.

Here are key parts of the announcement:

"Due to technical issues at the launch of HELLDIVERS™ 2, we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional. That grace period will now expire. See details below in this post."

It further goes on to say:

"As such, as of May 6th, all new HELLDIVERS 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account. Current players on Steam will start to see the mandatory login from May 30th and will be required to have linked a Steam and PlayStation Network account by June 4th. PlayStation Network accounts are free and easy to set up using this link."

This announcement comes two months after launch and players are upset about having to install another DRM software to play one of their favorite titles. Moreover, PSN is not available for 118 countries across the world, including most of the African continent with a few European and South-East Asian countries mixed in.

The game has also been delisted for sale in these countries, which should make it easier to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam.

The event has led to a massive review-bombing and thus Helldivers 2 now has a 'Mostly Negative' score on Steam. With one of Sony's biggest IPs taking a massive hit, only time will tell if this review-bombing has any effect on this decision. Until then, players will be looking at their options to refund Helldivers 2 on Steam.

For more Helldivers 2 news, check out the articles linked below.