Sony has taken a significant step toward enhancing accessibility for its PC gaming audience by easing regional restrictions on several popular titles. Among the games affected are God of War Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Helldivers 2. This change was first noted by Wario64, who highlighted that the changelogs on SteamDB revealed a reduction in the number of countries where these games are unavailable as of June 13.
Changes in Availability
While Sony has not publicly addressed the ongoing discussions surrounding sales restrictions—particularly in regions lacking access to the PlayStation Network (PSN)—the alterations are evident on SteamDB. Notably, only one region, the Russian Federation, has been added to the list of restricted sales.
This shift comes in the wake of a backlash that began last year when Helldivers 2 faced a review-bombing incident due to a PSN requirement, which resulted in the game being removed from sale in 177 countries. Following the negative response, Sony quickly reversed its decision, although several titles published by the company found themselves embroiled in the controversy. Most recently, Stellar Blade was at the center of criticism, despite the developer, Shift Up, clarifying that a PSN account was merely optional.
Future Pricing Strategies
In a related development, Sony’s president, Hideaki Nishino, indicated that the company is considering adjustments to the pricing of its PlayStation Plus service. During a discussion with CEO Hermen Hulst, Nishino expressed the company’s commitment to maximizing profitability through a dynamic pricing strategy. He stated, “We will continue to add more value and adjust our pricing strategy in a dynamic way to maximise profitability.”
As Sony navigates these changes, the gaming community watches closely, eager to see how these adjustments will impact both accessibility and pricing in the evolving landscape of digital gaming.
