Will Sony Finally Realize The Consequences Of Locking Away More Than 115 Countries?

God of War Ragnarok is the latest first-party exclusive of Sony Interactive Entertainment to receive a PC port and it is not going as smoothly as the company had hoped. Players on the PC platform can now experience the Norse Saga fully now that both God of War installments are available on the platform. However, there are some creative decisions made by the publisher that backfired and now the highly-anticipated sequel is taking the fall.

The publisher expressed interest in dipping its toes on PC and sharing its critically acclaimed library of first-party titles which is great for platform players. However, they are required to link an active PlayStation Network account which is not a luxury everyone has worldwide.

God of War Ragnarok Is Not Doing All That Great on PC All Thanks to Sony

The gaming community smiled ear to ear after Santa Monica Studio announced that God of War Ragnarok is officially heading to PC. Players on the PC platform were rocked after seeing the required specs and had their fingers crossed that their modest gaming rigs would meet the specifications and be enough to run this godly adventure of Kratos and Atreus. It is easy to build a powerful gaming rig with all the latest bells and whistles technology has to offer. However, expanding the global coverage of the PlayStation Network is something beyond their purview.

The God of War franchise is arguably the most popular first-party franchise of PlayStation. The gaming community naturally expected this installment to receive a great reception at launch on PC which is no longer the case. The PlayStation Network requirement crushed the excitement and enthusiasm players on the PC platform had and it negatively reflected on the active player count of God of War Ragnarok.

God of War had a all time peak of 73,529 on Steam, GOW Ragnarok’s peak is 25,796. That’s lower than Days Gone all time peak (27,450)
byu/cooReey inSteam

There are at least 115 countries without access to the PlayStation Network and this immediately became a massive problem. It is a requirement to play first-party titles on PC, and not everyone has an active account, let alone live in a country with access. This will naturally force players to resort to unethical methods like piracy and this will bring more harm than good to the developers of God of War Ragnarok.

Other great first-party titles suffered the same fate; however, Helldivers 2 got the worst backlash after Sony abruptly pulled out the game across all unsupported regions. Other players would argue that the latest God of War game is a single-player experience and does not get in the way of the main objective of the PlayStation Network mandate which was to improve online moderation.

Sony Showed No Interest in Removing the Mandate and God of War Ragnarok Is Taking the Fall

Other major first-party operating under the PlayStation Studios banner that were ported to PC, like Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut and Horizon Forbidden West, suffered a similar reception. These great games would have been in the hands of countless others in regions without the PlayStation Network if the publisher removed the requirement and let PC players enjoy the games.

Horizon Forbidden West has set a new record high for piracy after the group known as Fairlight cracked the game and shared it for free online. Sony Interactive Entertainment would have lost a lot of money thanks to piracy and desperate PC players will do anything to get their hands on the game.

The global coverage of the PlayStation Network could have been expanded to reach 115 unsupported regions to combat piracy and the low player count. Hopefully, the gaming company will learn its lesson after seeing how low God of War Ragnarok has stooped since it launched on PC.

Santa Monica Studio made a great sequel that must be celebrated and played legally. Removing the PlayStation Network requirement will likely increase the daily active player count, and players on the PC platform to experience a great video game.

What are your thoughts about the low player count God of War Ragnarok has on PC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!