Ghost of Tsushima's PC port delisting for non-PSN countries

In May 2024, the highly anticipated Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut PC version was removed from digital storefronts for countries not supported by the PlayStation Network (PSN). The PSN is not officially supported in the Philippines, hence its players were directly affected. This move encouraged software piracy.

The removal was reportedly due to the game's online multiplayer, as Sony requires any PC game with online functionalities to connect to the PSN. This came shortly after the Helldivers 2 controversy, where the game was also delisted for non-PSN countries. The enforcement remains in effect even if players only wish to participate in the game's single-player mode.

Other Sony PC ports, such as The Last of Us Part 1, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Horizon Forbidden West, remain available to all countries as those games do not have online multiplayer. However, the next PC port released after Ghost of Tsushima, God of War Ragnarök, was announced to require PSN despite having no multiplayer components.

• May 5, 2024: Helldivers 2 was removed from Steam in non-PSN countries.
• May 9-10, 2024: Digital storefronts Steam, Epic Game Store, and Green Man Gaming began refunding customers who preordered the game from non-PSN countries. The game was delisted for customers in those stores from non-PSN countries.

Sony requires its PC games with online components to be able to connect to the PlayStation Network (PSN).^[1] This requirement was made public during the Helldivers 2 controversy, as previous PC Sony games such as The Last of Us Part 1 and Horizon Zero Dawn did not have online multiplayer.

Ghosts of Tsushima has an online multiplayer called "Legends mode". This optional mode made the game fall under Sony's requirement for the PSN. The game was available for preorder in all countries until May 2024, when the game was delisted and all preorders were refunded.

During the May 30, 2024, edition of State of Play, Sony announced the upcoming PC release of God of War Ragnarök. However, the game requires PSN accounts, despite being a single-player game. This also made God of War Ragnarök unavailable for Philippine players.

In a related incident, on May 5, 2024, Helldivers 2 was removed from Steam after months of availability in non-PSN countries.

Between May 9 and 10, 2024, Green Man Gaming, a digital storefront of Steam keys, began refunding customers who bought Ghosts of Tsushima from non-PSN countries. The store cited that the game was restricted on their region as "the multiplayer modes [..] will no longer be available to play without linking a PSN account". Steam and Epic storefronts also began refunding players from non-PSN countries who preordered the game, and delisted the game from being purchased.

The controversy was met with pushback from the community. Players were encouraged to pirate the game instead.

Players from the Philippines who bought Ghost of Tsushima Steam keys from DataBlitz reported that the keys could be activated on Steam. This is because the keys distributed to retailers have different region restrictions from the game's storefront in Steam.

1. @Pilestedt Twitter thread on May 5, 2024. May 5, 2024 at 7:07 PM (PHT). Johan Pilestedt (@Pilestedt). Twitter. Retrieved on 2024-05-06.