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We’re just a couple of days away from Ghost of Tsushima’s PC release date, as the former PlayStation exclusive prepares to drop its Director’s Cut – including its expansion and multiplayer DLC – on Steam. Having recently cleared up the question around whether you’ll need to sign in with a PSN account after the Helldivers 2 debacle – yes, if you want to play the co-op mode – developers Nixxes and Sucker Punch have now revealed that the login requirement will mean multiplayer won’t work on Steam Deck.
The devs confirmed last week that we won’t need to create or sign in with a PlayStation Network account to play Ghost of Tsushima’s single-player campaign or the Iki Island expansion, looking to seemingly quell the risk of a backlash similar to that suffered by Arrowhead after announcing a mandatory PSN login for Helldivers 2 (which was later dropped – and then turned into a tongue-in-cheek cape – due to the sheer shitstorm of complaints).
A sign-in will be needed for the co-op Legends mode, which was originally released as free DLC for the PlayStation 4 game, though: and therein lies the rub. While Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut will be technically supported by the Steam Deck – at least if you’re looking to play the main game in bed/on the bus/on the toilet – its developers confirmed that it’ll appear as “Unsupported” on Steam due to multiplayer being unable to work as the result of the PSN integration.
“You may notice that Steam marks the game as ‘Unsupported’ for Steam Deck. This is due to the Legends co-op multiplayer mode requiring Windows to access PlayStation Network integrated features,” Nixxes and Sucker Punch explained in a blog post announcing the game’s pre-load going live.
It’s hard to imagine that that many people would consider a portable handheld to really be the best way to play an online multiplayer mode, but it’s still frustrating to see the restriction – especially as the much-bemoaned PSN login requirement appears to be directly to blame.
That’s also despite one of the arguably positive features of the PSN connection – cross-play between PlayStation and PC users – only being available in a ‘beta’ form at launch, with the devs saying it’ll be functional but won’t automatically match users on different platforms to begin with. You’ll have to invite your friends to make the most of it – which is probably the best way to play Legends regardless, but not ideal if you’re flying solo and looking to hop into a game as quickly as possible.
It’s worth mentioning that all of this follows the news that Ghost of Tsushima’s PC port won’t be sold on Steam in nearly 180 countries – including Japan, the very country in which the game is set – due to the PSN login requirement for Legends. (Helldivers 2 was similarly pulled from sale in dozens of countries, including those where PSN accounts can’t even be created.)
Y’know, I’m really starting to question whether forcing a separate login for PlayStation Network on top of these games is all it’s cracked up to be.