Eyeing the Helldivers 2 backlash with a nervous flop sweat, Sucker Punch assures us that Ghost of Tsushima won't need a PSN login for single player
Its co-op online multiplayer mode, on the other hand, will require a PSN account.
PlayStation 5 samurai slice 'em up Ghost of Tsushima is finally coming to PC on May 16, and with all the sturm and drang around Sony stablemate Helldivers 2 introducing a PSN login requirement, developer Sucker Punch would like to remind us that the mostly single player Ghost of Tsushima will mostly not require that.
The clarification was first spotted by BluesNews: in response to a since-hidden Twitter comment that presumably referenced the controversy—and I can only assume not in a friendly way—Sucker Punch wrote: "Just so you are aware, a PSN account is required for Legends online multiplayer mode and to use PlayStation overlay. It is not required to play the singleplayer game."
Now this was my first clue that Ghost of Tsushima even had an online component: most praise for the game centers on its Assassin's Creed-style historical focus, open world exploration, and tight swordplay. Legends looks like a co-op horde mode that's largely siloed off from the base game—a cool extra, but you'll still get your money's worth if you don't want to sign in.
It's honestly kind of nice that going full single player doesn't require getting another account involved in things with Sony's PC lineup—that's more than I can say for the Halo Master Chief Collection, whose Microsoft account shenanigans have only ever been an impediment to my enjoyment of those games.
The Helldivers 2 controversy, meanwhile, seems to primarily be an issue of rollout and communication: players are already used to not having to deal with the extra hassle after months of play, and it remains unclear what will happen to users in countries that PSN does not support.