Summary
- Lost Soul Aside’s PC version has seemingly removed the controversial PSN account linking requirement ahead of its 2025 launch.
- This will allow publisher Sony to sell Lost Soul Aside in countries that aren’t supported by PSN, boosting the game’s overall reach and sales potential.
- Sony’s decision to drop the PSN account linking rule for Lost Soul Aside may hint at a more flexible approach for PlayStation’s PC games going forward.
Some newfound evidence seems to confirm that Lost Soul Aside, an upcoming Sony-published game, has removed its PlayStation Network account requirement for PC users. This not only means that Lost Soul Aside players on PC won’t have to contend with PSN account linking, but it also significantly expands the list of available regions where Sony will be able to sell the game when it launches in 2025.
Lost Soul Aside is one of the most anticipated indie games to arise from PlayStation’s long-running China Hero Project incubation program. The hack and slash action RPG, which borrows inspiration from Devil May Cry and supposedly prioritizes “dynamic combat,” has been in development for almost nine years by Shanghai-based studio UltiZeroGames. Sony, meanwhile, has funded the game’s development and will be publishing Lost Soul Aside on PS5 and PC. However, Sony began implementing mandatory PSN account linking for PlayStation games on PC last year, drawing backlash from many users on the platform.
Related
The Last of Us Part 2 PC Port Will Require PSN Account
Sony confirms that the PC port of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will require a PlayStation Network account to play upon release later this year.
Over 100 countries worldwide aren’t supported by PSN, which means PC games that sport the requirement can’t be sold in these markets, leading to reduced sales potential and player outreach. However, it appears Lost Soul Aside will buck the trend by not enforcing a PSN account requirement on PC. Shortly after Lost Soul Aside‘s latest gameplay trailer debuted in December 2024, the game’s Steam page went live. Initially, Lost Soul Aside‘s Steam page did mention that a PSN account would be required, but its SteamDB update history shows that the mandate was dropped the following day.
Lost Soul Aside is the Second Sony-Published Game to Drop the PSN Account Linking Rule on PC
This will undoubtedly come as a relief to PC gamers who are looking forward to playing Lost Soul Aside, but reside in one of the many countries where PSN is not supported. It’s also an interesting development for PlayStation games on PC overall, as the only other instance of Sony backtracking on the requirement was during Helldivers 2‘s PSN account linking controversy. After that debacle, PSN account linking was thought to have been an absolute requirement for PlayStation’s PC games, but Lost Soul Aside‘s exclusion from the rule proves that Sony might not be so strict with it after all.
The reasons behind Sony allowing Lost Soul Aside‘s PC version to forgo the PSN account requirement are unknown at the time of writing, but speculation suggests that the company wants the game to reach as many players as possible. PlayStation games didn’t perform very well on PC after PSN account linking was mandated, with God of War Ragnarok accruing less than half of its predecessor’s Steam player count.
Leave a Reply