Sony Confirms PSN Requirement for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered on PC, Sparking Debate

<p>Sony has officially announced that the PC version of <em>The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered<&sol;em> will require a PlayStation Network &lpar;PSN&rpar; account to play&comma; even in single-player mode&period; The decision&comma; echoing a trend with several other PlayStation titles&comma; has reignited discussions about accessibility and the implications for players in regions without PSN availability&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>A Controversial Trend in PC Ports<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Sony&&num;8217&semi;s insistence on PSN integration for PC titles isn&&num;8217&semi;t new&comma; but it remains polarizing&period; The backlash first gained traction last May when the company made PSN accounts mandatory for <em>Helldivers 2<&sol;em> on PC&period; This decision effectively excluded players in 117 countries where PSN isn’t supported&comma; making the game inaccessible even to those who purchased it&period; The outrage was enough for Sony to reverse the requirement for <em>Helldivers 2<&sol;em>&comma; but the policy persists across other titles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Now&comma; <em>The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered<&sol;em> joins the list of predominantly single-player PlayStation games with PSN mandates&comma; following titles like <em>Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered<&sol;em>&comma; <em>God of War Ragnarök<&sol;em>&comma; and <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em>&period; While Sony initially justified the requirement for online multiplayer safety&comma; its extension to single-player games continues to draw criticism&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theibulletin&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;01&sol;The-Last-of-Us-Part-2-Remastered-PC-announcement-trailer&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-56335" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theibulletin&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;01&sol;The-Last-of-Us-Part-2-Remastered-PC-announcement-trailer&period;jpg" alt&equals;"The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered PC announcement trailer" width&equals;"1360" height&equals;"805" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>What Does This Mean for Players&quest;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>For most players&comma; logging into a PSN account is a minor inconvenience&period; But for those in unsupported regions&comma; it’s a major barrier&period; Not only does this policy prevent access to purchased games&comma; but it also leaves potential players in 117 regions entirely out of the conversation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Why is PSN Required&quest;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Sony’s official stance centers on &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;safety and security” for online play&period; Yet critics argue that single-player games&comma; which don’t rely on real-time multiplayer interactions&comma; shouldn’t need such oversight&period; Features like leaderboards—present in <em>The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered<&sol;em>’s <em>No Return<&sol;em> mode—may provide justification&comma; but the frustration persists&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>A Growing List of Restrictions<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>The mandatory PSN policy is steadily creeping into Sony’s PC portfolio&period; Recent examples include <em>Marvel’s Spider-Man 2<&sol;em> and <em>Ghost of Tsushima<&sol;em>&comma; which also require PSN integration despite being primarily solo adventures&period; For fans&comma; it signals a potential shift in how Sony views its PC ecosystem&comma; possibly prioritizing account-linked services over accessibility&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>The Bigger Picture<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The timing of <em>The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered<&sol;em>’s release—slated for April 3 on Steam and the Epic Games Store—aligns with the debut of HBO’s <em>The Last of Us<&sol;em> season two&period; While this synergy might boost sales&comma; the looming accessibility issues for players in PSN-limited regions casts a shadow over the launch&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Digital Foundry praised the remaster as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the best way to play a genuine classic” when it debuted on PlayStation 5&comma; citing improved textures&comma; enhanced shadow quality&comma; and extended level-of-detail distances&period; Yet these technical feats could feel bittersweet to PC gamers excluded from the experience due to account restrictions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>What’s Next&quest;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Sony’s commitment to this path is clear&comma; but will continued backlash sway the company&quest; For now&comma; it seems unlikely&period; The integration of PSN requirements appears to be part of a larger strategy to unify the PlayStation and PC ecosystems&period; However&comma; the frustration among players—and the lack of a workaround for unsupported regions—raises questions about the balance between corporate priorities and consumer accessibility&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With <em>The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered<&sol;em> entering the spotlight&comma; Sony’s policies are once again under scrutiny&period; For fans of the series&comma; the hope remains that accessibility will eventually take precedence&comma; ensuring these iconic games reach as many players as possible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;