Firewalk Studios’ game will make something mandatory, but since this time they did it almost two months before release, something that turned the public off to another popular game, maybe this time there won’t be a scandal.

Helldivers 2, Arrowhead’s game, was launched using the Live Service model without a mandatory PlayStation Network account, but in May (presumably on Sony’s orders) it was introduced, to the outcry of gamers, and the backlash led to ‘the blue company’ pulling out. But this was an exception, as the subsequent PC ports, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut and God of War: Ragnarok already required registration on Sony’s network by default.

For the 5v5 “hero shooter” (which is what Overwatch is: different, unique characters with different personalities and abilities), Concord, the publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, confirmed that it is mandatory to use a PlayStation Network account and link it to your PC (i.e. Steam account). Why this requirement? Jon Weisnewski, Concord’s Lead Character Designer, answered this question in an interview with Eurogamer: “The goal is for players to come together, and so for us to have PC players and PlayStation 5 players together, for that cross-play and cross-progression to work, that’s a layer that needs to be there – just on a technical level.”

So there will be cross-play between PlayStation 5 and PC, and cross-progression means that there will be no different progression on console and PC, you can just log in and pick up where you left off on your previous platform. However, Weisnewski’s explanation is not a justification for why a PlayStation Network account is needed for a SINGLE-PLAYER title, as God of War: Ragnarök is not exactly a game from Sony Santa Monica that needs more players…

Concord will go into open beta in July and will be released on August 23 for PlayStation 5 and PC.

Source: GameRant, Eurogamer