God of War Ragnarök has been one of the most highly anticipated PC launches in recent history, although the launch has been somewhat controversial. After launching on PC via Steam and Epic Games on September 19, players discovered that the single-player narrative-driven action-adventure game would require an online PSN account in order to play. This account requirement somewhat predictably resulted in significant backlash, which, in turn, resulted in a third-party mod to remove the account requirement.

Shortly after the launch of God of War Ragnarök, the game's Steam page became inundated with negative reviews because of the PlayStation Network account required to play the game. Less than a week after launch, God of War's rating on Steam is a solid "Mixed," with only 69% positive reviews. That is compared to Metacritic's user reviews that place the PS5 version of the game at 8.1/10. Shortly after the review bombs started, though, a free mod called NoPSSDK appeared on Nexus Mods and GitHub that removes the PSN account requirement from God of War Ragnarök.

As we continue our celebrations leading up to the 30th anniversary of the first PlayStation console launch, we have a special treat to reveal today that brings the past together with the present. Introducing our PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection to celebrate this wonderful milestone.

The new limited edition designs pay homage to 30 wonderful years of gaming, a journey made possible by the passion and support of our fans and talented game developers. Reminiscent of the very first PlayStation console to launch on December 3, 1994, this limited edition offering utilizes the original PlayStation color design and integrates it into the latest line of PS5 hardware products.

On Friday, Sony announced that Helldivers 2, a 3rd person squad-based shooter from Arrowhead, will require a PlayStation Network (PSN) account for gamers to link, in addition to their Steam accounts. However, that caused quite a stir in the gaming community, especially in the form of negative reviews on Steam. Since the May 2 announcement of mandatory PSN account linking, the game received more than 200,000 negative reviews from gamers. Not only is the PSN account another layer of log-in details, but it also doesn't work in 177 countries, effectively preventing gamers from those 177 countries from purchasing and enjoying the game. Arrowhead Studios CEO and Helldivers 2 Creative Director Johan Pilestedt noted that over the weekend, there were talks with Sony about reversing the decision.

Today, we have the information that Sony has reviewed its course and that the update requiring a PSN account, planned for May 6, will not be moving forward. This means that the game is PSN-free, and gamers are able to enjoy it on their Steam accounts. It has also been reported on Reddit that some users received refunds from Steam, even when their purchase was over two months old, and they had played 120+ hours of the game. As per the GDPR, terms that are changed after the agreement is made require action from the seller. This has resulted in Steam stepping up for gamers and issuing a refund for Helldivers 2, as PSN account linking was optional upon release. Gamers have shown their collective power, and Sony has managed to reverse its decision so that no further harm is done.

Sony has had a very good year when it comes to PlayStation 5 sales, as the company sold no less than 19.1 million units in FY22, which exceeded the forecasted volume of 18 million units by a fair margin. Sony's financial year runs from April to March, so the first three months of 2023 was the last three months of its FY22, during which the company sold no less than 6.1 million consoles. That's up from a mere two million units in the last quarter of FY21, which is no small increase and shows the popularity of the PS5. Sony also mentioned that they've caught up with demand and are able to deliver PS5s to customers without the need to pre-order or having to wait for their orders to arrive, in almost all locations globally. As for FY23, Sony is hoping to sell even more consoles, with a target of 25 million units. To date, Sony has sold around 38.4 million PlayStation 5 consoles.

That said, it's not all good news, as game sales were down from US$70.5 million to US$68 million a year ago quarter to quarter and dropped from 303.2 million to 264.2 million FY21 vs FY22. Sony also lost some four million users of its PlayStation Network service, but the company saw a slight increase in its PS Plus subscription base. Sony saw a boost in revenue in its Gaming and Networking Services business unit from US$4.9 billion in FY21 to US$7.9 billion in FY22. As a whole, Sony had sales of some US$29 billion, or 3.9 trillion Yen if you prefer, despite struggling with a weak Yen vs. the US Dollar.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired a minority stake in Discord as part of their latest Series H funding round, this comes after talks with Microsoft for a complete acquisition failed. Sony hopes to integrate Discord with the PlayStation Network ecosystem on consoles and mobile starting early next year to allow for a more seamless experience. This recent news helps explain Sony's decision to retire the PS4 communities feature which boasted tens of thousands of active users. The complete press release from Sony Interactive Entertainment can be found below.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that the cumulative sales of the PlayStation3 (PS3) computer entertainment system reached a milestone of 70 million units worldwide as of November 4, 2012 - less than six years after the platform launched in 2006. SCE also announced that sales of the PlayStationMove motion controller surpassed 15 million units worldwide as of November 11, demonstrating continued growth and momentum of the PS3 platform.

The PS3 system has delivered high quality, award-winning entertainment experiences since its launch. Throughout its lifecycle, the PS3 system has continued to evolve with more streamlined design, larger Hard Disk Drive (HDD) capacity, and new features through software updates. In September 2012, SCE launched the new PS3 system, which has a reduced volume and weight of more than 50 percent compared to the original PS3 model, and of 25 percent and 20 percent respectively compared to the slim PS3 model launched in 2009. The new PS3 has been well received by consumers around the world.

2K Games and Gearbox Software announced today the much anticipated Borderlands 2 is now available in North America and will be available internationally on September 21, 2012 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC. The four-player cooperative shooter-looter already has critics raving, with review scores of 9 out of 10 from IGN, 9.75 out of 10 from Game Informer and a perfect 10 out of 10 from PlayStation: The Official Magazine.

"Borderlands 2 is a game made by gamers for gamers," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "The unique visual art style, all-new characters, loads of loot, 87 bazillion guns, and role-playing-shooting combine for a truly addictive experience, especially when played with three other friends. The initial response from the press has been fantastic and the game is poised to be one of the highest-rated titles in the history of 2K."

Sega is continuing to reach into its back catalog, and fans are loving it. The latest HD remaster from the house of Sonic is the Saturn classic, Nights into Dreams. The digital re-release will be available on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Windows PC this fall. The updated version adds widescreen HD graphics, as well as support for leaderboards, trophies, and achievements. The original game will be available to play in "Saturn Mode," just in case you're not fond of the sharper graphics and textures.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, today announced that the sales of the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) portable entertainment system reached over 1.2 million units worldwide as of February 26, 2012. PS Vita experienced an initial burst of momentum when it launched on December 17, 2011 in Japan followed by Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. Newly launched in North and Latin America, Europe and PAL territories as well as in Singapore on February 22, 2012, sales have exceeded expectations surpassing over 1.2 million units worldwide, firmly establishing PS Vita as the must-have portable entertainment device across the world. Software sales across the globe have surpassed 2.0 million units at both retail and on PlayStation Network.

PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) hits shelves this month and GameStop (NYSE: GME) is giving consumers a first glimpse at the highly anticipated new handheld system. More than 3,300 U.S. GameStop stores now have playable demo units that provide a first-hand look at PS Vita's exciting new technology. In addition to the five-inch OLED multi-touch screen, front and rear touch pads, dual analog sticks, dual cameras and six-axis motion sensing system, players can experience a variety of games, including:

In perhaps one of the more ironic legal moves to be seen recently, Sony's clause in its Terms of Service preventing PlayStation 3 owners from filing class action lawsuits has itself attracted a class action lawsuit! The lawsuit was filed in Northern California in November, by a man on behalf of PS3 owners who signed up for the PlayStation Network before September, when the ToS were updated and this anti-class action clause added.

The killer clause is buried deep into the contract and is very hard to spot, requiring the contract to be read all the way through with a fine toothcomb - if the reader can rise to the challenge of reading the complicated and dry legalese it's written in. Compounding the problem is that the agreement isn't even readily available online for anyone to study - it can only be viewed on the PS3 itself (so the console is already used before you can even see the agreement - hardly fair?) and appears near the bottom of the 21-page form. Previous agreements had been posted online for anyone to inspect. On top of that, the only way of opting out of it, is to mail a physical letter to Sony within 30 days of agreeing to the ToS - very inconvenient and likely to be forgotten by the average person. The main thrust of the lawsuit are allegations of unfair business practices, since PS3 owners are forced to choose between forfeiting their rights or access to the PSN. Note that since Sony introduced this clause, Electronic Arts and Microsoft have both introduced similar clauses, which doesn't put them in a very good light either and potentially at the receiving end of a lawsuit themselves.