What you need to know
- Two years after its debut on PS5, the award-winning God of War Ragnarök finally came to PC and Steam last week. However, it’s been marred in controversy, as players have been vocally critical of a PlayStation Network (PSN) requirement Sony added to the game.
- The PSN requirement prevents players from playing the single player game if they do not create a PSN account, and has made the game impossible to buy in over 170 territories where PSN isn’t available. It also stops people from playing it offline, as it’s effectively a form of always-online DRM.
- Shortly after the release of the PC port of Ragnarök, Nexus Mods user iArtoriasUA created a mod called NoPSSSDK for it that allowed players to bypass this requirement and play without a PSN account.
- However, the mod has now been mysteriously taken down without explanation or reason. Nexus Mods reports that the author was responsible for the removal and has “reached out” to find out why, though a recent statement from iArtoriasUA suggested they planned to keep it up and maintained as much as possible.
Just a few days after the PC launch of God of War Ragnarök and the subsequent release of a mod that allows players to bypass Sony’s controversial PlayStation Network (PSN) sign-in requirement, the mod has been taken down without any explanation or reasoning. At the time of writing, it is no longer available to download from GitHub or the hosting site Nexus Mods.
Titled “NoPSSDK” by its author iArtoriasUA, the mod works by using a .dll file placed into the game’s folder to disable its PSN interface and “fully strips the PlayStation PC SDK runtime requirement for God of War Ragnarök.” Aside from letting fans skirt around the need for a PSN account, this also effectively allowed them to play Santa Monica Studio’s action-adventure title while offline — something that isn’t possible with the PSN requirement, as it serves as always-online DRM.
At the moment, it’s not clear why the project has gone offline, though Nexus Mods reports that iArtoriasUA is responsible for its disappearance. “By the way: We’ve noticed that the popular PSN-bypass mod for God of War Ragnarök has been removed from our site by the author, and so we’ve reached out to find out why,” reads a post from the site’s official X (Twitter) account shared Wednesday morning.
By the way: We’ve noticed that the popular PSN-bypass mod for God of War Ragnarök has been removed from our site by the author, and so we’ve reached out to find out why.September 25, 2024
However, a statement from iArtoriasUA made on the mod’s page — no longer visible as a result of the takedown — confirms that the author planned to keep it available and up-to-date as much as possible, even if attempts were made to stop it from working in future patches. “I will try to maintain the tool even if something changes, but hopefully nothing crucial happens,” they said.
With that in mind, a natural assumption to make is that Sony got involved somehow, though that can’t be said for certain since there’s no concrete evidence of the firm doing so. Still, given that the mod had already racked up several thousand downloads in just a couple days, I can’t imagine Sony was happy about a popular workaround for its policy.
Notably, this isn’t the first time that PC users have fought against Sony and its recent push to integrate PSN into ports of its games. Earlier this year, the PlayStation maker tried to make Helldivers 2 fans sign into PSN to play, though it eventually backpedaled since many players had purchased the game in over 170 regions where PSN isn’t available. However, further Helldivers 2 sales in those countries was suspended, and both Ghost of Tsushima and God of War Ragnarök aren’t purchasable in them, either. Sony didn’t budge when players rebelled against Ghost of Tsushima’s PSN requirement for its co-op, so it seems unlikely that it will in Ragnarök’s case.
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With the chances of Sony backing down looking slim and official repositories of iArtoriasUA’s mod offline, you’ll likely need to search around on platforms like Reddit to see if you can find someone who has a copy of the file and is willing to share it. Only do this at your own risk, though, as NoPSSDK may no longer work the next time Ragnarök gets a patch and may even cause issues in your game.
The PSN debacle aside, God of War Ragnarök’s PC port has had a favorable overall reception so far, with 70% of its ~4,700 Steam reviews positive (most negative ones cite the PSN policy). I played several hours of the game this past weekend on my gaming laptop, and have had an excellent experience with almost no bugs or issues whatsoever. As always though, your mileage may vary depending on what hardware configuration you have and whether or not you meet the God of War Ragnarök PC requirements.