It's probably not a huge surprise to hear at this point, but Sony has confirmed that The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will, like many other single-player PlayStation games before it, require a PSN account in order to play when it releases on PC this April. .
Sony, of course, faced a huge backlash last May when it announced it would be making PSN accounts mandatory for Helldivers 2 on PC, a move that meant gamers in the 177 countries where PSN is unavailable would no longer be able to play the game they would buy In the end, the outcry was significant enough for Sony to relent, but that hasn't stopped it from implementing PSN requirements for an increasing number of PC ports since then.
It's a decision that has continued to draw criticism as the requirement, which was originally justified as necessary for the “security” of online play, is now being implemented in multiplayer and single-player games. Ghost of Tsushima, for example, does have a multiplayer component, despite being a predominantly single-player title, while other PC releases that require PSN, such as Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, God of War Ragnarök, and Until Dawn, are purely single-player experiences.
And now The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered (as discovered by VGC) has joined the ever-expanding list of predominantly single-player PlayStation titles: online leaderboards. are compatible with its roguelike No Return mode, which requires logging into PSN on PC.
For most, that requirement is probably little more than a somewhat irritating inconvenience. But for others, namely those based in one of the aforementioned 117 regions where PSN is not available, it means that The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered simply will not be available for purchase on PC. And since Sony previously confirmed that this month's single-player PC port of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 also requires a PSN account, it seems this is a path it's now determined to pursue.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered launches for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on April 3, the same month that the second season of HBO's acclaimed The Last of Us television series begins airing. Digital Foundry called the remaster, which includes higher texture resolution, higher level of detail distances, and improved shadow quality, the “best way to play a genuine classic” when it arrived on PlayStation 5 last year.