God of War Ragnarok’s PC port requires a PlayStation Network or PSN account, so many regions can’t play it. Here’s why this is such a big deal.
Many PlayStation first-party titles consistently get PC ports after a set amount of exclusivity, and God of War Ragnarok is next on the list. The May 30, 2024 State of Play livestream officially revealed the PC port and its release date, alongside announcing that the game was available to pre-purchase. However, like Ghost of Tsushima and Helldivers 2 before it, Ragnarok on PC will require a PlayStation account.
While this means a simple login for some players, for others, it means they can’t purchase the game at all due to region limitations.
Why is God of War Ragnarok’s PSN account requirement a big deal?
As PSN accounts are unavailable in many countries, many fans can’t play God of War Ragnarok on PC.
Mandatory accounts aren’t new, as companies like Ubisoft and Blizzard implement similar rules for games. However, God of War Ragnarok requiring players to log in to a PlayStation account is bad for two core reasons.
The first and most crucial is that PlayStation isn’t available in many countries. This availability restriction means fans in unsupported countries can’t purchase God of War Ragnarok from Steam as the game is delisted for them. If they use a different region account to buy the game, they can’t log in to their PlayStation account without a VPN, which is against PlayStation’s terms of service.
Secondly, and less importantly, God of War Ragnarok is a single-player game. Many see having to log in to a PlayStation account as an unnecessary action, as it means some PC-only players have to create an account strictly for playing a game they already purchased.
Which areas can’t purchase God of War Ragnarok on PC?
God of War Ragnarok’s PC port is delisted on Steam for over 170 countries with no sign of reversal. Below is a complete list of countries where Ragnarok is unavailable.
- Afghanistan
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Anguilla
- Albania
- Armenia
- Angola
- Antarctica
- American Samoa
- Aruba
- Aland Islands
- Azerbaijan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Barbados
- Bangladesh
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Benin
- Saint Barthélemy
- Bermuda
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bonaire/Sint Eustatius/Saba
- Bahamas
- Bhutan
- Bouvet Island
- Botswana
- Belarus
- Belize
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Central African Republic
- Congo
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Cook Islands
- Cameroon
- Cuba
- Cabo Verde
- Curaçao
- Christmas Island
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Western Sahara
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Faroe Islands
- Gabon
- Grenada
- Georgia
- French Guiana
- Guernsey
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greenland
- Gambia
- Guinea
- Guadeloupe
- Equatorial Guinea
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- Guam
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Heard and Mc Donald Islands
- Haiti
- Isle of Man
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Iraq
- Iran
- Jersey
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kyrgyzstan
- Cambodia
- Kiribati
- Comoros
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- North Korea
- Cayman Islands
- Kazakhstan
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Saint Lucia
- Sri Lanka
- Liberia
- Lesotho
- Libya
- Morocco
- Monaco
- Republic of Moldova
- Montenegro
- Saint Martin
- Madagascar
- Marshall Islands
- North Macedonia
- Mali
- Myanmar
- Mongolia
- Macau
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Montserrat
- Mauritius
- Maldives
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- New Caledonia
- Niger
- Norfolk Island
- Nigeria
- Nepal
- Nauru
- Niue
- French Polynesia
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Pakistan
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Pitcairn
- Puerto Rico
- State of Palestine
- Palau
- Réunion
- Serbia
- Rwanda
- Solomon Islands
- Seychelles
- Sudan
- Saint Helena
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen
- Sierra Leone
- San Marino
- Senegal
- Somalia
- Suriname
- South Sudan
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part)
- Syria
- Eswatini
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Chad
- French Southern Territories
- Togo
- Tajikistan
- Tokelau
- Timor-Leste
- Turkmenistan
- Tunisia
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tuvalu
- United Republic of Tanzania
- Uganda
- United States Minor Outlying Islands
- Uzbekistan
- Holy See (Vatican City State)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Venezuela
- British Virgin Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Vietnam
- Vanuatu
- Wallis and Futuna
- Samoa
- Saint Kitts-Nevis
- Yemen
- Mayotte
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Will God of War Ragnarok reverse the PlayStation account requirement?
Sony and Santa Monica Studio haven’t given any information on whether the mandatory PlayStation account requirement will be overturned.
The immense backlash for Helldiver 2’s mandatory PlayStation account requirement prompted it to get removed. However, the requirement was added after the game’s release, so the instance is significantly different from God of War Ragnarok.
Players from countries that PlayStation doesn’t support were suddenly unable to play Helldivers 2 despite paying for it, Arrowhead Game Studios worked with Sony to drop the PSN requirements. In contrast, God of War Ragnarok is transparent with the requirement before the port’s release. The situation is similar to Ghost of Tsushima which also requires players to log on with a PSN account.
Sony is likely pushing for its PlayStation overlay and trophy support for all future PC ports. As Ghost of Tsushima’s PC port was PlayStation’s biggest single-player game launch on Steam despite being unavailable in so many countries, God of War Ragnarok’s PSN account requirement is likely here to stay.