Sony appears to be stepping back from one of its most controversial PC gaming policies. Without formal announcement, the company has lifted regional restrictions on several major titles available through Steam, restoring access in over 170 countries where these games were previously unavailable.
The shift, first spotted in Steam database changelogs, affects a handful of high-profile releases including Helldivers 2, God of War Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and Spider-Man 2. These titles can now be purchased and played in regions spanning from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—places where Sony’s previous policy decisions had rendered them off-limits.
The restrictions originated earlier this year when Sony mandated that Helldivers 2 players link their Steam accounts with a PlayStation Network (PSN) account. This move effectively blocked access in regions where PSN isn’t officially available. The backlash was swift and widespread, prompting Sony to quickly reverse the requirement and remove the PSN login condition altogether. The same rollback has since extended to other titles.
This week’s launch of Stellar Blade on PC appears to have been a catalyst for further change. Developed by Shift Up, the game originally carried similar PSN account requirements. But in an apparent compromise, Sony allowed PSN logins to remain optional. The result: nearly 200,000 peak players on Steam in its opening week, marking one of Sony’s most successful PC debuts to date.
Despite these improvements, not all of Sony’s titles have been freed from regional limitations. Games like Ghost of Tsushima and Until Dawn remain restricted in many markets, suggesting that while the policy is shifting, it hasn’t been universally applied.
Still, the broader move signals a growing recognition that region-locking games—especially in the PC ecosystem—can hinder rather than help sales. For Sony, which is increasingly leaning into multiplatform releases, loosening these restrictions could be an important step toward winning over global PC gamers.
