Spider-Man Remastered got its PC release last week. In addition to playing the game, fans have also been digging into the game’s files, and found references to PlayStation Network integration within its code. This points to a possibility of Sony Interactive Entertainment introducing PSN integration for its PC games.
According to VGC, these files within Spider-Man Remastered contains multiple references to “PSNAccountLinked” and “PSNLinkingEntitlements”. This suggests exclusive rewards for linking PSN accounts to the game. One example includes a “LevelCapExtras” in relation to “PSN Linking bonuses”, which may suggest one such reward being extra skill points.
With games already being playable without PSN account linking, chances are this will remain optional, at least for games that are already out. Though it remains to be seen if these games, like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, will be giving any benefits for players who decide to do so.
When, or rather, if, this happens, it would be quite a different approach to what Xbox Game Studios is doing. While titles like Minecraft Dungeons, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Psychonauts 2 don’t need players to sign into their Xbox Lie account to play, there are others that do. Notable examples include Forza Horizon 5 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which state on their Steam pages “requires third party account: Xbox Live”.
While having additional bonuses for certain games is nice, players will probably want more meaningful use for their PSN account integration. One example that pops immediately to mind is cross-platform save file syncing, or cross-saves. This is especially the case for games with an expansive open world like Spider-Man and Horizon Zero Dawn. While replaying such games to experience variations in their story may be an appealing way to extend replayability, it’s probably unlikely that gamers would think the same of having to look for collectibles all over again.
(Source: VGC)
