I’m not a big gamer so I’m not entirely getting this. It sounds like the issue is they want you to link your steam and PSN accounts, which people don’t want to do. And in some countries it’s even a TOS violation.
My question is, why would they have such a requirement to link the two accounts in the first place?
One RUMOR I've heard is so it looks like more people are registering with PSN, to make up for loss of PS sales? Doesn't make the most sense, but I'm sure its a mixture of that and your data $$$
Edit: I'm sure they are using the increase of accounts to make theirs elves look more favorable. All around, it's shitty, and helldivers will suffer for it. Steam has already allowed refunds from countries that can no longer play.
The legitimate reason is for crossplay. Sony said in the announcement it was for player "protection", so they could ban people. Plus there is no doubt some data tracking going on.
It explicitly said you do not need a PSN account to play, in a number of places. Both on the game page, on the Sony FAQ page, and the Steam page too I believe.
It was bait and switch, which is why so many people are upset.
The publishet is Sony. This way Sony can harvest your data and has total control over bans. If they didnt force the links bans for pc players would go through steam and could be challenged over steam in the case of an unfair ban.
You obviously have to give them whatever data is required for a PSN account. You could give them fake personal data of course, but good luck remembering your fake info if you ever need to reset your password.