Steam is auto-refunding users who purchased of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut if they can’t — within Terms of Service — sign-up for a PSN account. The game will require PSN linking for the multiplayer Legends mode.
As users mention on Reddit (via Eurogamer), if the game is purchased in a region that can’t legally sign-up for the service, game selling platforms are auto-refunding you whether you like it or not. While Ghost of Tsushima will require a PSN account, that’s only for the multiplayer part (via PSX Extreme), which some people weren’t planning on playing anyway.
It’s unclear if this is a conscious decision by Steam, Green Man Gaming, and apparently, Epic Games, or if this something Sony instructed the groups to do to curb the potential backlash of owners logging in and being unable to access the multiplayer mode. That said, it’s also restricted where you can purchase it, so there’s also that.
“You are receiving a refund for a game you pre-purchased – Ghost of Tsushima. The publisher of this game is now requiring a secondary account to play portions of this game – and this account cannot be created from your country.”
None of the game sellers have addressed the auto-refunds, but we have a suspicion that it’s tied to not wanting to rock the boat with gamers, so Sony told the sellers to refund it. That said, it make the statement about not needing a PSN to play single player null as now these refunds were made and if they received a refund, they can’t repurchase it because it’s blocked in the country.
