Helldivers 2 players on PC curse galactic game master Joel as PSN outage takes their PS5 brethren out of the Major Order fight for 8 hours: "Hold the line!"

Helldivers 2 players on PC are taking the ongoing PSN outages in their stride by finding a way to incorporate them into the game's ongoing narrative – and wouldn't you know it, game master Joel is once again taking the heat.

At the time of writing, Sony's PSN Service Status notes that "some services are experiencing issues" here in the UK - though the situation seems to be improving in the US. PlayStation Direct is the only service on the list in the green, with others like account management, gaming and social, and more in the red. Of course, you only need to look to social media to find out that much, with some without access to various PlayStation goodness for around eight hours by now.

That's not ideal for many, especially those currently playing Helldivers 2. The third-person shooter's whole thing involves players across PC and PS5 coming together to try and accomplish lofty objectives like Major Orders to advance the overall narrative and get cool stuff – sometimes. Getting those objectives over the line often goes down to the wire, so you can imagine how PC players are faring now that their PS5 comrades have essentially been taken offline.

While social media is stuffed with certain divers encouraging others to hold the line, others are putting forward their best conspiracy theories. Could the outages be the result of an Automaton DDOS attack? It's the sort of thing the Ministry of Truth wouldn't tell you. Others, meanwhile, reckon our D&D-style game master Joel is cookin' up something nasty.

The game master at his best from r/Helldivers

Why Sony, why? from r/Helldivers

Thankfully, the current Major Order still has three days to run, and various PS4 and PS5 owners in the US report that PSN is starting to come back online. Hold the line, divers. Help is on the way.

Helldivers 2 player pleads for help after a bot tank eats a 500kg bomb like it's nothing – accidentally summoning the creative director, who says: "Agree, that should be bye-bye."