Philips confirms that Hue account will be needed on the bulb level

Upon the news, I asked their official account to verify this, they wrote:

Hi there, thanks for reaching out. We are sorry you feel this way and value your feedback. We will be sure to pass this along to the relevant department. However, we do want to mention that eventually, it will be essential to have a Hue account to control the Bridge and/or bulbs themselves.