Last year Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it would no longer sell films and TV shows via the PlayStation Store, although it did promise it would honour any digital purchases that had already been made.
Unfortunately, this seems to no longer be the case. In another case of digital ownership being very shaky ground indeed, Sony is pulling content from French film production and distribution company Studio Canal in Germany and Austria. This means that as of August 31, you'll no longer be able to access these films regardless of if you've paid for them.
A legal notice explains that the removal of these movies, which include some absolute bangers like John Wick and Paddington 2, is the result of “evolving licensing agreements with content providers”. It adds that “you’ll no longer be able to view your previously purchased Studio Canal content and it will be removed from your video library". Rude.
A full list of affected movies can be found on the PlayStation website. It's currently unclear whether or not this will eventually apply to customers outside of Germany and Austria, but for now this doesn't seem to be the case.
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Whatever happens, this is a stark reminder that digital purchases can always be taken away somewhere down the line - even if a company explicitly says otherwise, which Sony very much did last year.
"When this change takes effect, users can still access movie and TV content they have purchased through PlayStation Store for on-demand playback on their PS4, PS5 and mobile devices," Sony wrote in a blog post when it announced the removal of TV and movies from the PS Store. "We thank our fans for their continued support, and we look forward to further enhancing the entertainment experience on PlayStation."
I guess that wasn't entirely true, huh?
Topics: PlayStation, Sony