PlayStation is removing low-quality, or “shovelware,” games from its PS store. These include games for both PS4 and PS5.
Some games have been removed from the PlayStation Store. This move seems to be in response to concerns raised by anIGN investigationand ongoing complaints from users. Although Sony hasn’t officially said why these games were taken down, the timing and the specific games removed suggest it relates to the increased attention to low-quality game submissions.
Many titles were made by RandomSpin Games, a company that seems to be putting out a lot of low-effort games. One of the few links that can be found on Google for the games isa bundle, which leads to an error screen. The games taken down includeSupermarket Simulator Pro,Bodycam Shooter, andBackrooms Inside The Escape. TheYouTube videobelow does a good job of presenting the quality ofSupermarket Simulator Probefore it was taken down.
RandomSpinwas one of the developers specifically mentioned in the investigation by IGN, so it makes sense that PlayStation would target them. There are many low-quality games being released on PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, and PC, many of which appear to be created with the help of generative AI. These games often have repetitive graphics, poor gameplay, and misleading advertising.
The problem isn’t just with PlayStation. There are similar worries about low-quality games on the Nintendo eShop. The problem has become so bad that the developers ofUnpackingcomplained on Blueskybecause Nintendo would not take down copycat games despite theUnpackingname being trademarked.
There’s even a lawsuit involving the Google Play store, where the creators ofPoppy Playtimearesuing Googlebecause Google hasn’t taken down fake apps that imitate their game. These cases highlight a larger issue with online stores not having enough quality checks and struggling to eliminate fake or poor-quality games.
Sony hasn’t explained if the company will take a new approach, but there likely is not one. Sony executives probably didn’t want a developer associated with shovelware to stay in the PlayStation Store.
I was making a game a few years ago and got an offer to get it into both Microsoft’s and PlayStation’s stores. I put real effort into it, but that shows how easy it can be to get games into those storefronts. It’s not that these storefronts don’t care; the companies don’t want to miss out on the next big indie game. The problem is that for everyStardew Valley, there are plenty of games likeSupermarket Simulator Pro.
