Phasing Out Discs by 2028 and Revocable PS Store Licenses: Why Sony Just Landed in CHOICE's 2026 Hall of Shame
Does paying full price on the PlayStation Store actually mean you own your video games? Leading Australian consumer advocacy group CHOICE has delivered a blunt answer by handing Sony Interactive Entertainment a 2026 Shonky Award. Founded in 1959, the independent watchdog uses its annual "Hall of Shame" to call out deceptive, overpriced, or anti-consumer business practices. For its 21st annual edition, PlayStation's parent company was singled out under a damning citation: asking players to pay to play, but not own.
An "Order & Pay" Checkout Flow Masking a Revocable Rental
At the heart of CHOICE's investigation is the stark disconnect between how digital media is marketed on the PlayStation Store and what customers legally receive. Throughout the checkout flow, Sony repeatedly uses the word "purchase" before leading buyers to a final "Order & Pay" button. However, Sony's End-User License Agreement (EULA) explicitly states that software is licensed to the user, not sold.
In practice, players are only paying for a conditional, non-transferable license that Sony can terminate at any time without a refund. As CHOICE games expert Peter Zaluzny points out, there is no clear warning during checkout that customers are essentially paying for a long-term rental, unless they open an optional submenu and read through pages of legal documentation. That lack of transparency stands out even more as Sony scales AI-driven dynamic pricing initiatives on the PlayStation Store while charging the exact same full retail price for revocable digital licenses as it does for physical Blu-ray discs.
500 Vanishing StudioCanal Movies and the January 2028 Disc Cutoff
To prove that digital revocation is far from a hypothetical edge case, CHOICE CEO Monique Perry pointed to the backlash triggered in June when Sony ended its licensing agreement with film distributor StudioCanal in the UK and Europe. Around 500 movies were slated for removal directly from customers' digital libraries, stripping away films people thought they had permanently bought without offering any refund.
That precedent makes Sony's upcoming hardware and distribution timeline all the more alarming for consumer advocates. Sony has confirmed plans to end physical disc production for all new PlayStation releases starting in January 2028, alongside shutting down the legacy PS3 and PS Vita digital storefronts in July 2027 (promising that existing purchases will remain downloadable only for the vague "foreseeable future"). For PS5 Digital Edition and PS5 Pro owners looking to safeguard physical discs while they still can, Sony's official detachable Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive (retailing at $79.99 MSRP) remains the last hardware lifeline.
Killing the Second-Hand Market and the Irony of 2013
By phasing out optical media without reforming its EULA, Sony is effectively eliminating the second-hand market for future PlayStation releases. While third-party retailers will still sell digital download codes, players will no longer be able to lend, trade in, or resell new games after 2028, even as Sony promotes hardware trade-in programs like its official PS5 console and disc drive buyback partnership. Worse still, a PlayStation Network (PSN) outage or an account suspension caused by hackers can lock players out of their entire paid library overnight.
CHOICE also highlighted the historical irony of Sony's all-digital pivot. Back in 2013, ahead of the PS4 launch, Sony won massive goodwill by releasing a 20-second instructional video openly mocking Microsoft's proposed Xbox One game-sharing restrictions.
My Take
It is impossible to argue against CHOICE's verdict here. As long as physical discs sit alongside the PlayStation Store, players have a genuine choice between instant digital convenience and true physical ownership that works offline and retains resale value. Eliminating discs for new releases in January 2028 while keeping an "Order & Pay" checkout button that charges $70 for a revocable license traps consumers in a walled garden with zero ownership rights. If platform holders want an all-digital future, consumer protection regulators should force them either to guarantee permanent, transferable digital ownership or to replace the word "Buy" with "Long-Term Conditional Rental" at checkout.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles "Grimtag" is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
