In an incredibly concerning move for digital media, PlayStation reveals that it’s removing 1,318 films and seasons of TV shows. Not only will they become unavailable to purchase, but they will also be removed from the libraries of anyone who’s already bought them – with no word on how, or even if these customers will be compensated.
PlayStation has not gone into much detail on why this is happening, simply saying that it is due to its “content licensing arrangements with content providers”. It can be assumed that its contract with Discovery has come to an end, which for whatever reason, means that even customers who bought the shows will have them taken away on December 31 of this year.
“As of 31 December 2023, due to our content licensing arrangements with content providers, you will no longer be able to watch any of your previously purchased Discovery content and the content will be removed from your video library,” reads the short announcement on the PlayStation site. “We sincerely thank you for your continued support.”
It’s not clear which company decided to break out of whatever agreement was made between PlayStation and Discovery to host this content. However, since it was hosted on Sony’s platform, many feel that the PlayStation studio should compensate users.
However, this is only serving as a bitter reminder that legally, we don’t own much of the content we buy digitally, a huge disadvantage when compared to physical media. It’s prompted a debate around the ethics of removing so many shows and films with little warning, and without refunding whoever bought them.
TheGamer has reached out to PlayStation for comment and for clarification on whether or not it will be honouring refund requests. We will update this report with any response we receive.
The original announcement contains a list of all of the pieces of media that will be affected by this move. 1,318 items are listed in total. It remains to be seen if PlayStation reaches a new deal with Discovery now that it has merged with Warner Bros., or if this agreement ended for another reason entirely.
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