Sony has announced that it will be removing Studio Canal’s PS Store movies in Germany and Austria from PlayStation libraries. The announcement, which was first picked up by Exputer a week ago, has surprised many because Sony has made no mention of offering refunds and has instead shared a long list of content that users will no longer have access to despite having paid for it.
PS Store movies and shows were discontinued in August 2021
Last March, Sony announced that it was discontinuing purchase and rental of PS Store movies and shows effective August 31, 2021. However, it reassured users that they will continue to have access to purchased content. It’s unclear what prompted the change in Germany and Austria. We’re assuming that Sony’s agreement with Studio Canal probably expired. However, the lack of refunds is perplexing and can result in legal action. On the chopping block are titles like Cruel Intentions, Saw series, The Elephant Man, and many others.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth from PlayStation fans using subscription-based and ad-based entertainment streaming services on our consoles,” Sony said in its March 2021 announcement of discontinuing movies and TV shows. “With this shift in customer behavior, we have decided to no longer offer movie and TV purchases and rentals through PlayStation Store. 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.”
At the moment, it’s unclear if Sony will pull the plug in other regions as well. However, we’ll be surprised if no refunds are offered and the company lets this one land in court.
In other news, a new PS5 firmware update rolled out today that offers a little more than stability, and Biomutant is finally getting a PS5 upgrade for free.
[Source: PlayStation via Exputer]
