Sony has received a Shonky Award from the Australian organization Choice for digital purchase restrictions, abandoning physical media, and denying users full ownership of purchased content.
Choice has been monitoring companies since 1959 and hands out Shonky Awards to manufacturers of goods and services that provoke particular consumer complaints. In the case of PlayStation, the organization highlighted that buyers of games and movies on the PlayStation Store actually receive a license to use the content rather than becoming its owners. Meanwhile, Sony repeatedly uses the word “buy” during checkout, creating the impression that the customer is acquiring the product forever.
Sony’s decisions regarding digital libraries drew particular dissatisfaction. In June, the company announced the termination of its licensing agreement with StudioCanal, which was set to remove more than 500 films from stores in the UK and Europe, including titles previously purchased by users. Choice also pointed to plans to shut down digital stores for the PS3 and PS Vita, as well as to phase out game discs starting in 2028.
The issue does not affect Sony alone: similar licensing rules apply to other platforms as well, including Steam. However, Choice singled out PlayStation's actions in 2026. According to the organization, a full transition to digital distribution will deepen players' dependence on store owners: a PSN outage, loss of account access, or a revoked license could strip them of games they paid for.