We've been rather vocal in our support for buying physical media for quite some time now, citing concerns about not owning the content you buy, meaning it can be taken away at a moment's notice. Well, we hate to say we told you so, but that's exactly what's happening, as PS5 users are about to find out.
In a disparagingly sparse email from PlayStation, users were notified that despite paying for it, users would lose access to any content in their video library made by Discovery. It's chalked up to licencing agreements which is somewhat understandable, however, no mention of compensation is mentioned within the email.
As we understand it, this appears to be an issue on Discovery's end, as it's unlikely that Sony would go out of its way to revoke such a large mass of shows without any good reason. However, Sony certainly isn't off the hook as it looks like customers won't be getting their money back.
It appears that those who have paid for this content will not be refunded or reimbursed, with Sony instead thanking its users for their "continued support". This removal of purchased content is set to go into effect on the 31st of December 2023 - what a way to start the New Year. A whopping 1318 titles are set to be removed from the PlayStation Video storefront and user content libraries. We would also like to stress that this isn't just the removal of rented content, but fully purchased shows too.
As expected, this hasn't exactly gone down well on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), with many voicing concerns regarding the integrity of digital content libraries as well as refreshed support for DVD and Blu-ray releases.
For example, user @DrewMcWeeny expresses their disappointment by stating "buying digital media is simply renting with an open-ended expiration date. They can and while take it from you when they feel like it", while user @danno_omen says "And people still give me a hard time for buying physical". You already know our stance on the matter, but it hinges on 4K Blu-ray not dying out.
It's also not the first time that this has happened, as FlatpanelsHD reminds us that in 2022, a similar content purge occurred. Studio Canal pulled its content library from PlayStation platforms in Germany and Austria which also resulted in users who paid for those films losing access to them; so we certainly wouldn't be surprised to see this happen again in the future.
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