PlayStation encourages Blu-ray adoption by deleting purchased movies from customer accounts

PlayStation has published a list of all the movies that will no longer be available in its customers’ libraries. The statement was posted on PlayStation U.K.’s legal notices, so this might be a United Kingdom-specific issue. But it’s not like U.S. customers haven’t been treated to this kind of customer service. In 2023, the expiration of a licensing agreement with Discovery deleted hundreds of purchased TV shows from PlayStation accounts. 

It’s another hard lesson in why purchasing digital media is a dubious proposition. Despite paying a higher fee to “own” a copy digitally, the agreement with Sony or any other digital storefront is nothing more than a long-term rental that can be rescinded at any time. Sadly, this is the second time this week that PlayStation has taught its customers this lesson. Yesterday, Rockstar Games announced that physical copies of Grand Theft Auto 6 wouldn’t come with a physical copy of the game. Sure, it looks great on a shelf, but if the licensing agreement between Rockstar and PlayStation ever expires, customers will be $80 in the hole with nothing but a box to show for it.