The digital format is currently experiencing the best of times. Let’s talk about music, movies, games… well, in general, anything that can be offered in this format has become popular with the vast majority of companies (both those that produce and those that distribute), while we we look at the physical format continues to languish, in something we identified as a clear trend at the beginning of this century, which has already absorbed many markets with the popularization of digital stores.

However, it is true that the digital format has lost some of its market share in the shopping modality, which was taken away by the subscription models. Again, let’s talk about movies, series, games or music, there are more and more users who prefer to pay a monthly fee to access a wide catalog, rather than paying specific payments to buy something specific. However, most of them also buy from time to time, on an ad hoc basis.

When we talk about purchases in digital format, we have to distinguish, yes, depending on how we get what we paid for. For example, it is common to purchase software in this format. After purchase, we get a download link (if we didn’t have it before) and a key associated with the license. In the vast majority of cases, we can restore both things later from the manufacturer/developer/distributor website, but in all cases we can keep both the installer and the license key locally.

This is significantly different if we are offered DRM-protected remote access to what we paid for. And that’s the case with Kai, a Twitter user who shared message in which he brings this burning issue back to the fore. And as you see in it, Sony informs you that you will soon lose access to digital content previously purchased from the PlayStation Store. The wording of the message couldn’t be more categorical, as it’s not only that you won’t be able to download it from that date, but that you won’t be able to reproduce it, even if you had a copy locally once that date passed.

Neither the message nor the user explains what content they’ll be missing out on even though they’ve purchased, that’s all we can seeon from Discovery and that The snip will take place on December 31st, that is, it was given to you with a 30-day notice, perhaps with the “generous” intention of allowing you to enjoy it a few more times before it’s permanently deleted from your account at the turn of the year. I don’t know what you will think of this, but although it is something we have feared for a long time, on this occasion I find it utterly shameful.

As I said at the time, I was a Stadia user, a platform on which I bought a few games. So when Google announced its closure, the first thing I saw was that the search engine They promised to refund all purchases made on the platform and I actually received those refunds on time. The risk of service closure is something that is always present, as is the risk of rights transfer, but what should not be legal (and I doubt it is in the European Union) is to do as Sony appears to be doing in this case.

In a case like this, affected users should be compensated with a refund for said purchases or, failing that, a chance to download a DRM-free copy of what they purchased and will otherwise come with. In reality, of course, a giant like Sony should, when negotiating temporary license transfers, guarantee their stay for those who have paid. Any behavior other than those mentioned in this paragraph is Sony’s lack of respect for its users and a very strong reason not to buy anything digitally from the PlayStation Store again.

The message in which Sony informs about this paradoxically has a signature (common for PlayStation communication), The game has no limits. Many users have thus become aware of a huge discrepancy that at least deserves to be highlighted because Finally, there seems to be a limit.