There are few communities quite as grouchy as gamers, and you only have to look at the raging console wars between Xbots and Sony Ponies to see it in action.
Whether you're on the Green Team, the Blue Team, or straying over the red glow of Nintendo, it's hard to find a gamer who doesn't have a preference.
As Donald Trump's trade tariffs have reshaped the tech world, the gaming industry has also been rocked by mass layoffs and cancellations.
All of the big three have faced price hikes on hardware, and bafflingly, that even included the eight-year-old Nintendo Switch shortly after the Switch 2 arrived on the scene.
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Sony was the last to slap a few extra dollars on the price of the PlayStation, meaning players aren't exactly pleased right now.
Hoping to undo some of the damage, Sony has vowed to make important changes to the PlayStation Store.
While there's still a loyal fanbase that champions physical games, and you can make a pretty penny on retro software, it's time to accept that the digital market has cannibalized it. For many, it's a sad state of affairs that 95.4% of the global game market in 2024 was digital.
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We've seen this in action as Microsoft tries to make bank on Game Pass and Sony sits in the shadow with PS Plus. Still, a new PlayStation blog explains how the PS Store experience will continue 'evolving'.
Launched alongside the PS3 in 2006, Sony has hyped the PS Store as being "a central way for game creators to connect with the millions of players in the PlayStation community." That doesn't mean it's without its problems, with critics frequently calling out unfriendly UI, lengthy downtime, and unpredictable pricing.
The post goes on to hype recent innovations like accepting Apple Pay, adding star ratings, accessibility tags, and passkeys since the PS5 launched in 2020.
As pointed out by PlayStation Lifestyle's Zarmena Khan, Sony has teased that it could be tackling one of its biggest issues.
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IGN ran an investigation into the various states of digital storefronts, highlighting how they're often inundated with shovelware and 'AI slop'. One developer said: "Nintendo is probably the easiest to scam. Once I’m in the door, I could make ‘Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game’ and maybe it would eventually get taken down, but it’s so odd."
Sony was also plagued with shovelware, as it was forced to remove a series of 'scam' games. It was revealed that titles from developer RandomSpin appeared to use AI or recycled assets, with games including Supermarket Simulator Pro, Bodycam Shooter, and Backrooms Inside The Escape.
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As for the PS Store update addressing this issue, Khan noted that more improvements are supposedly on the way as Sony reiterated "the ultimate goal of making it easier for players to find their next favorite game."
The gaming giant concluded: "Keep an eye out for even more improvements that we’ll be working on to continue evolving the player experience."
We don't mean to get your hopes up, but we remain hopeful that we'll one day be free from having to dig our way free from the PS Store's shovelware.