Sony introduces new harassment guidelines with serious consequences in aftermath of physical disc backlash
While we understand that some of you are pretty mad right now, Sony has issued a warning that it won't tolerate abuse against its staff. The Blue Team is still reeling from customer backlash after it announced its plans for the future, and although you're well within your rights to air your views, just be careful about what you're posting online.
2026 is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever for the world of gaming, namely because GTA VI looks like it'll be the biggest video game of all time. The PS5 Pro is pitched as the ultimate way to play GTA VI, but for some, they're putting their PlayStation back in the box and are refusing to play.
It all came in response to the gaming giant announcing that it would stop producing physical discs in January 2028. Despite the threat of legal action against Sony, the company is sticking to its guns.
Even if gamers do eventually forget the furor, we're still in the midst of boycotts, and every piece of PlayStation marketing is being bombarded by hate.
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Announcing that consumers won't be getting a refund from the Trump tariff uproar hasn't gone down well, but we need to remind you that neither Nintendo nor Microsoft is paying it back to fans either.
It must be exhausting for those poor souls working in PlayStation customer service or trying to run social channels, but as spotted by Tom's Hardware, Sony has seemingly added new guidelines.
In a September 1 publication, Sony discussed prohibited customer behaviors, with potential violations leading to customer service being suspended.
Sony wrote: "The dignity and safety of our employees must not be threatened by customer harassment, such as words or demands from customers that exceed what is considered reasonable according to social norms.
"If any behavior constituting customer harassment is confirmed, we may restrict or suspend customer service in order to protect the safety of our employees."
Harassment extends to "forcing someone to prostrate themselves,” as well as attending company grounds without permission and 'excessively' asking for apologies, with Sony exercising its right to "cooperate with the police, lawyers, etc., and consider taking action, including legal measures and criminal proceedings."
Even though this might seem extreme, it wasn't long ago that we reported on an apparent AI critic targeting the home of Sam Altman, as well as OpenAI offices.
While there are mounting legal cases against Sony, the company has said it will "cautiously move forward" with its decision to axe physical games in January 2028. This always seemed to be the case, with Sony repurposing a disc factory in the immediate aftermath of making the announcement.
Sony has already tried to force a class action lawsuit into out-of-court arbitration, claiming that “reasonable consumers would not be misled into believing they own digital games."
Although the timing of Sony's new guidelines is convenient for the disc backlash, they also come alongside new laws in Japan that demand companies take reasonable steps to protect staff from customer harassment.
It's important to note the severity of these harassment guidelines, but over on Reddit, they’re falling on the deaf ears of some.
Sharing the Tom's Hardware article in the r/technology subreddit, the top comment reads: "Legal action? In what capacity? Are they going to sue people who leave mean comments on the internet? Every bit of this backlash is deserved and Sony is just digging their hole deeper."
Another complained: "Imagine doubling down on a losing battle. It’s like playing Texas hold ‘em and trying to bluff your way out of not having any cards to win with."
Others saw through the red mist, as someone else concluded: "Yeah, the part about customers not taking out their - IMO absolutely justified - anger on Sony customer support staff is completely reasonable. The person you're talking to on the phone demanding a refund from - or bitching to about executive/board decisions to - had nothing to do with corporate decisions and is powerless to do more for you than the company allows them to do.
“I'm absolutely fine with 'If you abuse our employees then we're going to hand you consequences'."