Hot off the news that gamers buying a physical copy of Grand Theft Auto 6 will be receiving an $80 empty box, Sony has begun punishing its customers for purchasing digital copies of movies on its PlayStation Store, too. Per Kotaku, PlayStation has begun notifying customers that some of the movies that they purchased will no longer be available in their libraries due to the expiration of a licensing agreement with Studio Canal. A statement on the PlayStation Store website reads, “From September 1, 2026, due to our content licensing agreements, you will no longer be able to access your previously purchased content from Studio Canal, and it will be removed from your video library. Thank you.” Thus far, the company has neither apologized for the inconvenience nor offered refunds to affected accounts. The A.V. Club has reached out to PlayStation for comment.
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digitally, the agreement with Sony or any other digital storefront is nothing more than a long-term rental that can be rescinded at any time.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.
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