Sony is erasing over 550 movies from PlayStation libraries without offering a single refund. If clicking "Buy" only grants access until a corporate licensing deal expires, the service is fundamentally broken.
Valve have a long history of ensuring that games purchased are still downloadable for customers who purchased them even after publishers have pulled their game off the store, or of providing refunds.
Sony has done neither and that’s a core part of the problem.
Part of this is Valve’s agreements with the publishers.
Sony could easily do this but they’re poisoned by the music and movie industries.
Yeah for all the shit steam gets, I bought that now de-listed Deadpool game like, however many years ago when it first came out (it was okay thanks for asking) and recently started a family sharing thing with my partner on steam, who was surprised to see that not only did I own it, but she could play it through steam’s family share. Are they perfect? Hell no, but is Gabe right about this? Hell yes.
I bought a game and similarly forgot about it for years, and when I finally got around to playing it there was no discussion board. Come to find out the game was completely delisted, felt like I was in a ghost town, but it was still functional!
I’ve got a few like that too. Apparently The Last Remnant got a remaster which for some reason didn’t get a PC release. despite the original being on PC. That sucked, but whatever. Then they removed the original from Steam.
For now. After the stunts Sony pulled I wouldn’t trust them at all. Imagine if Steam silently removed even some tools or soundtracks you purchased but never listened to? Instantly all the trust is completely gone. Even if a game is never deleted, it feels like a threat, because it is
I have games on steam that are not sold anymore and are supported by valve, I can download them, I can discuss with people about thrm, they work flawlessly, but they are not sold anymore.
I can also share ALL of my games with a lot of people as in friends and family, forever!
valve (actually the devs) does not put DRM restrictions into most games. most of them don’t work without steam because the developer coded it with the expectation that steam will always be there, and that can be fixed with the goldberg steam emulator.
most games you can just download from ypur library, prepare it for goldberg, and it will work without steam
I have this mentality too so it’s really weird for me to see so many people just blindly praise Valve. Corporations have great track records until they don’t. Don’t get too comfortable.
You can still download the client side files for those games after de-listing.
And it’s not Valve that chose to pull down those games. It would be quite the power play for Valve to be able to tell other companies their games are no longer able to be sold.
Sony is deleting purchased movies from people’s libraries. It’s the same as when Ubisoft deleted the Crew from people’s libraries, so they are no longer even able to download the client files after delisting.
If you know there’s a difference then why are you saying customers who bought those games no longer have access to the files? You should know that’s not true if you know how delisting works on Steam.
I don’t know if it’s Sony’s choice or not but I know your statement about how it was Valve who chose to delist those games was incorrect.
So you’re conflating delisted Steam games with items being permanently removed from libraries on purpose?
I’m not conflating anything, you are. I was discussing games permanently removed. If Concord is still accessible then I stand corrected on that account. What about the other games I listed?
I don’t know if it’s Sony’s choice or not
Sony does not control the licenses for these media. They have no choice to make.
I know your statement about how it was Valve who chose to delist those games was incorrect.
Pointing out that Sony (apparently) making Concord unable to be downloaded again is not at all like how Valve lets delisted games usually still be downloaded by people who owned those games is the opposite of conflation. Conflation is when you say Valve is just like Sony when it comes to delisted games in that they both don’t let you download the game files again even though that’s false for one of those companies.
Do you not realize what you said with these lines?
Everyone lost access to their files when Valve allowed Sony to pull Concord from Steam.
Or when Valve pulled Total War Arena, The Day Before, The Culling 2, etc.
Did you think you named the actual publishers for those games this whole time and didn’t realize you put it all at the feet of Valve? Did you not remember that you said Valve has the power to allow a publisher to delist their games or not?
Do you own concord on steam? Check again you can probably download the client anyway. I don’t have it, but I remember for a brief time people were playing with community servers after it got taken down.
Well, while Valve had a hand in making that model popular, more so through CSGO, it was really “pioneered” and blown up by EA with FIFA Ultimate Team. Loot box mechanics existed before that even though, I know Maple Story had some.
also gabe didn’t invite me to the christening of his superyacht. nor did he invite most of y’all i’m sure. the offensiveness of this small large oversight cannot be measured.
Don’t know why you’re quoting Gabe in this instance, Valve is selling the same “licenses” Sony is, revokable at the whims of the publisher.
Valve have a long history of ensuring that games purchased are still downloadable for customers who purchased them even after publishers have pulled their game off the store, or of providing refunds.
Sony has done neither and that’s a core part of the problem.
Part of this is Valve’s agreements with the publishers.
Sony could easily do this but they’re poisoned by the music and movie industries.
Yeah for all the shit steam gets, I bought that now de-listed Deadpool game like, however many years ago when it first came out (it was okay thanks for asking) and recently started a family sharing thing with my partner on steam, who was surprised to see that not only did I own it, but she could play it through steam’s family share. Are they perfect? Hell no, but is Gabe right about this? Hell yes.
I bought a game and similarly forgot about it for years, and when I finally got around to playing it there was no discussion board. Come to find out the game was completely delisted, felt like I was in a ghost town, but it was still functional!
I’ve got a few like that too. Apparently The Last Remnant got a remaster which for some reason didn’t get a PC release. despite the original being on PC. That sucked, but whatever. Then they removed the original from Steam.
Fuck you, Square.
You can do the same with deadpool on Xbox and PlayStation. It’s delisted there, but if you bought it you can re-download whenever you want.
For now. After the stunts Sony pulled I wouldn’t trust them at all. Imagine if Steam silently removed even some tools or soundtracks you purchased but never listened to? Instantly all the trust is completely gone. Even if a game is never deleted, it feels like a threat, because it is
Sony let you re-download de-listed games.
Their refund system is unacceptable though.
until they don’t
why would you trust Sony with anything?
I don’t trust Sony, I’m just stating the facts.
the entire point is Sony can’t be trusted to keep any of this in the future given their current behavior
the facts of their current policies mean nothing
But Sony didn’t break any trust here, did they? They’ve never said they will keep releasing physical discs forever.
They’ve done nothing to think anything would change in regards to digital games.
they just removed digital purchases from owners machines, then made games digital only
be stupid on your own time
Digital movie licenses are different to game ones. Delisted games can still be downloaded and played if you bought them.
As far as I know, Sony has the same history for games. Valve does not sell movies and TV.
Valve technically sell at least one movie
I suppose that’s technically true
I have games on steam that are not sold anymore and are supported by valve, I can download them, I can discuss with people about thrm, they work flawlessly, but they are not sold anymore.
I can also share ALL of my games with a lot of people as in friends and family, forever!
Not the same.
* as long as Valve allows that
valve (actually the devs) does not put DRM restrictions into most games. most of them don’t work without steam because the developer coded it with the expectation that steam will always be there, and that can be fixed with the goldberg steam emulator.
most games you can just download from ypur library, prepare it for goldberg, and it will work without steam
I have this mentality too so it’s really weird for me to see so many people just blindly praise Valve. Corporations have great track records until they don’t. Don’t get too comfortable.
Of course, and as long as they exist. They are after all a digital platform, nothing that can be done about that. Still.
Exactly right, it’s not. You’re talking about delisted games, not removed games.
I guess you are right, but still, you can’t have that on other platforms and my second point stands strong.
Can’t have what on other platforms? What second point?
Why would you think you couldn’t share your Sony games with friends and family?
Because I know 2 people with Sony consoles and about 100 with steam accounts.
there’s outliers everywhere
As far as my account goes, even when publishers remove games, I still have access to my files.
This is crucial for community led projects that revive game servers, like The Crew, Hawken or Blacklight Retribution.
Sony is remotely deleting stuff (or more accurately, threatening to do so)
Just to clarify: I still prefer buying on GOG but the catalog there is slimmer. Steam so far has been more aligned with their users’ rights.
The fact that a company loses a license to something in a game disallows them to keep selling them, not stealing them back from their customers.
Your personal experience here is not relevant. Everyone lost access to their files when Valve allowed Sony to pull Concord from Steam.
Or when Valve pulled Total War Arena, The Day Before, The Culling 2, etc.
Sony is not deleting anything. They’re just revoking your access to it.
You can still download the client side files for those games after de-listing.
And it’s not Valve that chose to pull down those games. It would be quite the power play for Valve to be able to tell other companies their games are no longer able to be sold.
Sony is deleting purchased movies from people’s libraries. It’s the same as when Ubisoft deleted the Crew from people’s libraries, so they are no longer even able to download the client files after delisting.
Delisting and deleting are not the same thing.
We are not discussing delisting. We’re discussing games that were removed completely.
And it’s not Sony that chose to pull down these movies.
That’s exactly right.
If you know there’s a difference then why are you saying customers who bought those games no longer have access to the files? You should know that’s not true if you know how delisting works on Steam.
I don’t know if it’s Sony’s choice or not but I know your statement about how it was Valve who chose to delist those games was incorrect.
I’m not conflating anything, you are. I was discussing games permanently removed. If Concord is still accessible then I stand corrected on that account. What about the other games I listed?
Sony does not control the licenses for these media. They have no choice to make.
It would be, had I made that statement.
Pointing out that Sony (apparently) making Concord unable to be downloaded again is not at all like how Valve lets delisted games usually still be downloaded by people who owned those games is the opposite of conflation. Conflation is when you say Valve is just like Sony when it comes to delisted games in that they both don’t let you download the game files again even though that’s false for one of those companies.
Do you not realize what you said with these lines?
Did you think you named the actual publishers for those games this whole time and didn’t realize you put it all at the feet of Valve? Did you not remember that you said Valve has the power to allow a publisher to delist their games or not?
If you’re going to repeatedly attribute statements to me that I’ve never made in bad faith then I see no reason to continue this conversation.
Do you own concord on steam? Check again you can probably download the client anyway. I don’t have it, but I remember for a brief time people were playing with community servers after it got taken down.
because Sony is clearly absolute garbage…
name something valve has done that’s horrendously stupid and anti consumer…
Pioneering lootboxes through TF2.
Well, while Valve had a hand in making that model popular, more so through CSGO, it was really “pioneered” and blown up by EA with FIFA Ultimate Team. Loot box mechanics existed before that even though, I know Maple Story had some.
Not offering refunds till the ACCC sued them.
Fighting the classification of lootboxes as gambling. Sony is absolute garbage, but Valve isn’t perfect.
https://youtu.be/13eiDhuvM6Y?is=6S3VWl4DnKcaw3LQ
also gabe didn’t invite me to the christening of his superyacht. nor did he invite most of y’all i’m sure. the offensiveness of this
smalllarge oversight cannot be measured.You’re moving the goal posts. But they are notorious for supporting a multi-billion dollar gambling industry they benefit from.