Publisher ThiGames, which has the 4th largest catalog of games on PSN, has been removed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and all of its titles have been delisted.
It appears that Sony Interactive Entertainment has delisted (via RobThanatos on Twitter/X ) all games from ThiGames on PSN. The publisher had the 4th largest catalog of games available on the platform. It’s currently unclear as to why this has happened, though it may have something to do with the new safety policy recently implemented by the console maker as the means to tackle shovelware and AI slop on its digital store.
ThiGames’ official Twitter/X account indicates that the publisher had been promoting its games as an avenue for acquiring easily unlockable stacks of PSN trophies. Trophy hunters are always on the lookout for games they can quickly beat in order to boost their trophy stats.
Regarding the prevalence of shovelware on PlayStation Network, there’s still plenty of work to be done by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A quick glance at the digital store reveals several games from other publishers that can be flagged as asset flips.
Back in November, 2022, PlayStation addressed all developers who publish games on its digital store via a letter, stating that it would ban or delist not only the shovelware games that don’t meet its Terms of Service but also the developers behind them. The letter stated that Sony Interactive Entertainment strives to ensure that customers can search and discover the full breadth of experiences on PlayStation, and that partners have a fair means of being discovered. When partners oversaturate or “spam” the PlayStation Store with many variants of the same type of content, it can negatively impact both the customer and partner experience. The console maker recommended that developers should look into aggregating small, similar content experiences into a single game, where possible, and should instead consider in-game commerce to expand or extend the experience.
