--- title: "Australian consumer group Choice hands Sony a Shonky award over PlayStation games buyers don’t own" url: https://badiyaa.com/choice-shonky-award-sony-playstation-digital/ published: 2026-11-08T22:12:00+00:00 modified: 2026-11-08T22:12:00+00:00 section: Gaming publisher: Badiyaa --- # Australian consumer group Choice hands Sony a Shonky award over PlayStation games buyers don’t own Choice's 21st Shonky Awards cite Sony's license terms and its plan to make all new PlayStation games digital-only from January 2028. Buy a digital PlayStation game and you do not own it, says Australia’s biggest consumer group, and it has just handed Sony a Shonky award to make the point. Choice named Sony Interactive Entertainment among the six winners of its 21st annual Shonky Awards this month, an anti-prize for what the group calls some of the worst products and services of the year. Sony’s citation reads: “for asking us to pay to play, but not own.” The other 2026 winners are Ticketek and Ticketmaster, Virgin Australia, Hisense, Petcover and Quest Protein Chips. Sony is the only one singled out over video games. ## The word at the center of the fight Choice’s complaint is about the gap between what the checkout says and what the small print says. Sony’s end-user license agreement, as quoted by the group, states: “The software is licensed to you, not sold.” The store, Choice argues, talks like a shop anyway. Its games expert, Peter Zaluzny, described the last stage of buying a download: “the last step says “Order & Pay”, with no clear indication that you’re essentially just renting the software.” He also asked why a download costs the same as a boxed copy: “Why do these digital licences for games cost as much as a disc-based version for the same title?” Choice says Sony can end those licenses at any time with no obligation to refund. That is the group’s reading of the agreement, and it is the heart of the award. ## Why this year Two announcements put Sony in the frame, according to Choice. In June 2026, Sony said its licensing deal with Studio Canal was ending in the UK and Europe, and customers were told 500 films would no longer be available to buy, rent or watch, including ones already sitting in their libraries. Days later came the bigger one for players. From January 2028, all new PlayStation games will be digital-only. Sony’s explanation, as carried by Choice: “This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs.” Games already out, and those due before that date, will still get discs unless stated otherwise. ## The dates PlayStation owners should watch Three dates now frame this dispute for anyone with a PlayStation library: - **June 2026:** The Studio Canal notice, which Choice cites as the warning shot for digital film libraries. - **By July 2027:** Sony closes the PS3 and PS Vita digital stores, with existing purchases downloadable for the “foreseeable future”, a phrase Choice calls vague. - **January 2028:** New PlayStation games stop arriving on disc. The second-hand market is the other casualty Choice predicts. A disc can be resold; a download cannot, because the license is described as “non-transferable” and for “private, non-commercial use.” Choice also recalls that in 2013 Sony released a video poking fun at an Xbox policy limiting game swapping. The award carries no legal force. It is a public shaming from a consumer group, and Sony’s position in this piece is limited to the statements Choice quotes. New PlayStation discs are due to stop in January 2028. *Illustrative image. Image: JDC808, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons* *This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. [How we work](https://badiyaa.com/editorial-policy/).*