Sacred Symbols+, Episode 219 | The PlayStation Shovelware Conspiracy
Added 2022-08-27 16:01:02 +0000 UTCIf one single, solitary thing has been grinding my (Colin's) gears lately, it's the blatant and out-of-control shovelware problem on the PlayStation Store. It's rampant and undeniable, with a few companies publishing literally hundreds of games between them, all asset flips meant to mine Trophies. The thing is, these games are so cheap and sell so few copies that it's hard to imagine how anyone at all wins when they're blanketing the PSN. Even the developers themselves simply aren't making much money. They can't be. So why is this happening? Why is Sony allowing the PlayStation Store to be overrun with trash, while the Trophy system is further and further bastardized? If you don't care, you should: PlayStation is closer than its competitors into turning into the App Store. And once that happens, well, good luck. If this doesn't bother you, you're simply not paying attention, and you're not thinking through the wide-ranging consequences. To dive into the problem -- the developers behind these games, the people who seemingly own them, the randos who buy this crap, and more -- I invited games writer Ty Richardson to the show, who has been at the forefront of investigating this problem. There's a lot more work to be done, but let's be clear: Not even Nintendo and Microsoft are allowing these games onto their storefronts. Something is amiss. Someone is asleep at the wheel. So let's start asking some questions, shall we?
Comments
There was a developer of slot machine games on mobile that would just let an AI grab recent news items and create slot machine games for trending media properties automatically. I actually checked out from the PSN store long ago, back when they retired the old web store for the PS4/PS5 one. The new web store UI is a travesty. I'm so far behind on my audio podcasts that I just listened to this one...
Kaz Redclaw
2022-09-27 10:32:13 +0000 UTCDefinitely. But I couldn't find a single article that talks about this. On Czech websites, I mean.
Aladin_Run
2022-09-04 15:29:12 +0000 UTCMaybe they should! =)
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:17:08 +0000 UTCThey used to kind of do this during the PS3/Vita era.
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:16:58 +0000 UTCI suppose.
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:16:44 +0000 UTCThat could be an idea, yes.
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:16:36 +0000 UTCYeah, fuck those guys.
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:16:30 +0000 UTCI'll get to the bottom of it. =)
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:16:23 +0000 UTCInteresting.
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-04 15:16:16 +0000 UTCTo think some of those assholes are from Slovakia and Czechia... I'm baffled why our media don't talk about this.
Aladin_Run
2022-09-04 12:21:31 +0000 UTCI think trophy quantity should be dictated by Sony in tiers, according to the game's developments. Meaning, developers would be required to bring SONY a document which would show an approximate development cost. SONY would then allow a certain number of trophies to be tied to the game, proportionally with the scope of development. Developers who choose to forgo the process would simply be allotted only, say, 10 trophies.
Seamndel
2022-09-02 22:05:21 +0000 UTCPerhaps so.
Colin Moriarty
2022-09-02 16:01:12 +0000 UTCThe demise of the PlayStation Store is the result of predatory capitalism
Kid-Organic
2022-09-02 04:11:30 +0000 UTCThis is exactly what I was thinking! They used to not give platinum like this. Journey, Gone Home, Limbo etc. If they stopped giving them again then nobody would make these games anymore and it would take care of itself.
Klutch
2022-09-02 00:23:52 +0000 UTCWouldn't a simple solution be to not let these games have a platinum trophy? There where and still are many real games that don't have one. Does Sony have any say on if there is or isn't a platinum in a game? Famously MGS 5 ground zero doesn't have one. Just an idea. Thank you for reading
Chris Adams
2022-09-01 17:17:09 +0000 UTCThis was a great episode, I fully agree they gotta go. These fucks even show up under Coming Soon on the PS Store. Platty Bird 2 through 6...
Robert F Friemering
2022-09-01 16:40:10 +0000 UTCLove this! Would love to see this become a documentary when the mystery is solved. I assume that most of the gaming population don't care as they don't know the importance of indies to the gaming ecosystem. Honestly even I couldn't articulate why. Sony won't make any fundamental changes unless their bottom is affected or their favourite publications like GQ and Wired write about this. You mention Apple Arcade, isn't the new PS+ Extra and Premium tier similar? Especially with the additions of 'indie' games like Stray.
Sam Lee
2022-09-01 14:12:34 +0000 UTCSmobile started selling themes on PS4. THEY WERE SHIT!
Chronic Everlasting
2022-09-01 05:54:36 +0000 UTCThanks. I will begin doing my research when I have time.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-30 17:35:47 +0000 UTCThere is a German website, where you can gather some information on registered companies depending on their company type (Ltd, public companies etc). Maybe this helps: https://www.bundesanzeiger.de/pub/en/start?0 (English language option available)
Thomas Franzke
2022-08-30 08:08:34 +0000 UTCI agree to ban the developers. I just did't write it. You mean deleting the games from users download list? that is okay with me.
Morten Madsen
2022-08-29 23:54:47 +0000 UTCA better PR move would be to delete all of the games and ban the developer.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:29:00 +0000 UTCThank you.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:28:48 +0000 UTCYeah. XNA-style.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:28:45 +0000 UTC<3
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:28:36 +0000 UTCFor what it's worth, I know. I just don't want to be rude. =)
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:28:32 +0000 UTCThe dream is to get them removed.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:27:53 +0000 UTCThank you.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-29 20:27:46 +0000 UTCA good PR move from Sony, and what I would do, is to remove the 'games' from the store and delete all associated trophies behind the scenes. (Also stop allowing region based trophy lists, 1 worldwide list per game) That would improve the trophy system. Only a few weird people who is wasting their money and time would complain. Who are these people who waste hours of their lives getting these few minutes and no effort trophies/ platinums? Who cares that you have 1000s of platinums if you got them easy. I would love to hear why they play these 'games'. I love getting trophies and have always agreed with you that the number of platinums is what matters, but comparing them is not interesting anymore. Now it about what games you have the platinums for.
Morten Madsen
2022-08-29 17:31:49 +0000 UTCThis is good shit. I’m excited to see where this story goes. Thank you guys.
Tristan Kimball
2022-08-29 17:13:43 +0000 UTCI think the solution to satisfy both sides would be to have a seperate store for these shovelware games. Call the PlayStation Creators store or something and those games have no trophies. Anyone can publish a game there and if the 1/100 is actually any good PlayStation can work with that developer and get it on the main store. None of those games would show up when you search for a game or search for new releases. Maybe there is a toggle you can enable after hitting search that says ‘search creators store’ to find those games as well.
Sam
2022-08-29 14:28:21 +0000 UTCI haven't seen this yet. I always liked Daemon
Nathan Densley
2022-08-29 12:07:33 +0000 UTCGod's work
Nathan Densley
2022-08-29 12:06:17 +0000 UTCHello there, Serbian here liivng in Belgrade! It was funny when Ty said "Serbia, Russia" but hey I get that many Americans never heard of our country. :) Anyway, this Stevan Milovanović guy looks super sketchy. If you go to their website they are generic IT company building mobile apps, there is no mention of any "game developing".
Filip Blagojević
2022-08-28 18:50:05 +0000 UTCCool
Adam Barnes
2022-08-28 08:19:06 +0000 UTCThe owner of Smobile has 3 addresses attached to his name and the company. Social media says he is in California. The URL for the website is a ".rs", which tells me he lives in Russia. However, his LinkedIn says he lives in Serbia. I'll admit I'm not smart when it comes to geography, but the fact that he has changed his location 3 times across various websites furthers my suspicion now.
SpectreBull
2022-08-28 07:42:22 +0000 UTCgents Chechnya or Czechia? There is also The Voices Games which publishes the same game over and over again. This guy seems to be UK based if you're looking to reach out to people. Nice episode - good start to a hopefully much deeper dive into a clearly broken system. Thank you gents. Oh and 'Serbia in Russia' had the 'Tokyo, China' energy 😄
tejotl
2022-08-28 06:27:48 +0000 UTCI'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out, Daemon Hatfield now has a segment on Game Scoop called "Nintendo Seal of Quantity". He highlights the week's latest shovelware coming to the eShop. It would be interesting to hear his opinions on this.
Michael Jacobson
2022-08-28 01:39:03 +0000 UTCYou commented on being impressed by the performance of your games on Xbox. Case in point to this whole episode, if you go to the new games list on Xbox, and scroll down chronologically you will still find Super Perils of Baking. I peruse that list every single week, and I just saw it a week or two ago.
Bambi_Cobblestone
2022-08-28 00:50:34 +0000 UTCI would have, but Zencastr was automatically set to my laptop's mic by default. I had no idea until I saw the episode for myself today, so apologies.
SpectreBull
2022-08-27 22:36:50 +0000 UTCI hope these games get taken down. Never thought trophies would get this bad where you press the X button for 5 minutes and get a platinum.
Brandon Soto
2022-08-27 20:36:18 +0000 UTCawesome title
Trevor Myers
2022-08-27 19:29:21 +0000 UTCGreat episode! Only wish the guest had better audio.
Ib Saint
2022-08-27 18:47:36 +0000 UTCEnjoy.
Colin Moriarty
2022-08-27 16:44:36 +0000 UTCSony PR sweating now that this episode dropped. Stoked to listen brotha!
Kenneth Oms
2022-08-27 16:10:33 +0000 UTC
