PlayStation Will Be Removing Content Already Paid for by Players 

Sony has announced that hundreds of Discovery shows that players have already purchased through the PlayStation digital store will be removed from their libraries by the end of this year.

In a recent announcement on the Playstation website, Sony said, “As of 31 December 2023, due to our content licensing arrangements with content providers, you will no longer be able to watch any of your previously purchased Discovery content and the content will be removed from your video library.”

The company finished the note by saying, “We sincerely thank you for your continued support” before listing the affected titles.

As expected, the announcement has not been well received by the PlayStation community, with some suggesting that this is the reality of an “all-digital future.”

Going back to when the PlayStation 4 was first released in 2013, Sony offered its players the ability to watch a broad range of TV shows and movies by purchasing them through the PS Store. This was carried over when the PlayStation 5 launched in 2020. However, in 2021, Sony stopped movie and TV purchases via the PS Store, with its new model offering support for subscription-based streaming services instead, such as Apple TV, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime Video, as well as many others.

While Sony ended support for PlayStation users to purchase movies and TV shows from its store, if someone had previously purchased a movie or show through the digital marketplace, they would still be able to access this content through their PS4, PS5, or mobile device. However, there have been times when content has been taken down from both the PS Store and the user’s purchase history in the past, and this recent announcement of the removal of Discovery shows seems to be a running pattern.

With paid subscriptions to streaming services, customers do not own the content, but they have the right to view content that is available on the service provider’s platform. So, the only way to conserve your favorite content is to buy it physically, if it’s even available in the physical format. 

PlayStation didn’t give much clarity as to why the content was being removed, but according to Forbes, Warner Bros. may have had something to do with it. Forbes suggests that this is another move from Warner Bros., which has been stripping content down from its service and deleting finished projects to save on residual (money paid to content makers when the content is aired) and to get tax breaks, subsequently.

“Warner Bros. recently merged Discovery and HBO into ‘Max,’ one of the worst rebrands in the industry, and this no doubt has something to do with that move and the expiration or alteration of some sort of licensing deal with PlayStation,” Forbes stated.

The full list of shows that will be withdrawn from the platform ranges from Alaskan Bush People and Mythbusters to Cake Boss, Gold Rush, and plenty more.

There are already many furious PlayStation customers who will likely think twice before purchasing digital content from Sony in the future.

It’s possible that the fine print from Sony implies that consumers do not technically own content, so consumers are at risk of this happening when they make their purchases. While our more instantaneous digital way of consuming content comes with many perks, it also clearly comes with an unsettling disadvantage of potentially losing what you haven’t gotten around to watching yet.

It looks like PlayStation players need to start binging their purchased Discovery shows, as they have plenty of content to get through by the end of this year.