{"id":1866973,"date":"2026-04-05T18:09:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1866973"},"modified":"2026-04-05T18:09:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:09:52","slug":"sonys-battle-against-shovelware-publishers-persists-as-it-purges-another-load-of-crap-games-from-the-playstation-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1866973","title":{"rendered":"Sony&#8217;s battle against shovelware publishers persists as it purges another load of crap games from the PlayStation Store"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Sony&#8217;s battle against shovelware publishers persists as it purges another load of crap games from the PlayStation Store<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Publishers like GoGame Console Publisher, VRCForge Studios, and Welding Byte have had their whole catalogues nuked.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Screenshot-2026-04-05-at-19.06.38.png?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"404 error on the PS Store, saying: &quot;This probably isn't what you're looking for...&quot;\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Screenshot-2026-04-05-at-19.06.38.png\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"329\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Sony<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1533038852.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1533038852.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/vikki-blake\">Vikki Blake<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-04-05T18:09:52+00:00\">April 5, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Sony has once again delisted a number of games from its storefronts, including the catalogues of alleged shovelware publishers like GoGame Console Publisher, VRCForge Studios, and Welding Byte.<\/p>\n<p>As first spotted by <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.psnprofiles.com\/topic\/159499-upcoming-server-shutdowns-delistings\/page\/117\/#comment-3389139\">PSNProfiles<\/a>, this includes GoGame Console Publisher&#8217;s Urban Driver Simulator (PS5 stack) and VRCForge&#8217;s Water Blast Shooter &#8211; Wet Gun, Racing Car Chaos: Extreme Stunt Showdown, Supermarket CEO Simulator (PS5 stack), and the seasonally-appropriate, if potentially blasphemous, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.truetrophies.com\/game\/Jesus-Simulator\/trophies\">Jesus Simulator<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Jesus Simulator - Official Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MFPlSqf4bPw?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MFPlSqf4bPw\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Jesus Simulator &#8211; Official Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Jesus Simulator &#8211; Official Trailer.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MFPlSqf4bPw\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As before, Sony seems to be tackling publishers and developers that release games with titles uncoincidentally similar to successful indie titles, or are low-effort asset flip or AI slop.<\/p>\n<p>Sony has been working to delist a number of games from its digital storefronts for a while now. In January, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-wiped-over-1000-shovelware-games-off-the-playstation-store-without-warning-all-from-a-single-developer\">over a thousand games from a single developer were suddenly removed from the PlayStation store<\/a> in what appeared to be a massive move by Sony to shift shovelware games off the PS5 and PS5 store.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/poppy-playtimes-going-after-google\">Poppy Playtime developer Mob Entertainment announced it was suing Google for failing to remove &#8220;scam&#8221; apps from the Google Play store<\/a>. In legal papers filed in January 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/poppy-playtime\">Poppy Playtime<\/a>&#8216;s creators accused Daigo Game 2020 Inc. of releasing &#8220;scam&#8221; apps intentionally advertised with names like Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 and Poppy Playtime: Chapter 4 well before the instalments had been officially released for mobile devices.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Sony has once again delisted a number of games from its storefronts, including the catalogues of alleged shovelware publishers like GoGame Console Publisher, VRCForge Studios, and Welding Byte.<\/p>\n<p>As first spotted by <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.psnprofiles.com\/topic\/159499-upcoming-server-shutdowns-delistings\/page\/117\/#comment-3389139\">PSNProfiles<\/a>, this includes GoGame Console Publisher&#8217;s Urban Driver Simulator (PS5 stack) and VRCForge&#8217;s Water Blast Shooter &#8211; Wet Gun, Racing Car Chaos: Extreme Stunt Showdown, Supermarket CEO Simulator (PS5 stack), and the seasonally-appropriate, if potentially blasphemous, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.truetrophies.com\/game\/Jesus-Simulator\/trophies\">Jesus Simulator<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Jesus Simulator - Official Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MFPlSqf4bPw?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MFPlSqf4bPw\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Jesus Simulator &#8211; Official Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Jesus Simulator &#8211; Official Trailer.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MFPlSqf4bPw\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As before, Sony seems to be tackling publishers and developers that release games with titles uncoincidentally similar to successful indie titles, or are low-effort asset flip or AI slop.<\/p>\n<p>Sony has been working to delist a number of games from its digital storefronts for a while now. In January, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-wiped-over-1000-shovelware-games-off-the-playstation-store-without-warning-all-from-a-single-developer\">over a thousand games from a single developer were suddenly removed from the PlayStation store<\/a> in what appeared to be a massive move by Sony to shift shovelware games off the PS5 and PS5 store.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/poppy-playtimes-going-after-google\">Poppy Playtime developer Mob Entertainment announced it was suing Google for failing to remove &#8220;scam&#8221; apps from the Google Play store<\/a>. In legal papers filed in January 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/poppy-playtime\">Poppy Playtime<\/a>&#8216;s creators accused Daigo Game 2020 Inc. of releasing &#8220;scam&#8221; apps intentionally advertised with names like Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 and Poppy Playtime: Chapter 4 well before the instalments had been officially released for mobile devices.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Sony&#8217;s battle against shovelware publishers persists as it purges another load of crap games from the PlayStation Store Publishers like GoGame Console Publisher, VRCForge Studios, and Welding Byte have had their whole catalogues nuked. Image credit: Sony News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on April 5, 2026 Sony has once again delisted a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1866973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1866973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1866973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1866973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1866973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1866973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}