Recently, Ukrainian independent game developer Ternox Games took to social media to accuse Sony of unilaterally terminating its developer and publisher agreement, leading to the delisting of several of its games. This has sparked widespread discussion in the industry about digital platform monopolies and issues of digital ownership.
Ternox Games posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Sony unilaterally terminated the studio's developer and publisher agreement without providing any reason or explanation. This agreement originally allowed the independent studio to list games on the PlayStation Store. As a result of this decision, the studio's stock market simulation game, "STONKS-9800," will not be released on the PlayStation platform.
Adding to the developers' sense of helplessness, Sony has ignored all attempts at communication, with multiple emails sent to the company going unanswered.
As the termination of the agreement takes effect, all 13 previously released games under Ternox Games will be removed from the PlayStation Store within the next few days. The studio urges fans to purchase these games as soon as possible to avoid permanently losing access. In the future, the studio will focus on self-publishing games on Xbox and Nintendo Switch platforms. Physical release plans are still underway, but all PlayStation versions will be canceled.
Ternox Games' plight is not an isolated incident; other independent developers have previously faced similar dilemmas, struggling against major corporations with no recourse. This incident has once again sparked industry-wide questioning of PlayStation's digital store governance mechanisms—Sony acts as legislator, judge, and enforcer on its own platform. Moreover, since there are no competing digital stores on PlayStation, Sony effectively holds an absolute monopoly, deciding which games are listed, which titles are promoted, and even controlling platform pricing.
Sony has faced heavy criticism recently for announcing that it will cease support for physical games after January 2028. Players are beginning to re-examine the true nature of digital ownership—purchasing games from digital stores essentially means buying a revocable digital license rather than physical property rights. This license cannot be resold or transferred, and once Sony removes purchased games from the store, players will permanently lose access. Additionally, players cannot access their purchased game libraries during PSN outages—a situation that occurred just last month, further intensifying the debate.
Despite calls for Sony to change course, the company appears determined to push forward with a fully digital strategy, with relevant warnings already printed on the packaging of the latest PS5 shipments.
Reports suggest that Microsoft is quietly following suit, planning to end support for physical games in the near future. However, Microsoft has stated that it will use its proprietary emulation technology through a "disc-to-digital" program to bring as many Xbox and Xbox 360 games as possible to current-generation consoles.