Sony appears to have released a behind-the-scenes PlayStation Store update to address an issue with an influx of content users regarded as "shovelware." The update in question seems to have reorganized how the PlayStation Store's newest games are presented to those browsing the marketplace so that people can have an easier time finding games perceived to be a better value. Despite Sony not bringing attention to this change, people have taken notice already and seem to appreciate the new PlayStation Store experience.

First noticed by Push Square, this PlayStation Store change is seen easiest by heading to the desktop version of the store itself and looking at the "New Games" section. In doing so, you should see a lineup that looks like the one below with games such as Madden NFL 23 and Cult of the Lamb being some of the first ones that show up.



You're seeing the games displayed in this manner because the default sorting option for the "New Games" section is now "Best Selling" as opposed to sorting the list by which games are actually the newest of the new. That sorting option can be seen by selecting the "Release Date (New – Old)" filter. This was the default way new games were presented prior to the PlayStation Store update, and filtering the games that way shows the following lineup.



You'll still see some recognizable names and series by sorting the games that way, but the issue players took with that filter option was that it presented browsers with games like The Jumping Kebab, The Jumping Noodles: TURBO, and Taco Fun in quick succession. The cheap, repetitive nature of those games were factors that earned them the "shovelware" criticism levied by users who were tired of trying to look for new releases only to find games they considered to be low-value copy-paste products.

As some have pointed out, it's easy to disregard those games, but some take issue with them even further given that they're sources of low-effort trophies for players to acquire and inflate their profile scores. That also doesn't matter since trophies don't mean anything aside from being able to claim a personal achievement, but all this builds into a larger problem people have with low-quality games cluttering the store. While it does show some action is being taken, this change can also be viewed as a temporary solution, too, given that this'll potentially make it more difficult for indies and true new releases to be found.

Sony may continue to iterate on this more in the future, but for now, you should expect to see your new PlayStation Store releases organized accordingly when browsing the marketplace.



Posted: Aug 23, 2022 8:30 am
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/playstation-ps4-ps5-store-update-shovelware/