Sony appears to be drawing a harder line on low-effort PlayStation releases, and some publishers are already feeling the impact. Brazilian-based Afil Games says PlayStation will not continue its partnership for future releases after the platform holder introduced stricter publishing guidelines.
The move matters because Afil has been one of the names linked to the flood of so-called shovelware on PlayStation Store. These games are often produced quickly, offer simple or shallow experiences, and can crowd the store even if they are still popular with some trophy hunters.
Afil Games loses future PlayStation releases
In a message posted to social media and spotted by Push Square, Afil said Sony had implemented stricter rules for publishing games on its platform. The publisher added that PlayStation decided not to continue the partnership for future releases.
At the time of writing, Afil’s existing PlayStation titles, including Chico’s Delivery and Damways, remain available on the US PlayStation Store. Afil also thanked players for their support on PlayStation while saying it remains committed to bringing new experiences to Xbox consoles and Nintendo Switch.
Part of a wider cleanup on PlayStation Store
Sony has already taken action against similar releases before. Back in January, it removed hundreds of games from the PlayStation Store, including a large number published by ThiGames.
According to gamesindustry.biz, ThiGames was among the most prolific publishers on PS4 and PS5 before that removal, with only Eastasiasoft, Ratalaika Games, and Webnetic having more games listed at the time.
The latest shift suggests Sony may be trying to limit the kind of rapid-fire catalogue growth that has made shovelware a recurring issue on PlayStation Store. For publishers built around high-volume releases, the stricter approach could make future access to the platform much harder.
