I’m a fan of the Playstation hardware and lately it has been my preferred platform for gaming. I love a lot of Sony’s first party IPs and I’ve liked a number of their execs over the years.

But damn do their store policies suck.

The biggest issue is their refund policy, or lack thereof. If you buy a game on Steam or Xbox and it just sucks, you can ask for a refund (assuming your playtime is under a few hours… I don’t have the exact numbers at hand.) On Playstation, not so much. Even if a game outright fails to run, the only way to be considered for a refund is talking to customer support and hoping you get a reasonable representative on the line. The official policy is that if you’ve downloaded the game, you are no longer eligible for a refund. Which is completely ridiculous.

But that’s old news. What prompted today’s outrage is learning that Bethesda is running a sale on ESO Plus. You can get the 1st month of a recurring subscription for 50% off. Of course there are some conditions, depending on platform:

Steam: Sale is open to anyone, even if you currently have a sub. Steam wins! (again)
ESO Store: Anyone without a currently active sub can get the sale price
Xbox: Anyone without a currently active sub can get the sale price
Playstation: Only people who have NEVER had a sub can take advantage of the sale. Game has been out on the platform for 10 years, so if you signed up for a month at launch, no sale for you!

Why are Sony’s terms so much more strict? Who knows? Because whomever makes these store policies hates their customers, I guess.

Anyway, that’s my rant for today. I wish I could feel as good about the Playstation Store as I do about the Playstation hardware.