Sony has removed over 1,000 game listings from the PlayStation Store in a targeted sweep against shovelware — cheap, low-effort titles published by Nostra Games and CGI Lab, many using generative AI assets, and released as multiple regional variants to let players stack PlayStation trophies with minimal effort.
The removal, first reported by Delisted Games and confirmed by Kotaku, marks Sony’s second major enforcement action against shovelware publishers in under three months.
How the Shovelware Operation Worked
Nostra Games, a Cyprus-based publisher, listed close to 90 base games on the PlayStation Store — expanding to around 700 separate listings once all regional versions were counted. Many of these titles used generative AI assets to minimise production costs. A second publisher, CGI Lab, was simultaneously delisted from the store; its catalogue included titles such as Platform 0 and Veins of Darkness.
The exploitation method was straightforward: each regional version of a game carried its own separate trophy list. A player could purchase every regional variant of the same title and unlock Platinum trophies in under five minutes per version, padding their profile count without engaging with any meaningful gameplay.
The Publishers Named — and What They Said
Following the removal, the Nostra Games Discord server administrator, Casstlgames, issued a public statement:
“Unfortunately, PlayStation Store has removed our games, and we’re unable to provide an exact reason because it wasn’t shared with us either. This was just as unexpected for us as it was for you, as we had planned to continue releasing games in the coming years… For now we are planning to continue releasing on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Steam.”
Neither publisher received advance notice of the delisting from Sony. CGI Lab has not issued a public statement.
This Is Sony’s Second Major Sweep
This is not Sony’s first action of this kind in 2026. In January, Sony silently removed around 1,200 games from German publisher ThiGames — at the time the fourth-highest publisher by game count on the PlayStation Store. ThiGames titles included food-themed jumping games such as The Jumping Burger and The Jumping Taco, with Platinum trophies earnable in under 90 seconds. ThiGames made no public statement following that removal.
The March 2026 action brings the running total of shovelware listings cleared from the PlayStation Store to well over 2,000 across both sweeps.
What This Means for PlayStation Store Players in SEA
For PlayStation players across Southeast Asia, the PlayStation Store is the primary way to discover and purchase digital games on PS4 and PS5. A catalogue cluttered with low-quality shovelware degrades the discovery experience — legitimate titles get buried beneath near-identical regional spam listings, and store searches return noise rather than relevant games.
This cleanup should result in a meaningfully cleaner browsing experience. Players who previously noticed suspiciously generic titles from unfamiliar publishers with dozens of nearly identical regional releases will find fewer of those listings in search results going forward.
There is no impact on previously purchased games. Players who already own any of the removed titles retain access to them in their library.
What Sony Has Said
Sony Interactive Entertainment has not issued a detailed public statement naming the specific publishers or titles affected, and did not provide reasons to the publishers themselves before acting. The removals were first noted by a PSNProfiles forum user and subsequently documented by Delisted Games, before being confirmed by Kotaku and other gaming outlets.
Sony follows a pattern of removing shovelware without public comment. Unlike Steam, which requires developers to disclose AI-generated content, Sony has no published disclosure requirement for generative AI use in games.
What Comes Next
Sony has now acted against at least three publishers — ThiGames, Nostra Games, and CGI Lab — under what appears to be a broadening enforcement campaign against shovelware. The PlayStation Store received recurring criticism for shovelware proliferation throughout 2024 and 2025, and these enforcement actions suggest Sony has moved toward direct catalogue auditing rather than relying solely on the certification submission process.
Nostra Games has confirmed it will continue publishing on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Steam. Whether those storefronts apply equivalent enforcement remains to be seen — Nintendo moved last year to change eShop ranking algorithms to de-prioritise lower-quality releases, but has not conducted equivalent publisher-level delistings.
Sources: Kotaku — Sony Fights Back Against The Scourge Of Shovelware | Delisted Games | PSNProfiles
