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[ArtHands]

And fanboys pretend there is no sloppy shovelware problems on consoles.

Report Investigates Why PS5's Store Is Still Drowning in 'Eslop'

'I could make Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game'

www.pushsquare.com

Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the PS Store is a complete mess, full of low-effort "simulator" games boasting AI-generated artwork and misleading gameplay claims. It's gotten so bad that (we'll say it) more legitimate games are getting bumped from the front page every day, and Sony has seemingly been asleep at the wheel for months (even years) now.

Valentine was told that while Nintendo and Xbox review all changes to store pages before they go live, PlayStation does one quick check pre-launch. Worse, the punishment for publishing false or misleading information on the PS Store? Usually, offenders are just asked to replace it with more accurate info or screenshots. Almost incidentally, none of the Big Three console storefronts (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo) has rules about using or implementing AI-generated assets; many of these "slop" titles seem incomplete or make misleading gameplay claims.


That's the "how"; here's one reason "why" it continues to happen: on Xbox, where this problem is the least pronounced, developers are vetted on an ongoing game-by-game basis, whereas PlayStation and Nintendo just do a one-time check. This is why the same offenders can continue to be released on the PS Store; they were probably on their best behaviour the first time. If it's any consolation at all, one dev said: "Nintendo is probably the easiest to scam. Once I’m in the door, I could make ‘Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game’, and maybe it would eventually get taken down."

'I Could Make "Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game" and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down' - Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in 'Eslop' - IGN

There’s something goofy going on over on the PlayStation Store and the Nintendo eshop. Over the last few months, the two storefronts have been slowly filling up with what some users are referring to as “slop.” We asked developers why and how this is happening, and what needs to change.

www.ign.com

There’s something goofy going on over on the PlayStation Store and the Nintendo eshop. Over the last few months, the two storefronts have been slowly filling up with what some users are referring to as “slop.”

In recent months, there has been a growing outcry from users of both stores to get some degree of regulation on these storefronts and tone down what’s being referred to as “AI slop.” This is especially true in light of consumer complaints regarding the terrible technical performance of Nintendo’s eshop, which seems to be running slower and slower every day as more and more games clog up each page.

Multiple developers explained to me that while Nintendo, Sony, and Valve all vet applications on a developer or publisher basis, Microsoft is the only company that vets on a game-per-game basis. This means that for the former three, once you have been approved once, it’s much easier to simply pump games out onto the storefront in question as long as it can pass cert or lotcheck. But because Xbox approves on a game by game basis, it’s less susceptible to the slop problem. “Which is why Xbox has fewer (not no) ‘game-shaped objects’,” one publisher suggested.

“I think [Xbox] really puts a lot of effort into their service,” said another person. “I would say they are tougher to launch on than something like [Epic Games Store] or Steam solely because they have pretty high standards for their pages and are very hands-on. In my experience, you work with their ID team directly to work through both your page and build cert. They will truly bend over backwards for you, even if you don’t see eye to eye.”

Over at Nintendo and PlayStation, it seems pretty clear that the process of approving on a developer by developer basis and focusing only on technical platform violations is resulting in a handful of companies gaining the ability to clog up both storefronts’ sales, new releases, and recommendation pages with samey, low-quality games plagued by generative AI store assets.

“Nintendo is probably the easiest to scam,” said one developer. “Once I’m in the door, I could make ‘Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game’ and maybe it would eventually get taken down, but it’s so odd.”

This is probably a good place to point out that at least some of what users are complaining about is not entirely a “slop” issue. It’s exacerbated by that old, impossible chestnut: discoverability. Xbox, for instance, surfaces highly curated store pages to users on console. So while it’s not immune to these types of games, it’s harder for an average user to actually stumble across them, and thus Xbox appears to have less of a problem. PlayStation uses similar curation to Xbox on its pages, but its “Games to Wishlist” tab is by default sorted by release date, with all unreleased games sorted up top in alphabetical order. This means that anything with a store page on PlayStation and a vague release window of 2027 or 2026 gets thrown right up top, resulting in the store surfacing games like “Ambulance 911 Simulator Paramedic” or “Kebab Simulator Taste Revolution” and whatever this AI-ridden Animal Crossing-looking thing is.

Steam probably has, just quantitatively, the most potential “slop” of any storefront, but no one seems to be mad at Valve over it at the moment. That’s not because Steam is some perfect storefront – in fact, it has a long, well-documented history of discoverability problems for indies. However, it has two things going for it with regard to “slop”. The first is that from a user standpoint, Steam’s storefront has a pretty good range of options to discover, sort and search for new games based on tons of different factors, most of which don’t actively promote games like the ones in question. The second is that because it’s so comparatively easy to publish games on Steam, the new releases section is constantly refreshing itself in a way that no other storefront is, meaning any new “slop” is very quickly lost amongst dozens of other new games of varying quality. There are simply too many video games.

And then there’s Nintendo. Nintendo, from what I can tell, just throws all the New Releases into a big, unsorted, messy pile and calls it good.

Over the last few months, users have been begging Nintendo and Sony in particular to get their act together on storefront regulation to reduce the relentless tide of samey-looking games overwhelming store pages. We reached out to both companies ahead of publication to ask about any plans in the works, but neither returned our request for comment. Microsoft also did not return a request for comment.

But not everyone thinks aggressive platform regulation is the solution. Earlier this month, for instance, publication Nintendo Life released something called “Better eshop” that purported to be a version of the Nintendo eshop with “shovelware, asset-flips, and hentai games” filtered out, as well as with toggle switches to filter out AI shop images. However, it quickly came under fire from developers who found their games erroneously listed in these categories, with a number reporting being wrongfully flagged for using AI, beloved indies getting listed as shovelware, and notably a number of games getting caught by the “romance” filter just for having a relationship of any kind in the game, among other criticisms.

While this is an extreme example and Nintendo Life has since updated its filters to be less aggressive, this wouldn’t be the first time that overly aggressive filters hurt indie games that didn’t deserve it.

 

[kbear]

Imagine not buying Perpetual Mouthwashing and School Boy Simulator—two absolute classics.

 

[MudoSkills]

I think the number of threads about this being an issue on PSN in particular shows people are well aware of this as a problem.

 

[drganon]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

 

[Z O N E]

“Once I’m in the door, I could make ‘Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game’

See... now I want this game.

Make it happen.

 

[Kerotan]

Imagine not buying Perpetual Mouthwashing and School Boy Simulator—two absolute classics.

My friend bought bum simulator on playstation.

I remember Sony taking a massive media backlash when they tried giving this indie trash less visibility so I guess they and now Nintendo just can't win. Personally I'm more in favour of less featured indie trash.

If it's good enough I'll hear about it through other means.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

And fanboys pretend there is no sloppy shovelware problems on consoles.

Absolutely no one is pretending that.

 

[willothedog]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

PC is an open platform so of course you can publish anything you like on infinite storefronts/other means. Consoles are a closed system the store is managed solely by the platform holder so they are accountable for what you are exposed to.

 

[Fake]

Slow news for IGN?

 

[StereoVsn]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

The article addresses this. Steam has by far the best customization features for this sort of thing.

“The first is that from a user standpoint, Steam’s storefront has a pretty good range of options to discover, sort and search for new games based on tons of different factors, most of which don’t actively promote games like the ones in question. The second is that because it’s so comparatively easy to publish games on Steam, the new releases section is constantly refreshing itself in a way that no other storefront is, meaning any new “slop” is very quickly lost amongst dozens of other new games of varying quality. There are simply too many video games.”

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Just giving users the option to hide certain games on the store/eshop would noticeably improve the experience.

 

[Toots]

Not one but two kebab simulator
Mashallah brothers our prayers were heard.

 

[rodrigolfp]

RIP

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

They should have their own tag/category and be hidden by default. And this should be made "manually" by a real person, not a fucking autofilter. It just takes a few hours to sort them all out, I can't believe how lazy these companies are.

 

[Ogbert]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

But people expect it there. It comes with the turf.

You know that scrolling through steam you will see ‘Dildo jousting simulator’ or ‘Battle nipples’.

I think people expect PSN and Nintendo to put more of a premium on their estate.

 

[FMX]

Those companies have a right to offer their product to the consumer. No one is forcing folks to buy stuff that they don't want.

 

[Shaki12345]

If you use your actual brains (or use Google to check if it's ok), buying one of these games is totally on you.

Can't blame these companies.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

There is, and yet Steam is able to highlight great games almost all the time, and there's so many filters.

Playstation Store should be even more effective in highlighting the same, considering that's their business.

 

[gothmog]

Needs more sex simulators

 

[Gaiff]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

Reading hurts, huh? It's not about whether there's shovelware or not, it's how they're promoted left, right, front, and center on consoles (Switch, PS).

The very first line in the OP states the following: It's gotten so bad that (we'll say it) more legitimate games are getting bumped from the front page every day

Shovelware seldom or doesn't make it to the Steam front page. In fact, I almost never see it unless I start browsing and usually, they get buried pretty deep. I no longer buy digital games on consoles, so I don't even visit their stores anymore, so I'm unsure how it compares to Steam, but the article isn't merely about shovelware. No one can do much about that.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Gotta market and sell those Japanese Hentai games to the children

Seriously, you open the Eshop and you will see a dozen Hentai games on the first few pages. Xbox doesn't have that. Not sure about PS. Surprised that there has yet to be any outcry from a parent seeing that or finding out a kid has access or bought them.

 

[hemo memo]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

PC is not a closed platform.

 

[Unknown?]

PC is not a closed platform.

No, just the operating system is closed source on most of them. *vomits*

 

[rodrigolfp]

Yeah, because there's no shovelware on pc and elsewhere.

Who ever said that they don't have??

Now show us in the doll where PC touch you other than on your CPU, GPU, GDDR6, SSD...

PC is an open platform so of course you can publish anything you like on infinite storefronts

Not really an excuse as those storefronts could force a "seal of quality" too.

 

[LordCBH]

Nintendo and PlayStation really need to be more strict about what they let onto their store.

 

[Cornbread78]

What are they talking about?

 

[ReBurn]

I don't care if slop exists as long as I can filter it out. My biggest complaint with console storefronts is that it shows up where I don't want to see it. I think Steam does a much better job of pushing it to the bottom of the list.

 

[rodrigolfp]

No, just the operating system is closed source on most of them. *vomits*

Yet it allows us to install and customize almost everything.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Article already mentions this, but the problem isn't so much the slop as its the absolutely awful discoveriability of console stores. It ends up highlighting mountains of trash because it has no way to discern good games from bad.

Its amazing because they could just copy Steam's system, or at least be more strict about curation.

 

[willothedog]

Who ever said that they don't have??

Now show us in the doll where PC touch you other than on your CPU, GPU, GDDR6, SSD...


Not really an excuse as those storefronts could force a "seal of quality" too.

A particular storefront could just deal in slop as its selling point, being an open platform means anything goes.

 

[Guilty_AI]

A particular storefront could just deal in slop as its selling point, being an open platform means anything goes.

Its called itch io. Theres some nice slop there too.

 

[Unknown?]

Yet it allows us to install and customize almost everything.

Nice illusion. It doesn't let you remove the spyware.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Nice illusion. It doesn't let you remove the spyware.

It does. It allow us to use "debloat" programs that remove all spyware.

 

[Boss Mog]

All the indie shit should be hidden away in some subsection of each storefront. Don't pollute the front page with garbage.

 

[rodrigolfp]

A particular storefront could just deal in slop as its selling point, being an open platform means anything goes.

Windows/Linux are the open platforms. The Store can reject games at will like Steam some times does.

 

[cireza]

The eShop is pointless. You can't scroll through it to find anything, because all you see is endless thrash. I use exclusively PSPrices to search for games. How is this new though ? It has been thrash since the very first year, more or less.

At least I can say that the Xbox store is not too bad on that regard, it shows important games more and has some good recommendations as well, that can lead you to smaller/indie games.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Gamers and devs collectively begged for this.

I remember during the PS3 days where devs endlessly bitched and moaned about Sony gamekeeping their online store by not allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry to publish slop on it. Sony tightly curated content they would sell on their store and the media fucking tore them a new one over it because, "b-b-but... steam".

So, Sony figured, why spend the valuable resource and time curating content for the store when gamers and devs want to just be able to publish anything, despite the fact that this would self-evidently result in an avalanche of horseshit asset flips and Trophy-whore games?

Congratulations gamers! You got your wish. Don't start bitching about it now.

 

[Kacho]

Gamers and devs collectively begged for this.

I remember during the PS3 days where devs endlessly bitched and moaned about Sony gamekeeping their online store by not allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry to publish slop on it. Sony tightly curated content they would sell on their store and the media fucking tore them a new one over it because, "b-b-but... steam".

So, Sony figured, why spend the valuable resource and time curating content for the store when gamers and devs want to just be able to publish anything, despite the fact that this would self-evidently result in an avalanche of horseshit asset flips and Trophy-whore games?

Congratulations gamers! You got your wish. Don't start bitching about it now.

I remember that

“But who determines what a good game is?”

 

[Lunarorbit]

People have been complaining about this for a decade. Sonys infrastructure is so bad online; for the amount of games I've bought the suggestions should be immaculate. Except it's the same shovelware.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Gamers and devs collectively begged for this.

I remember during the PS3 days where devs endlessly bitched and moaned about Sony gamekeeping their online store by not allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry to publish slop on it. Sony tightly curated content they would sell on their store and the media fucking tore them a new one over it because, "b-b-but... steam".

So, Sony figured, why spend the valuable resource and time curating content for the store when gamers and devs want to just be able to publish anything, despite the fact that this would self-evidently result in an avalanche of horseshit asset flips and Trophy-whore games?

Congratulations gamers! You got your wish. Don't start bitching about it now.

???

Only devs could to want publish anything. Gamers only not and those are not to blame there.

 

[DiddyKongRacing69]

Can these stores at the very least get rid of the games with thumbnails that clearly AI Slop? No game with Ai slop is going to be good.

 

[mayham2199]

Those companies have a right to offer their product to the consumer. No one is forcing folks to buy stuff that they don't want.

They actually don't have the right. Sony decides who has that right. Personally it just floods the store with shit and it makes me not even bother browsing through the games. I guess Sony has to decide what's better or worse for their ecosystem and seems they have.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

app/play store

 

[FeralEcho]

As a kid,all I wanted to do was come home from school and boot up a game about simulating my time as a student at school.

Said no one ever!


Seriously,who buys this slop in the first place.

 

[FeralEcho]

Gamers and devs collectively begged for this.

I remember during the PS3 days where devs endlessly bitched and moaned about Sony gamekeeping their online store by not allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry to publish slop on it. Sony tightly curated content they would sell on their store and the media fucking tore them a new one over it because, "b-b-but... steam".

So, Sony figured, why spend the valuable resource and time curating content for the store when gamers and devs want to just be able to publish anything, despite the fact that this would self-evidently result in an avalanche of horseshit asset flips and Trophy-whore games?

Congratulations gamers! You got your wish. Don't start bitching about it now.

Your post makes no sense... you just said the devs and media complained and gave Sony shit for not allowing shovelware crap on the store so why are the gamers the ones getting the stick when they didn't wish for it in the first place!

 

[Dacvak]

Does anyone else ever sometimes get drunk and browse the eshop/pen store for highly discounted shovelware and buy some just to see how hilariously bad it is?

….just me?

 

[Sooner]

And fanboys pretend there is no sloppy shovelware problems on consoles.

Where? Where did someone claim that?

 

[Unrivaledx88]

Havent been to ign in over 8 years lets continue that

 

[noob smokes]

Not one but two kebab simulator
Mashallah brothers our prayers were heard.

 

[Kokoloko85]

How has Xbox avoided this issue?