Feature: 5 Ways the PlayStation Store Must Improve in 2018

Cheaper pricing! 😁

The wishlist thing drives me insane! So many times I've had to look it up on my phone or laptop to remember what game I wanted to buy.

All of these are great points. Implement them all and we'd have a waaaaaaaay better store.

• why can't I click on items that are in my cart?
• why does the search function sometimes not return all results?

Agree with the last point especially, considering searching by new release date always puts the preorders I don't want right at the top.

The way the wallet is handled with minimum funding amounts is dumb and needs to be changed, yesterday.

The PS3 can't handle the store because of all the graphics it's slow and just looks so clumsy now you don't even have a DEALS section last time I was on it. Yes PS3 is old news but it should have it's own version like it did before they changed it it wouldn't cost them that much or tone it down a little to lose faster. For PS4 it's perfect but I agree gifting, refunds and an easier search engine would be better implemented.

@get2sammyb

Mr. Cheapo left the site and he ain't coming back

Something I hate is when you are browsing a long list of deals and around the middle you see something nice and add it to the cart. Then they kick you back at the beginning of the long list.

Try charging less for digital releases than for actual physical discs that have much higher associated production costs...why this is still a thing in 2017/18 I don't know?

@get2sammyb

He had an argument with one of the mods (you probably know who) and decided to go. He still comments on NL though.

Those are all great suggestions! Its always very laggy for me and its branching paths and ways of getting around is unnecessarily convoluted.

• Add whishlist with notifications (when an item is on sale, etc...)
• Refine the search engine.

It can't be that oftentimes I can buy a physical copy cheaper than a digital version. Ps store has to be considerably cheaper since I have no resale value.

I’ve mentioned this before and it’s kind of petty, but I am annoyed each month when I try to find the PS plus ‘free’ games. It takes several clicks to get there on the website, filtering through a couple hyperlinks and then making past some of the sale items. On the console it’s quick to jump into the 2 PS4 offerings and claim them, but to claim the PS3 and Vita games it’s like they purposefully hide those behind a series of unnecessary clicks. I know, minor gripe. First-world problem. But that’s 15 seconds of my life I can’t get back. 😜

Just make it faster! I don't like accessing the store on my PS4 (or other Sony consoles) because of how slow and tedious it is and the search function is an abomination. I use the app on my phone as it's quicker and more convenient and I have my wishlist, making it easy to keep track of games I'm interested in purchasing.

Gifting games would be a brilliant feature and I'm genuinely surprised it hasn't been implemented, particularly if it's integrated with wishlists.

Sort out the store on the Vita while you are at it Sony. Its absolutely ridiculous and outrageous looking at my download list and having to scroll through masses of ps3 and ps4 content which obviously cannot be downloaded to the device to find a vita game i have previously bought. At least add a filter by platform option!

"we’re teetering perilously on the edge of a dramatic swing towards digital"

You've got to be a special kind of mug to pay £54.99 on the store when you can get the same product for £35-£40 from Amazon and elsewhere.

Something to make downloading a game from the pages and pages of games some of us have a lot easier.

@Paranoimia Yeah, I agree. I only buy stuff in sales from the store, when the prices become equivalent to what you would pay for it on disc, or less. Some people have got the money to spare and prefer digital, but not most by any means.

@daveofduncan Talk to the game Publishers maybe?

@Paranoimia I mean...I couldn't find Wolfenstein® II: The New Colossus™ Digital Deluxe Edition for $31.99 less than a month after release in retail store. Maybe that's just me though, but it was definitely cheaper digitally (+ No Tax).

It varies from game to game, and the ability for games to be used heavily impacts a games retail price...But New for New, they are mostly the same aside from sale promotions.

I will say what gets ridiculous in pricing is how long it takes for older games to match their retail counterparts lowered MSRP (when coming from the publisher not the retail outlet). The reality is, the competition that brings retail prices down comes from the pressure by the retailer to the publisher. Certain games do not need to drop in price, while others have to if the retailer is going to continue purchasing the games and keep stock.

Digital has none of these issues. There is no stock limitation, no space limitation, and no significant retail competition in the digital marketplace for console games within the same platform ecosystem (Just GMG, Amazon, HumbleBundle really [with limited selections]).

I imagine that as time comes on more online retail stores will drive down competitive pricing for digital games (as it has with Steam), but that takes a long time to happen (as it has with Steam). There will almost certainly never be more than one storefront on a console (at least PS Store), the pressure from online retailers on publishers to lower prices could start to lower prices and in turn lower the store.playstation.com prices.

But yeah...All that to say, YMMV. Sometimes deals are better digitally for titles on PlayStation, but most of the time. Nope. Definitely more likely to find more frequent deals and lower MSRP at physical Retailers.

@XurAgentofthe9 Yup. Like you, I will buy digital if it's a decent price in a sale. That said, even a lot of Sony's 'sale' prices are often above the physical price on Amazon or The Game Collection.But digital is a risk all of its own; as unlikely as it may be, should Sony decide tomorrow that they don't want to do games any more, all your digital content could be lost.

Apart from that, even if money isn't an issue, I don't see why anyone would happily pay that much more. More convenience? Perhaps. But I'd rather have that £15 in my pocket to go towards the next game and get off the sofa to put a disc in. Hell, 3 physical purchases and you've effectively saved enough to get a fourth game 'free'.

But hey - their money, their choice.

It would be great to see these implemented. Less ads, faster navigation, and game previews are what I mostly want.

@Neolit

I know it sucks but he is stubborn so there is nothing I can do.

@drd7of14 it's more the retail companies like game etc I believe. It would put them out of business.

@get2sammyb Wouldn't game gifting actually end up costing Sony though? I mean if someone gifts me a game, i don't buy it. So they lose my sale.

That's how it works right? A friends gives up their licence and gifts it to me for permanent use?

@General_Spiller

They dont lose a sale since gifting would mean that you buy the game (again if you already own it) and give it to a friend. As you would with a physical game.

If after that your friend likes it and there is DLC available he/she could buy the DLC so Sony always wins.

I usually use the web version to buy and download games from psn, I don't like browsing psn on ps4.

I think sony should just copy steam for features like refund, gifting, recommendation system (steam is really good in this), etc.

I hate the PS Store within the PS4, so I always just use it on my computer.

The PS4's storefront is a pain. If you want to search for something, you do it by painstakingly scrolling through the alphabet o.n.e. l.e.t.t.e.r. a.t. a. t.i.m.e. Suggestions for games and PS+ downloads seem to be mixed up with everything else. GIGANTIC icons for games make it where you can't immediately see a ton of games at the same time. etc.

It needs a massive redesign, although the system has been out long enough that it's probably pointless now. Hopefully someone else designs the layout of the PS5's storefront.

@GodOfPie Same.

yeah most of those are pretty good, can't really think of anything to add myself

i mean apart from putting the cost of the games down of course, as many have said why Digital games still cost up to £20 more than physical i'll never know

perhaps it's the lack of competition after all if your buying a PS4 game off PSN there is nowhere else to buy it from but the physical version has numerous places so they have the price go down in order to entice you to buy from them

Good ideas, amazed Sony hasn't implemented some of these already.

I don't find the PS store as bad as others on PS4 but it can be a bit sluggish to use sometimes. Especially when trying to watch a trailer which takes ages to load and then buffers all the time. It's like being on dial up again. And when it does load the sound is REALLY REALLY LOUD.

The sale prices have improved a great deal over the last couple of years and are sometimes comparable to sites such as Amazon.

You would have to be pretty desperate for a game to pay the 'normal' prices however. I don't see much benefit for paying full whack from the PS store. On the odd occasion I've pre-ordered a game I usually get it delivered a few days earlier, so that kinda cancels out the argument that it is more convenient.

Agree with most things here and would make the store a better place if any of the changes were implemented.

@Nakatomi_Uk so true about the ps3 store, they did put the Christmas deals on there but apart from that it's rare they show them and with a lot of people including myself who still play ps3 it's good to see their deals as I'm more than happy to spend on ALL PlayStation deals. The ps3 and 360 are fantastic systems with a huge library of games at good prices, containing the "definitive editions" seen on current gen and still look great

There are problems with every version of the shop. I think that is your problem right there. The console version is nice to look at but clumsy. The app version is a mess. Browser just seems a bit off. I don't really like to use any of them until I'm completely sure which game I'm purchasing.

Paying is a chore as well because in PS Store my PayPal doesn't work for some freaking reason and I'm forced to login to my online banking thingy and input all the passwords and whatnot every single time.

Sigh, just make it good, alright... It shouldn't be an issue in 2018.

Better genre search options. Bring back Digital Only searches. Wishlist definately. Dont kick me back to the top of the list when I add games to my cart.
Just better searches overall.
Warn me about purchases: dont buy witcher 3 DLC if its cheaper that month to buy the complete edition [as an example]
Oh and maybe let me change the colour of the background or themes.
Overall though im generally ok with it, it just needs to be a bit refreshed to reflect other online market places

Ps store on vita is a disgrace, new releases don't show up, you have to use search to find them. Many ppl won't even know they exist

There needs to be a proper review system. Giving 1-5 stars means nothing. A written review can point out the positives and negatives of a game. Also it should not be possible to rate a game before its even released makes the whole system pointless.

@General_Spiller Buy you have to pay for the gift so?

Just give me a good /easy searchtool and a wishlist. I takes so much time to search. Wishlist so i dont forget the great games i sometimes totally forget. And when i buy a theme yes i buy them sometimes please give every theme screenshots or a small movie.

..if you think the PS Store is bad, you should try out the Xbox / MS Store... sheesh - it's fragmented, clunky, slow and soooo difficult to find things... sure the PS Store isn't perfect by any means, but (and especially online - via PC, etc.) it's a million times better than XB's offering... :/

A sorting out of pricing is paramount. The fact that these games drop in price after barely two months at times, means they are blatantly trying to milk those who do want it immediately and in digital, regardless of opinion on that way of purchasing.

And of course the simple fact that digital should be cheaper than physical anyway,,,

Also sort out the store front to make things a bit easier to find and also streamline it so that it works quicker and is stable (it runs like a joke, considering how many stability updates we get)

1) The pricing is the main problem. On average about £20 more for an online purchase than a 1 day physical delivery from Amazon?
2) Although I can't see it getting fixed due to Sony's lack of interest in the Vita, but the Vita's download list needs sorting. Having recently had my storage card die, scrolling down through a massive and mostly pointless list was painful. Also, some games don't show up unless you search for them (e.g. PSP Lego games such as Lego Pirates of the Caribbean).
3) The search tool is just plain clumsy. On screen proper keyboard would be much better and quicker. Perhaps include a filter option too to limit the search t o games/movies/add-on content?

@daveofduncan It is for retail, cause the pressure comes from retail outlets (such as Game) on the Publisher, due to competition between their relative retail outlets.

Such pressure does not come from SONY on the PlayStation Store, except most likely during certain larger sales throughout the year. Most of the discounts are undoubtedly derived from the Publishers.

If it's about digital Price drops matching their retail Price drops, then that is definitely a Publisher question. SONY cannot just lower the prices to match Retail, and to be honest...There's little need. Publishers don't want to piss off physical retail outlets, so it's more than likely most don't bother with digital price matching. For now, there's no need.

Not until physical retail outlets are the minority of sales, rather than the majority, will Publishers rethink their pricing across the board for digital/physical. There are select publishers who are better than other at this, but there are also publishers (like Nintendo) that almost never markdown their 1st party prices (outside of a temporary sale) with physical/digital units regardless.

It all depends on the publisher's practices, but they're definitely the one's to reach out above the exclusive platform holder for a console.

Steam competes with Origin, Gog, UPlay, Blizzard, etc...It may dominate against these, but it does compete within the same distribution on the PC platform. PS Store has no such mass competition, it is (virtually) the only place to purchases digital titles aside from Amazon, GMG, and select other online retail outlets. Since it is on top, you'll find no such need for competition from the retailer (SONY), but instead from the Game Publishers themselves for their overall revenue boost (or other such promotional reasons).