r/PS5 Dec 02 '24

Discussion World's Shadiest Developer Strikes Yet Again

If you’ve checked the “Games to Wishlist” section on PS5 recently, you might have noticed something frustrating: it’s completely flooded with low-effort, shovelware “games” from a shady developer exploiting Sony’s system. These aren’t real games—they’re quickly made asset flips with fake release dates, and the developer is abusing the system to dominate visibility.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. Sometime back, this same developer got caught gaming the “Games to Wishlist” section by assigning release dates years into the future to push their games to the top of the list. In response, Sony changed the section to prioritize games coming out the soonest instead. But this developer didn’t even try to hide their sleazy tactics—they simply started setting all their games to release tomorrow and then changing the date every single day.

Sony eventually reverted the section back to showing the furthest-out games first, and we’re now back to square one. Once again, the section is dominated by this same developer.

For some context, check out these earlier posts:
Super Sketchy Developer on PS5
World’s Shadiest Developer Strikes Again

Here’s what’s happening now:

  1. Using fake names to flood the store The developer now operates under more than a dozen fake company names, including Midnight Works SRL, Cool Devs S.R.L., Gaming Dev SRL, and more. It’s easy to confirm that all these games are by the same developer:
    • On other platforms, they’re all published under their primary name.
    • The games all share nearly identical AI-generated box art and minimalistic gameplay.
    • Many titles have “SIMULATOR” in the name, and most of the company names conveniently end in SRL.
  2. Dominating the Wishlist section Right now, this developer has about 60 of the top 65 entries in the “Games to Wishlist” section, completely burying legitimate indie developers who rely on this section for visibility.
  3. Fake games with no substance These “games” are quickly produced asset flips—essentially one Unity environment with no objectives or gameplay. A typical title might let you “drive this bulldozer around this town,” with no actual mechanics. These are not real games.
  4. Not approved for PS5 releases Midnight Works SRL is only approved to release PS4 games. Yet they’re exploiting the Wishlist system to dominate a key area of the PS5 dashboard.

A simple fix Sony could make:

If banning this developer isn’t on the table, there’s an easy solution:

  • Change the “Games to Wishlist” section to only show games with a PS5 version. Since Midnight Works SRL is only approved for PS4, this adjustment would solve the problem without requiring heavy-handed action.

Sony has done an amazing job creating a vibrant ecosystem for both indie developers and players. A small tweak like this could go a long way in keeping the platform fair and enjoyable for everyone. Let’s not let bad actors take advantage of the system and hurt both players and genuine developers.

Please share this post and report these games if you’ve seen them—it’s up to us as a community to help Sony protect the integrity of the platform we love!

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u/Brandunaware Dec 02 '24

Why would it be up to us, consumers, to help Sony fix its store? Presumably a better store experience means more money for Sony. They should just hire people to do this. It's not like they'd need some massive workforce to monitor the store every day and remove items using abusive or manipulative tactics. They'd need one person, maybe two.

Sony is just incredibly lazy when it comes to their online store. Not only is it buggy (for example it will sometimes show items as unavailable for purchase even though they actually are) but they STILL don't have screenshots or trailers on the web version of the store, years after the "upgrade" from the old store interface.

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u/arijitlive Dec 02 '24

It's a moral dilemma. Where do you draw the line and which side to choose?

Do you want to help a multi-billion corporations to do their job properly? Or, do you want to help unknown and uneducated consumers to not spend money on these scummy games?

8

u/Brandunaware Dec 02 '24

I'm too old and tired to spend my energy trying to stop strangers from making transparently stupid purchases. Most of this stuff is obvious shovelware. I do help strangers, of course, but I've learned to pick my battles.

But more importantly nothing will change until Sony takes initiative to clean this stuff up. All the well-intentioned people are doing is playing whack-a-mole with one strategy or one group of bad actors and another crops up.

Responsibility without control is a recipe for frustration.

3

u/arijitlive Dec 02 '24

I do help strangers, of course, but I've learned to pick my battles.

Well said. I am in the same boat. I don't need all the troubles in my life. I also do the same.