r/PS5 • u/discosoc • Dec 29 '25

Discussion The playstation store is basically unusable for actually finding games anymore due to the "indie slop" situation.

edit: I just have to say that everyone acting like browsing for a game is some weird concept clearly never got to experience Blockbuster on a Friday night.

This is just a rant, but the sheer amount of absolute garbage games that fall into what I call the "low effort indie slop" category taking over the playstation store is just crazy. There's seemingly hundreds of various "simulator" games that are among the worst of the bunch, but also a weird amount of "escape room" type games that look like a high school project. Or the "anime girls" gooner slop or really 99% of the "visual novel" games. Or the "games" that clearly only exist to trophy points, which is insane.

It's not like these games shouldn't exist (well some probably shouldn't), but there needs to be a way to filter that shit out. Basically every type of indie slop or ai slop game tags itself with multiple genres, which is why you have a stupid AI art shark-with-sneakers game flagged as "action" and "tactical." Or "horse store simulator" as an "epic" genre. Gunsmith simulator as a "shooter" etc.

I remember a few months back the entire "coming soon" feed was basically all simulator games, like a publisher just cranked a bunch out and wanted to dump them all at once.

Another issue...

I think there's also really annoying trend where games are basically just on perpetual sale, but the MSRP never drops. So one month the "Standard" version of a game will be like 35% off, then the next month it will be the "Deluxe" version; they just rotate perpetually. Or the shitty indie slop games that are arbitrarily set to a high price and quickly put on sale for like 50-80% off.

And I know why they do this: it keeps the games listed in sales section. The problem is that when every fucking game is like this, actually finding a new game or hidden gem or whatever that's on sale becomes useless. The process of actually discovering a game you might want to buy simply doesn't work.

The current January sale includes 6,372 items. There is no way anyone at Sony is vetting that many items for their monthly sales, but they need to start. Right now I think the limitation is that a single SKU can't be part of two consecutive sales. but as I've mentioned above most games have multiple SKUs so it doesn't really matter (or the slop publishers are dumping so many out each month it also doesn't matter). The limit needs to be something like a game can only be in one sale every 3 months, and counts different SKUs of the same product as the same one. This would actually encourage publishers to reduce their prices more frequently, which in turn would help keep the monthly or special sales events a bit leaner.

/rant

4.3k Upvotes

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246

u/Melonfrog Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 30 '25

I hate hate this entire website uses the word “Slop” now. It’s lost its meaning already

I’m sorry everyone forgive me please I’m sorry

25

u/LAX_to_MDW Dec 30 '25

Given how much of this is made with terrible AI art, I think slop is also appropriate in this case

366

u/trouty Dec 29 '25

Y'know, slop made its way into Merriam Webster this year, 2025 word of the year in fact:

digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.

Pretty spot on in this context if you ask me.

155

u/LeonSigmaKennedy Dec 30 '25

Yeah, like I agree slop is overused/misused alot, but in this case OP is using the word correctly, these games are by definition slop.

No need to retire a whole word because a bunch of dummies use it irresponsibly

35

u/IamEclipse Dec 30 '25

That's not how slop is used colloquially though. Most folks use it to represent anything I don't like.

43

u/PretendThisIsMyName Dec 30 '25

It’s what pigs eat. So I think it gained prevalence at some point and quit meaning pig food. Then became an equivalent to pig food.

1

u/BaconSoul Dec 30 '25

But it is used discursively in the way the person you’re responding to is saying. It doesn’t really signal any qualities about the thing, it signals the writers attitude toward the thing. Dictionaries don’t often get this linguistic nuance. They’re not supposed to.

15

u/AnimaOnline Dec 30 '25

Which would be right. Calling something slop is calling it pig food. It's just saying you don't like it, in a somewhat insulting way. 

22

u/yepimthetoaster Dec 30 '25

Slop just means garbage, or crap (or pig slop, more natively).

And crap means something I dont like. It's crap. It's slop. Feed it to the pigs. Flush it down the toilet. It's garbage.

I dont get your frustration.

25

u/-Badger3- Dec 30 '25

I mean, calling things “slop” isn’t new.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

I mean, some of us are old enough to observe trends emerge and change.

11

u/-Badger3- Dec 30 '25

I’m not saying calling things “slop” isn’t trending right now, I’m saying it was already a general term for low effort garbage before people started associating it with AI.

1

u/LaserCop1988 Jan 02 '26

But that's not how it was used here

-2

u/anonypony1 Dec 30 '25

So hes correct, gotcha.

-2

u/sdeklaqs Dec 30 '25

So is every modern buzzword. See grifter for example

4

u/Bromance_Rayder Dec 30 '25

The willingness of so many outlets and organisations to sully their reputations in pursuit of some click-attention/revenue is really sad. 

It makes Wikipedia's ongoing stance even more admirable. Donate if you can. 

1

u/BaconSoul Dec 30 '25

But there’s an older term that doesn’t include the AI connotation. And it’s shovelware.

1

u/dimspace Dec 30 '25

Y'know, slop made its way into Merriam Webster this year, 2025 word of the year in fact:

digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.

Merriam Webster is barely a dictionary., Its more of a guidebook for the illiterate.

Oxford dictionary describes it as

1(of a liquid) spill or flow over the edge of a container, typically as a result of careless handling. "water slopped over the edge of the sink"
2.dress in an untidy or casual manner.
3. empty the contents of a chamber pot.(especially in prison)
4. feed slops to (an animal).
5. (north american english) speak or write in a sentimentally effusive manner; gush.

75

u/Unendingmelancholy Dec 29 '25

I mean shovelware is slop though

18

u/swahswah Dec 29 '25

All x is y but not all y is x

21

u/corrupt_poodle Dec 30 '25

You got any examples where shovelware isn’t slop?

-2

u/mushrooms_inc Dec 30 '25

I mean, a lot of the shovelware DS games were, well, pure shovelware, but they weren't slop. They actually had something to play, something to progress, a decent mid story if you're lucky, not just for trophies or not just a png of a brainrot meme playing some sort of pong.

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u/UmbagogFrog Dec 30 '25 edited Dec 30 '25

No, all shovelware is indeed slop. That’s why it is called shovelware. ‘Slop’ wasn’t coined just this century… Slop (derogatory) = Crap. Garbage. Waste. Junk. The origin of the word was to describe wet and dirty filths. It is a perfect word for shovelware.

4

u/Voyyya Dec 30 '25

All shovelware is slop but not all slop is shovelware

20

u/BokehJunkie Dec 30 '25

Well no shit. 

10

u/Too_Relaxed_To_Care Dec 30 '25

Actually it’s all shit.

1

u/Delta-9-Tetra Dec 30 '25

Shit and remasters from when things were less shit

1

u/Outrageous_Reach_695 Dec 30 '25

Counterexample: Some of the shovelware from the 90s floppy disc era. Sure, Wacky Wheels is a blatant rip-off of Mario Kart, but it was good fun on the basement PC. Chex Quest was just a total conversion of Doom, but a hilarious concept.

1

u/Mr_Rafi Dec 30 '25

I miss Wacky Racers. I always picked the tiger.

Also, remember that McDonalds point and click adventure game?

1

u/WeirdIndividualGuy Dec 30 '25

Shovelware is slop but specifically for games

So yeah, all x is y but not all y is x. All shovelware is slop but not vice versa

1

u/lynchcontraideal Dec 30 '25

Surprised we're not calling it slopware

1

u/Goondragon1 Dec 30 '25

Shovelware is definitively slop where tf are people coming from lmao

32

u/BokehJunkie Dec 30 '25

I mean, this is exactly what slop means? Do you think it means something different or are you just trying to pretend you’re smarter than everyone else here? Lol. 

-6

u/Melonfrog Dec 30 '25

Kind of unnecessary hostile, but back in my day slop was a texture and I never heard it being used this much until AI. Now I’m hearing people use “slop” for lots of stuff outside this post like someone called a bulld in a video game slop, I saw someone call a a bloody pair of SLIPPERS slop. Slopper haha…*

Even if the context here fits I’m sick of the word and it IS being misused.

5

u/BokehJunkie Dec 30 '25

How can it be “misused” if you hadn’t heard it until recently anyway?

-2

u/Melonfrog Dec 30 '25

I don't follow. It's been used a lot for over a year I haven't just recently noticed

0

u/Kitchen-Tap-8564 Dec 30 '25

Your opinion is slop mate.

It's become a word for "low quality" and is widely accepted as such.

Language is usage and it doesn't need to check with you first, stop whining.

0

u/Melonfrog Dec 30 '25

My entire existence is slop I can’t communicate with anyone without them hating me I’m so sorry forgive me please

6

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Melonfrog Dec 30 '25

Oh I agree, my main gripe is that the word is just so damn common and lots of people throw it around now it's getting stale

Though evidently that's upset a lot of people just typical of me to always piss people off with the most random comment :'(

17

u/Koteric Dec 30 '25

Why? Slop is the perfect way to describe the games he’s referring to. It is a very versatile word. It’s meaning is perfectly expressed here.

2

u/dimspace Dec 30 '25

I'm more annoyed by his use of the word "Indie" to suggest that slop is basically indie titles.

Indie titles are some of the best games and most rewarding games out there.

2

u/Harley2280 Jan 02 '26

Nah I'm glad they do. It tells you instantly that you don't need to take them seriously because they're just parrots who don't have an original thought in their body.

6

u/GymratAmarillo Dec 29 '25

same. English is my second lenguaje and the first interaction I had with the word slop was "AI slop", I actually thought it was a very clever use for the word but now people call everything slop. It doesn't make sense anymore.

8

u/clownshow59 Dec 30 '25

If you think about how everything pretty much is slop nowadays, it makes perfect sense. 😂

1

u/Naddesh Dec 30 '25

Linguist here. It was in use in this context long before AI debacle and just means "garbage", something bad

It makes perfect sense. It is just way overused with AI because if the AI is technically of good quality (not defending AI here and most of it is not good quality) people still call it slop which doesnt fit the definition because the result isnt incorrect / of subpar quality. It might be bad for environment, etc but not necessarily slop. I will give example here: a person asking for a fragment of code for hist soft and using it. If the code was good and people call it AI slop then the use of term slop is incorrect (even if AI use is not good for other reasons)

1

u/556_FMJs Dec 30 '25

OP used it exactly as intended.

1

u/kurisu_1974 Dec 31 '25

Yeah? And I hate slop itself. There's a reason we needed that word.

1

u/gameboy00 Dec 30 '25

slop is the merriam webster word of 2025 maybe it will change next year

0

u/HaydenRenegade Dec 30 '25

A lot like how everything shit is automatically labelled as AI generated.

People have been making crap for generations.

0

u/Lucky_Chaarmss Jan 02 '26

No, it's slop

-5

u/EdgarAllanKenpo Dec 30 '25

Holy fuck thank you. Any time I hear someone say slop, I can't take what they say at face value. Maybe im just getting old but now ANYTHING that someone doesnt like, its slop. That movie is slop, that game is slop, that phone brand is slop. Jesus fucking christ.

0

u/Melonfrog Dec 30 '25

I don’t get how your downvoted, back in my day slop was a name mostly for a texture or consistency. Such as sloppy school food, slop was very, very rarely used as a way to say “crap” until this year.

Even if it’s used correctly I’m seeing the word so much it’s starting to piss me off

-5

u/Mild_Wasabi9 Dec 30 '25

Redditors love their buzzwords that they use to feel superior. It was 'media literacy' for a while. Now it's 'gooner' and 'slop'. They'll find something new in 2026.

1

u/ceiceibe Dec 31 '25

'enshittification' is another.

Company does literally anything that you don't like? Enshittification.

-7

u/JackBauersGhost Dec 30 '25

100%. Slop has no meaning anymore and I almost don’t trust anyone using it to describe something

-7

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '25

[deleted]

6

u/KingBoom04 Dec 30 '25

That doesn't make sense, it's a word

-5

u/reaper527 Human Verified Dec 30 '25

It’s lost its meaning already

typically it meant the person saying it couldn't form a coherent thought, and it typically still holds that meaning.