Sony has reversed course in a controversial licensing termination on Discovery Network content being removed from PlayStation.

The abrupt termination – which was supposed to come at the end of this year – is no longer happening, in fact Sony has reportedly extended the deadline for several more years.

“Due to updated licensing arrangements, the Discovery content removal planned for December 31, 2023 is no longer occurring,” the company said in a statement. “We appreciate your ongoing support and feedback.”

The new “updated licensing agreements” come from a new deal with Discovery parent company Warner Bros., which will let users browse the TV network’s content for “at least the next 30 months.”

“Similar to other services, we do not own the licensing rights to TV/movie content that was previously available for purchase on PlayStation Store,” the company said (via GI.biz). “However, we’ve worked with Warner Bros to update our licensing agreements, ensuring that consumers will be able to access their previously purchased content for at least the next 30 months.”

To be clear, PlayStation users have been unable to buy new TV and/or movie content from the PlayStation Store since 2021, so this is purely an agreement for users to access content they bought prior to that cutoff.

The original cutoff was not only abrupt but shocking to many users, a reminder that an all-digital future means you actually do not own the content you buy digitally. You’re merely buying a temporary license for that content, most especially if said platform removes it due to licensing or the entire platform gets shut down.