Bizarre PS Store Game for PS5, PS4 Testing Accidentally Published

What do we have here?

by Sammy Barker Tue 25th Aug 2020

Sony made a big blunder overnight, accidentally publishing a $0.49 test client onto the PlayStation Store for consumers to purchase. The “game” – named Whale Whale Whale: What Do We Have Here? – mentions “early server development and integration” in its description. It also refers to both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, suggesting it could be used as a case study for publishers planning to sell upgradable titles that will transition from the company’s current-gen console to its next-gen one.

Video footage of the curious app has appeared online, and it does appear to be some kind of Software Development Kit tool. It looks like, for example, it’s possible to test promotional code redemptions within the client, indicating that publishers may be able to use it to see if DLC and microtransactions can effectively be redeemed in their releases. How exactly it ended up on the public PS Store is a mystery, but no doubt someone received a ticking off over it!

[source reddit.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
Octane
Tue 25th Aug 2020

When is the review coming?

2
LordSteev
Tue 25th Aug 2020

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

3
HUMPERDOO
Tue 25th Aug 2020

The birth of a new genre! Service as a Game.

4
get2sammyb
Tue 25th Aug 2020

@HUMPERDOO

5
NeoTokyo404
Tue 25th Aug 2020

GOTY Edition when???

6
Gmork___
Tue 25th Aug 2020

Sooooo what happens when you buy it and start it up???????

7
SirAngry
Tue 25th Aug 2020

What an interesting name for a tool designed to test and improve visibility / sales of DLC etc. Whale. Hmm... Whale, Whale, Whale...

8
pinta_vodki
Tue 25th Aug 2020

Love the name. Sounds like a quirky indie game about a zany whale.

9
get2sammyb
Tue 25th Aug 2020

@SirAngry I did think the same thing as well! 😬

10
Jayofmaya
Tue 25th Aug 2020

@SirAngry Was just about to comment on that. Get the harpoon! We're gonna catch ourselves some big ones.

11
SirAngry
Tue 25th Aug 2020

@get2sammyb oh the stories Devs could tell you about tricks of the trade and how to get gamers to part with their cash. From a designer's perspective it is why I personally hate a certain type of game which has been debated to death elsewhere. Why? Because it limits what I can do with my design, hamstringing me to developing certain types of experiences and compromising the purity of my vision, and what I want to create so some people will pay not to play the game. It's soul destroying, but capitalism usually is...