This week’s PlayStation blog provided some updates on the games coming to PlayStation Plus this month. Some of the popular titles subscribers will be able to play for free in April include Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein 2, Kena: Bridge of Shadows, and Slay the Spire. Unfortunately, as is the case with its competitor Game Pass, we can’t have new games without losing some too. The fine print at the bottom of the blogpost reveals that several games, including Marvel’s Spider-Man, will be leaving PlayStation Plus on May 15 – and I think we all know why.

Sony calls this “part of our normal content refresh” as if adding new games to PlayStation Plus isn’t enough. Apparently, you have to also remove some games to make the store feel fresh. Xbox also does this with Game Pass, whenever contracts with publishers expire or licensing deals interrupt its ability to offer certain games. But none of those things apply to Marvel’s Spider-Man. It’s a first-party title that Sony owns, and it’s not getting pulled from digital stores. It’s only leaving the service because Sony thinks it can make a couple of extra bucks in the lead up to Spider-Man 2.

The sequel is expected to launch sometime in the fall, which means those that missed the original may be interested in checking it out now. It’s common to see a spike in sales of old games every time a sequel comes out. Hell, even the old Super Mario movie has become an Amazon best-seller thanks to the success of the new one. Having Marvel’s Spider-Man on PlayStation Plus right now adds a lot of value to the service, but the bean counters at Sony decided they could make a little more money if people had to buy it, so it’s gone.

You’d think driving people to the recently-revamped PlayStation Plus would be a priority for Sony, but apparently it would rather capitalize on an opportunity, even if it means devaluing its own service. Given Sony’s recent track record, it isn’t an entirely surprising decision. We saw the company nickel-and-dime its customers ahead of the PlayStation Plus relaunch, when it devised a convoluted voucher conversion plan to ensure that no one could exploit the new PS+ by buying extra months of the old one.

Ahead of the Horizon Forbidden West launch, we saw Sony play semantics to try to weasel out of giving PS5 players the free next-gen upgrade they were promised, and even once it acquiesced, it still managed to obscure things enough that it got away with overcharging millions of people for the PS5 version of the game. Cutting Spider-Man from PS+ isn’t a scam – Sony has every right to do whatever it wants with its own games and services – but it’s the most recent example in a long history of anti-player decisions.

The whole thing reeks of too-big-to-fail decision making, and it’s going to catch up with Sony eventually. I know there are a lot of loyal PlayStation fans out there, but these signs of disrespect are going to pile up eventually, and no amount of exclusives will be enough to keep it safe from scrutiny forever. This is a short-sighted decision that devalues PlayStation Plus and communicates to its subscribers that Sony cares more about making a few bucks today than earning your commitment to its brand, because it believes it already has it. I don’t think Sony should be so cavalier about its reputation or the trust of its community.