Sony ending PlayStation Now support on PS3, Vita and more

PlayStation Now, Sony’s full-game streaming service, will soon be discontinued on every platform outside of PlayStation 4 and Windows PC, the company announced today.

“After thoughtful consideration, we decided to shift our focus and resources to PS4 and Windows PC to further develop and improve the user experience on these two devices,” said Brian Dunn, senior marketing manager for PlayStation Now. “This move puts us in the best position to grow the service even further.”

Sony officially launched PlayStation Now in January 2015 on PS4, and brought the service to PlayStation 3 in May 2015. The company added support for PC, where you can use a PS4 controller with a USB dongle, last summer.

PlayStation Now is also available on PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV, Sony Blu-ray players and a variety of smart TVs. But after Aug. 15, 2017, owners of the following devices will no longer be able to use PlayStation Now:

• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV
• All 2013, 2014, 2015 Sony Bravia TV models
• All Sony Blu-ray player models
• All Samsung TV models

Oddly, the deadline is much sooner for 2016 Sony Bravia TVs: Those devices will lose access to PlayStation Now on April 1.

“If you use any of the above devices, we want to give our heartfelt thanks for your support, and we hope you’ll continue with us,” said Dunn, noting that PlayStation Now customers can access their cloud-based save files on any platform. Dunn also pointed out that users who have enabled auto-renewal on their PlayStation Now subscriptions should adjust those settings to avoid getting charged shortly before the service expires.

As you might expect, the comments on the PlayStation Blog post announcing this news are full of angry PlayStation Now users on these deprecated devices. It’s particularly galling for Vita owners, a passionate but relatively small group of people who are coming around to the realization that, with moves like this, Sony is all but killing off the handheld.

Update: Speaking of killing off the Vita, Sony happens to have made this announcement on the fifth anniversary of the device’s debut in North America — Feb. 15, 2012. Ouch.