PlayStation Now Service Ending for PS3 and Vita

Sony has announced the discontinuation of PlayStation Now on PS3, Vita, and Bravia TV models, shifting its focus on the PS4 and PC version of the streaming service.

Sony has decided to discontinue the PlayStation Now service on couple of its devices, including Bravia TVs, PlayStation TV units, the handheld Vita, and the PlayStation 3. The company says that its focus with PlayStation Now is to improve the service for PS4 and PC, in the hopes of making it better for all users. Those who are still using PlayStation Now on any of these devices have some time until it is discontinued. As stated by Sony, PS3, Vita, and Bravia TV (2015 and older) owners will lose access on August 15th of this year, and 2016 Bravia TV owners will lose access on April 1st.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to those who have been keeping track, as Sony has been concentrating on PlayStation Now for PS4 and PC lately. However, those who have yet to upgrade to the current-gen console, or who don't own a gaming PC, will probably find the news disappointing. The good news, however, is that PlayStation Now is platform agnostic, which means that all of a user's saves and games are easily accessible from any device. So whenever someone decides to upgrade, all of their cloud saves should be waiting.

In the beginning, PlayStation Now was Sony's version of a rental service for playing games on PS3 and Vita. Prices were a bit expensive at first, but things started to normalize, and Sony finally introduced a monthly subscription price, which would give users access to any games they wanted. After PS4's debut, however, the PS Now service became a way for Sony to make its console backwards compatible without actually building the technology. After that, PS support hit PlayStation Now and made it so players could access some console exclusives, like Red Dead Redemption on PC.

Regardless of how gamers feel about the service, it does sound like Sony will be taking steps to make it better, starting with a greater focus on PS4 and PC. With only two platforms to take care and worry about, Sony will eventually be able to give those subscribers a better experience with more options. Naturally, it's always disappointing when older generation platforms lose access to something, but that's part of the course at this point.