PlayStation Vue TV streaming service to shut down in early 2020

PlayStation Vue, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s surprisingly full featured, and mostly well thought out, multiscreen TV streaming service, is being killed off early next year.

Why? Well, besides the difficulty of competing with more and more video streaming services and dealing with the rising costs of licensing TV content, Sony is looking to concentrate on PlayStation as a gaming-only brand, which definitely makes sense — as much as it sucks for existing customers.

See the official announcement below from the PS Blog.

Over four years ago, we made a bold decision to change the rules and revolutionize the traditional TV-viewing experience in the U.S. with PlayStation Vue. We set the bar high and sought to innovate an established industry by delivering a modern TV experience. By completely rethinking live and on demand television, we offered an incredible user experience that allowed viewers to discover and watch content in completely new ways.

Today we are announcing that we will shut down the PlayStation Vue service on January 30, 2020. Unfortunately, the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected. Because of this, we have decided to remain focused on our core gaming business.

PlayStation fans can continue to access movie and TV content through the PlayStation Store on PS4 and via our partnerships with top entertainment apps. With 100 million PlayStation 4s in the market today, our community continues to grow and thrive. We will continue to deliver the best entertainment experiences across the network, along with other key gaming services, including PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus.

We are very proud of what PlayStation Vue was able to accomplish. We had ambitious goals for how our service could change how people watch TV, showcasing PlayStation?s ability to innovate in a brand-new category within the Pay TV industry. We want to thank all of our customers, some of whom have been with us since PlayStation Vue?s launch in 2015.

We appreciate your continued support as we move through this transitional period and look toward the future.