PlayStation store discontinues movie & TV purchases and rentals
Sony has announced that the PlayStation store will no longer offer users TV and movie purchases and rentals.
In an announcement today, Sony has officially pulled the plug on TV and movie rentals on the PlayStation store, beginning on August 31, 2021, due to a shift in consumer behavior.
Apparently, this is a direct reaction to the growth of users on subscription-based and ad-based streaming services, like Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and a variety of other subscription-based or ad-based services offered by many large television stations.
This move by Sony is a huge sign of the ever-changing entertainment industry, as it takes a large dive into streaming services. Users have been enjoying a variety of original content on Netflix and Disney+, with many users opting to rent movies on services like Amazon Prime Video.
When this change comes into effect, players can still view TV and movie content that has been previously purchased on their PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, but will no longer be able to further purchase any TV or movie titles.
With PlayStation completely axing the entire TV and movie library, we can’t help but wonder if this will send ripples through the industry, leading to further growth from streaming services and movie rental services. Perhaps even competitor Xbox/Microsoft will follow suit and remove the option on their platform.
We can’t say we’re particularly surprised by this decision – since Nintendo hasn’t offered users the ability to purchase movies and TV shows on the Switch.
It appears that this is the end of an era for PlayStation users. However, a much brighter era of affordable subscription services filled with tons of content lies ahead.
Image Credits: Sony/PlayStation