Sony To Remove TV & Movies From PlayStation Store

PlayStation Now (Image: Sony)

Any PlayStation user can relate, when you open the PlayStation Store to check out the newest games or update your console theme, it seems like Sony doesn’t understand why you’re there. Often before players can even see game deals or featured games, the front page of the PlayStation Store features television shows and movies. Starting in September 2021 however, Sony will be removing the oft-unused media from their online store.

Gamers may not be keenly aware that Sony has their hands almost as deep in television and movies as they do with gaming. Since the PlayStation 3’s comprehensive online store launched almost 15 years ago, Sony touted the platform as a PlayStation user’s all-in-one media zone. The advent of streaming services, however, make Sony’s pay-per-episode structure feel hilariously archaic.

In a PlayStation blog post today, Head of Video Business at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) Vanessa Lee announced that both purchase and rental of television shows and movies on the PlayStation Store will be discontinued.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth from PlayStation fans using subscription-based and ad-based entertainment streaming services on our consoles. With this shift in customer behavior, we have decided to no longer offer movie and TV purchases and rentals through PlayStation Store as of August 31, 2021,” wrote Lee in the post.

Lee explains that no existing purchase and rentals will be interrupted by the discontinuation.