Sony shutting the doors on PlayStation Mobile this fall

By Kris Wouk March 11, 2015

Sony PlayStation Vita Slim review front screen angle — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sony’s PlayStation Mobile platform has had a rocky history, and now the final boulder has come thundering down: It’s over for PSM, the company wrote in an announcement on its Japanese language website (here’s a Google Translate version).

The service will remain active for a few months, although users won’t be able to purchase new content after July 15. For a few months after that, customers will be able to re-download any content they might have purchased in the past, as this will cease to be available when the platform is fully shut down for good on September 10.

PlayStation Mobile appeared troubled from the start, with Sony waiving the publisher license fee in May of 2013 in an effort to attract more developers. This obviously didn’t go as well as the company had hoped. After dropping Android support last year, the platform remained available for indie developers targeting the PlayStation Vita, though pickings were slim.

While this certainly doesn’t mean we’ll see more indie games on the Vita, it’s worth pointing out that Sony publishes a healthy amount of indie games on the PlayStation Store proper, and 2015 is still shaping up to be a good year for PlayStation fans.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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