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Sony has confirmed it is turning off the servers for its fan-favourite karaoke franchise, SingStar, on January 31st, 2020.
While players will still be able to access their songs and play past that date, they will not be able to play online or purchase any new tracks from the SingStore.
“After 15 incredible years, we have made the difficult decision to shut down the SingStore servers on 31 January 2020,” the company said in a blog update (thanks, GI,biz). “After that date, you will still be able to enjoy your downloaded songs, but all online functionality and network features will no longer be available, and you will not be able to purchase any new songs from the SingStore. Any SingStar content you have shared to SingStar.com will be deleted.”
PS3 users are further advised to check and ensure any digital purchases have been downloaded onto their consoles before 31 January 2020.
“We’ve loved watching the community grow, and have lots of fond memories from working on SingStar. Your support over the years has meant the world,” the post concluded.
In other news, Sony also recently revealed its current-gen system, PlayStation 4, has now shipped 102.8 million units, eclipsing both the original PlayStation and Nintendo Wii and making it the second-highest selling home console of all time, second only to the PlayStation 2 which boasts 155m lifetime sales. Its PlayStation business saw “significant decreases” over the period, with sales generated in its Game & Network Services division – which houses PlayStation – falling 17 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to ¥454.4 billion ($4.17 billion), down ¥95.7 billion ($878.5 million) on the same period last year.
It also announced it is shutting down its TV service, PlayStation Vue, on January 30th, 2020, stating it has decided to “remain focused on [its] core gaming business”. The news confirms recent rumours the company was looking to sell off its TV platform as the troubled service continued to lose money.
Sony’s PlayStation Now subscription service, however, now boasts more than 1 million subscribers five years after launch. Making the announcement as part of its quarterly financial report, Sony said: “this is a great step toward the target we mentioned […] of growing subscribers by an average of more than 50 per cent per year. Through this renewal, we are aiming to assess the potential of cloud gaming services.”
