No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke, Playstation Home really is officially closed. This should come as no surprise, since this shutdown was announced last September.
According to nDreams CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh, Playstation Home was a huge commercial success, but clearly, it wasn’t enough. Sony stopped publishing new content to PlayStation Home last November. By December, players couldn’t download anything anymore.
What’s remarkable is that during its 6 year life-span, Playstation Home never left beta. O’Luanaigh claims “Sony doesn’t appear to appreciate what an incredible experiment PlayStation Home was.”
First revealed at GDC in 2007, Home was pitched as being a virtual world in which players could make their avatars, socialize with other players, get apartments, and watch movies or play games. However, the actual Home never quite became what was originally planned out. Perhaps this led to the shutdown?
Whatever the case may be, Playstation Home’s shutdown comes as a sad news. Lasting from 2008 – 2015, Playstation Home’s shutdown truly marks an end of an era.