I always felt PlayStation Home had huge potential. Even back when it released in 2008 and the fantasies of a Sony Second Life competitor had faded away, I still felt that with time, it could evolve into something great. I haven’t given up hope, either; I went so far as to speculate how the service could work with Sony’s upcoming Morpheus virtual reality headset on PS4.
Unfortunately, it appears as though Sony has less faith in Home than I do — at least in certain parts of the world. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and Asia both confirmed today that Home will close its doors at the end of March 2015. The fun stops a bit sooner than that, though, as content sales will be shut down September 24th.
For now the US and European renditions of Home are safe, but realistically, how long can they last? It’s likely that the news of overseas versions biting the dust will double as a means of softening the eventual blow when the remaining Home servers are finally and permanently taken offline. Hey, I’d love to be wrong. I’m just not all that optimistic.
Sony understands that some players will be saddened, and as such the company is planning a “large-scale event” within Home for the regions affect — a farewell party of sorts. It’s a nice idea, and if the US Home eventually requires a festive sendoff, you can bet I’ll be spending months (or at least hours) planning party preparations and buying enough in-game birthday hats and blowers for all four of my Home-playing friends. It’s sure to be a blast.
You can check out the announcement here (you may need Chrome to do a quick translation), and while we can, let’s cross our fingers for Home‘s survival in the places it remains.
[Via: AlphaZone4]
