Sony took another step back from the PC today, announcing that the PlayStation Plus app for PC will be "retiring" on December 10. I can't really blame it for this one, though: Almost nobody was actually using it.
"PlayStation believes in providing high-quality experiences to our players, and we regularly review offerings to ensure we are focusing on experiences our members value most," Sony wrote at the tail-end of a PlayStation Blog update detailing the PlayStation Plus game lineup for November.
"With a very small number of eligible PlayStation Plus Premium members (less than 0.4%) using the PlayStation Plus app on PC, making this change allows us to focus on enhancing high-quality experiences that more of our members want to use. As a result, the PlayStation Plus cloud streaming app on PC will no longer be available."
The end of the app seems to fit pretty well with Sony's recent about-face on PC gaming: After a brief period of enthusiasm for bringing its big exclusives to PC, Sony began a walkback earlier this year, shifting its focus back to consoles exclusives. It hasn't explicitly acknowledged or explained the change in strategy, but as PC Gamer's Morgan Park wrote in May, the thing speaks for itself: Rather like Xbox "recommitting" to its console, "Sony is responding to a waning interest in consoles by reinforcing its 'narrative singleplayer games' as system sellers once again.
"Multiplayer games like the upcoming Marvel Tōkon will still come to PC, but if you want to play the next prestige action game from the likes of Naughty Dog or Insomniac, you'll need a PS5," Morgan wrote. Or, when the time comes, a PlayStation 6.
Similar to Xbox cloud streaming, the PlayStation Plus app on PC was really more noteworthy for the selection of older PlayStation games it offered to PC gamers, rather than major new releases. Given that, I think the end has come for exactly the reason Sony cited: Not due to any strategic realignment, but simply because nobody's using it in the first place.
