PS5 online services ending in August will hit eight games across four Sony platforms. The detail that matters is what is not happening. Sony is not pulling anything from the store this time.
That sounds like good news. In one specific way it is worse.
Every game with PS5 online services ending or shutting down
Tearaway loses its Tearaway.me companion site on 13 August, which takes the game’s optional creativity features with it. Then NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 and WWE 2K Battlegrounds both go offline on 20 August.
The 31st is the heavy day. NHL 22 and NHL 23 lose online on PS5 and PS4, Let It Die closes its servers, and two PS3 titles follow. Those are inFAMOUS 2 and inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood.
One extra note if you live in Mexico, Honduras or Nicaragua. Your PS3 store closes this month, while everywhere else keeps PS3 and Vita purchases running until July 2027. Push Square’s monthly round-up tracks the full schedule.
Why keeping them on sale is the troubling part
Normally these lists end with games vanishing from sale. This month they all stay on sale, and they simply stop working properly, which is a stranger outcome.
The two inFAMOUS games show it best. Both remain fully playable after 31 August, yet both lose their user generated content features. Because those features feed trophies, the Platinum in each one becomes impossible to earn from that date. So the game still sells, still installs and still runs, yet nobody can finish it.
That is the bit worth checking before the end of the month. If you are chasing a Platinum in any of the eight, look at the requirements now rather than in September.
One developer is proving the fix exists
Let It Die is the exception, and it deserves attention. GungHo is turning the free to play game into a paid offline release, promising that one purchase gives you full access forever with no further transactions.
Notice what that means. Preservation here is not a technical impossibility, it is a decision somebody made and funded. Seven other games this month got no such treatment. The catch is timing, because GungHo has not pinned down a release date, so a gap after 31 August looks likely.
Meanwhile Sony spent this week telling investors it is pressing on toward a disc free future. Its grounds: 82 percent of its software already sells digitally. So the same fortnight that argument gets made, a batch of digital games quietly demonstrates the catch.
For Sony’s own framing, read Sony CFO Breaks Silence on PlayStation Disc Backlash. Meanwhile Sony Confirmed to End PlayStation Physical Games in 2028 covers where the policy is heading.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sony delisting any games? No, not this month. They only lose online functionality.
Which Platinums become impossible? Both inFAMOUS 2 and inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood, from 31 August.
Can I still play Let It Die? Eventually yes, through a paid offline version, though the date is unconfirmed.
Add Comment