It is the top of an period for sure Netflix customers, and for these of us who nonetheless have a PlayStation 3 sitting round. Sony’s much-beloved online game console initially launched in 2007 and is rattling close to 20 years outdated at this level. Save for retro players, it is in all probability not a high-use machine today. Nevertheless, for these nonetheless utilizing it as a streaming machine, it is about to turn into a lot much less helpful as Netflix will now not be accessible on the PS3 subsequent month.
Just lately, varied folks on social media websites like Reddit and Twitter have been sharing a message that comes up when one tries in addition up Netflix on the PlayStation 3, indicating that by March 2, 2026, the streaming service will now not operate on the console. Netflix first turned accessible on the PS3 in 2009. Now, some 17 years later, that is come to an finish. Customers utilizing Netflix on the console at the moment are greeted with the next message:
“Sadly, Netflix will now not be accessible on this machine after March 2, 2026. Go to Netflix.com/compatibledevices to see an inventory of supported units.”
As for why? Apps nonetheless want updates, and the very fact of the matter is the person base for Netflix on the PS3 might be very, very small today. Nonetheless, it is simple to think about some folks nonetheless having an older console hooked as much as a TV for streaming functions. In any occasion, it is the top of an period. One which began even earlier than Netflix first bought into unique programming with “Lilyhammer,” earlier than they have been some of the dominant forces in all of Hollywood, and again when streaming was only a option to watch TV, reasonably than one thing that threatened to upend the business as we all know it. It was, in some ways, a less complicated time.
The PlayStation 3 had an excellent run with Netflix
It is fascinating to even contemplate a time when gaming consoles weren’t additionally multimedia units, however the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 have been completely the technology of consoles that modified all of that. One of many main promoting factors of the PS3 when it launched in November 2006 was that it got here with a Blu-ray participant. There was even a console bundle that included a duplicate of director Sam Raimi’s ever-divisive “Spider-Man 3” on Blu-ray at one level.
Sony ran an enormous advert marketing campaign boasting “it solely does every thing,” suggesting that the PlayStation 3 was extra than simply for video video games. Paradoxically, the Xbox 360 bought entry to Netflix immediate streaming in November 2008, a full 12 months earlier than the PS3. On the time, it wasn’t automated. Sensible TVs weren’t actually a factor but. Netflix was nearly the one streaming service on the town. Heck, Netflix nonetheless had a booming DVD-by-mail enterprise on the time.
Netflix did not formally finish its DVD service till late 2023, which could shock some folks, however that’s neither right here nor there. Within the years because the PS3 gained entry to Netflix, streaming units have turn into prevalent. Even when one’s TV does not have them straight, Amazon Fireplace TV units or Roku units could be bought on a budget. Subsequent gaming consoles had Netflix able to go, together with different streaming apps. It was now not a novel factor, however reasonably an anticipated function.
It’s a deep sign of the passage of time that the PlayStation 3, one of many pioneers when it got here to creating Netflix immediate streaming extra accessible to most people, is now shedding the app altogether. Pour one out.
