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Is PlayStation shutting down PS4 servers? Here's the truth behind viral claim
Viral claims of PS4 server shutdown are false; Sony will retire some legacy features for new games starting Spring 2026, but servers remain active.
Sony's flagship gaming platform, PlayStation, has come under the scanner over reports of a recent decision regarding its PlayStation 4 console. Claims have gone viral that Sony is set to shut down the server of PlayStation 4, sparking panic among PS4 owners about their consoles possibly not working.
However, the claims are false, as Sony has not made any official announcement regarding shutting down the servers. The viral claims surfaced after a report about Sony retiring some features on PS4 by the Spring of 2026.
Published by the gaming news website Insider Gaming, the report claims, citing an internal documentation of Sony, that "legacy services" related to game submission on PS4 are set to be retired starting in the Spring of 2026. Per the report, the document states that it would mean "any new PS4 title submitted after this date will no longer be able to integrate with the following legacy features.”
In simple terms, once the sunsetting process starts, users will no longer be able to access some of the console features for new games, to be released after the process is initiated in the Spring of 2026. Otherwise, the console's server will work fine, with most games still playable.
Also read: Hulu to shut down after 20 years: What Disney+ merger means for streaming platform subscribers?
What Features Are Being Retired
PlayStation 4 was released in 2013 and has been in the market for nearly 12 years. Given that PS5 was released on November 12, 2020, there are still a lot of PS4 owners who have yet to upgrade to a PS5. According to the report by Insider Gaming, the following PS4 features will be rolled off in 2026:
Activity Feed Web API
Title Small Storage (TSS)
Title User Storage (TUS)
Users and Profiles
Word Filters
Shared Media Web API
PlayStation sai
