While Sony’s new system is the PS5 and much of current marketing is focused around it, as you’d expect, there’s still over 100 million PS4 users out there and the system will no doubt see continued releases and updates for several years to come. The latest update, 8.50, is out there now in beta form. You can read full details about it through here. If you do, it also makes the latest news about what is being removed a lot less surprising.
The 8.50 beta had a few updates, but it also removed Communities. Now Sony has officially announced via their support website that Communities will get the axe starting next month. This is no surprise, even without the next update, as PS5 did not feature Communities and Sony has since retired the Communities mobile app. No reasoning has been given, though most likely it simply didn’t get the activity Sony had hoped for.
The Communities feature was originally launched early in the PS4’s lifespan in 2015. It allowed people to create communities around certain games, genres, etc. and post in boards and do things like messaging and share screenshots. Sony says you’ll still be able to message and stay connected on your PS4 as well as the PlayStation app. Communities will come to an end sometime in April, possibly to coincide with the full release of update 8.50.