PS4 communities to end April 21

[Gvon]

I've just received an email informing me that PS4 communities will close at the beginning of April.

"Thank you for using the Communities feature on your PlayStation®4 console. Beginning in April 2021, this feature will no longer be supported or available on your PS4™ console.

However, you will still be able to stay connected and enjoy messaging features and more on your PS4™ console and PlayStation®App.


PlayStation
PLAY HAS NO LIMITS
View online"

I really enjoyed the feature when it launched and have a decent sized community of a few thousand for sharing in-game screenshots.
I haven't used it properly for a couple of years but never had the heart to shut it down because it's still really active.

Hopefully they do something similar on the PS5 but I won't hold my breath.

 

[Khanimus]

Literally never used any of this stuff. Always felt kinda off to the side. Integrated social features are cool, but it felt like just noise whenever I glanced at it.

 

[jwk94]

Given how half assed the social features are on Ps5, I doubt teams is coming back.

 

[Scottoest]

Ending the message with the all-caps "PLAY HAS NO LIMITS" tagline made me laugh, haha.

I kinda forgot this feature existed, so it stands to reason it maybe wasn't used much.

 

[RockmanBN]

Yeah, but when are we getting themes though?

 

[OldBenKenobi]

Sony should really copy Microsoft's built in LFG System they have for their UI. From all the videos I have seen, it's pretty cool to have a system with LFG system.

 

[Rats]

I think I was in a community or two back in the GAF days, never really saw much of a point in them.

 

[Etrian Darkness]

Can't say I ever saw the point in them.

 

[2Blackcats]

Found them good for a while but they mostly ended up being taken over by sellers or morons. Chat groups are fine for smaller communities

 

[Aniki]

Didn't really use them so it doesn't impact me much.

 

[Fisty]

Lame. I owned the main Cosmic Star Heroine community, had a lot of fun watching folks help each other on the tough battles and wait impatiently for the Vita version lol

 

[AuthenticM]

Yeah I've never used this. They needed to copy the WiiU's systems 1:1 for it to be interesting. Having siloed-off custom communities just isn't interesting; there's no reason to use that when reddit and discord exist.

 

[Kuosi]

give us discord on ps5

 

[entremet]

They were crap

 

[Diablos]

I can't even remember the last time I so much as even looked at communities.

 

[Kyrios]

I haven't stepped into a Community in like 2 years.

 

[btkadams]

give us discord on ps5

Click to shrink...

Seriously. Native discord support would be fantastic.

 

[i-Jest]

I guess Communities will join Playstation Home in Sony Heaven where obsolete products, retired services, and unrealized ideas go to rest in peace.

 

[Mad_Rhetoric]

Shame they always half-assed it. Shouldve copied Xbox's LFG feature.

 

[Nameless]

They made a UI change a couple years back that made accessing communities more of a pain. Pretty much stopped visiting the one or two I was in after that.

 

[oldyella]

give us discord on ps5

Click to shrink...

Yeah, the market has pretty much spoken. Discord, Twitter and forums are the main preferred mediums for sharing and interaction among most people playing games. They can use the effort currently being used here and make some improvements to Game Help, namely working with content creators to let them work on official game guides.

 

[shazrobot]

Seriously. Native discord support would be fantastic.

Click to shrink...

Sadly this will never happen.

 

[Tribal24]

Yeah Discord would be nice

 

[neptunez]

So none of you used the RestEra community? 😭

 

[Kouriozan]

I never get promotions email but I did get this one, aaah well.
I'm still in the old community one but I sold my PS4 3 years ago so I could never leave it.

 

[chrominance]

The only time I ever used the Communities feature was when Sony announced they were shutting down the online components of Gravity Rush 2; a community formed to help everyone get Dusty tokens before everything was closed. It was very helpful and it was nice to see people checking in months and even years after Gravity Rush 2 went offline-only. I didn't participate much after I got my Dusty tokens in, so I guess this is partially my fault.

 

[Suede]

All I really remember from these communities is some guy from one of them messaging me to chat and possibly to become friends, but then sent me some dick pics soon after.

 

[FinFunnels]

I remember when these first came out I thought they would make LFG for Destiny easier, but that wasn't really the case. I did join Hatsune Miku communities and enjoyed seeing all the messages and pictures that people would post in them. But the communities kind of died off after Discord took off.

 

[Yossarian]

I really enjoyed the feature when it launched and have a decent sized community of a few thousand for sharing in-game screenshots.

Click to shrink...

Oh, is that you? In-Game Photography one?

 

[Coriander]

I enjoyed the communities. It was often fun to belong to communities that focused on a specific game and either angle or demographic (No Man's Sky Photographers, for example, or one of the many LGBT Overwatch groups) and be able to jump casually into games with other community members from the PS4 UI. I made some good friends from some of the groups I belonged to.

That said, if one's looking for something specific, like help on a particular quest, it's often easier and quicker to hop on Discord or Reddit or here to seek it.

 

[Dynedom]

Shame to those who used the feature but can't say I ever saw a point to it. Seemed underbaked.

 

[Rumenapp]

#4theplayers i guess

 

[nightstalker962]

Sony just loves removing features these days.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

Play has no limits*.

*Except for PS4 owners who use the Communities feature.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Oh no.
Anyway.

Did anyone ever actually use the community feature anyway?

 

[Mazuve1234]

I remember using it so I could find groups for Destiny and EE for BO3 Zombies.

 

[hydruxo]

Used them for Destiny LFG and whatnot for that first year or so, but over time people just sort of stopped caring about them and most communities were inactive so it made them relatively useless.

 

[Pankratous]

Good. The less time spent keeping features like this alive the better, if they are underbaked as it was.

 

[Iwao]

They were cool to explore, but quite limited and it was difficult to follow the discourse on any one of them. I think the communities would have been more used and active if you could access and contribute to them via the web.

 

[xinoart]

This has been known for a bit. It's part of the 8.50 PS4 beta.

 

[Seafoam Gaming]

Damn. This actually upsets me since they were good fun for sharing accomplishments. I loved the ACA/M2 Shottriggers one in particular as members would often share cool flyers of whatever games were coming out next. Didn't use them too often but I did use them more than dumb stuff like party chat.

 

[Ambient]

Never used them.

 

[Wise]

The notifications for them were extremely extremely annoying

 

[Twister]

I never used them and they weren't on PS5 so it seemed like they kind of forgot about it anyways. Although, I do agree, the social features on PS5 are badly in need of an overhaul

 

[Hieroph]

PS5 really needs Streetpass.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Never used it once so no loss.

 

[Jawmuncher]

expecting Xbox clubs to go the same way as well. No one really uses them even if they're a good idea on paper.

 

[egg]

Communities were great for setting up games. Helped me get the Battlefront 1 platinum a second time because the game is dead as fuck.
Especially the DLC playlists.

Discord has been much more beneficial so I don't think this is a big deal personally.

 

[Deleted member 2317]

Damn... I found so many players to play with this way... I guess others didn't, but it was wonderful for multiplayer sessions in US East servers.

 

[Camwi]

Never used 'em.