The SingStar servers have gone dark, putting an end to one of the classic PlayStation games.
Sony had announced its plan to shut down its SingStar servers on 31st January 2020, and last night – not to be outdone by that other big exit – SingStar left the stage.
All online functionality, network features and digital music downloads are now disabled. You can still play SingStar games in offline mode, playing songs on physical discs and those previously bought and downloaded to a harddrive, but the rest of the functionality has been snuffed out, and some trophies will be impossible to unlock. Also of note, the forced XMB icon for EU PS3 users is finally gone.
SingStar, from Sony’s London studio, was one of the most popular first-party party games on PS2 and PS3. It never seemed to rekindle that magic on PS4, on which it launched as a free app supported by paid downloads for songs.
Fans spent the night belting out numbers for the last time, and took to social media to reminisce about the series.
RIP to the legend, SingStar pic.twitter.com/ixymE7mT7k
— Ar!o!’s Back, Jack (@manilaburning) January 31, 2020
Mostly I’m sad about SingStar shutting down because it was one of the first things we downloaded when we got our PS4 and since a PS camera was bundled with it we recorded a lot of videos playing SingStar. It’s weird and fun to look at those videos and see ourselves gradually age
— Ar!o!’s Back, Jack (@manilaburning) January 31, 2020
Finally! Singstar has disappeared from the #PlayStation 3 XMB pic.twitter.com/JgOQeRQhFd
— C h r i s W (@cbw86) January 31, 2020
So god damn mad i didnt download more singstar songs before they all went away
— rocket surgeon (@lonewolfbby) February 1, 2020
Rip singstar the end of an era
— ?? ????????? ?? (@gib_brille) February 1, 2020
Sony have taken down the servers early, but that won?t stop us playing #SingStar pic.twitter.com/2NAy7LDbh1
— DJ Damien (@dj_damien) January 31, 2020
It’s not just #BrexitDay today but also the last day you can play #SingStar online. Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how ground-breaking this game was… pic.twitter.com/tshPHnDCaO
— Jo Haslam (@JoannaHaslam) January 31, 2020
RIP Singstar, One Of The Most Important Games In PlayStation History – we played it like crazy when we worked at Lionhead, I got the honour to work on it for a short time at Sony & I still play to this day.
— Brynley (@brynleygibson) February 1, 2020
Logged on to SingStar before the server shutdown to browse songs for the last time.
Turns out I’ve got all the good ones that are still available. All 296 of them. ?
Thank you @LondonStudioHQ for the huge selection & great times with friends over the years. ?
— The ManSpyder (@ManSpyder) January 29, 2020
So, SingStar has dropped the mic. But with PlayStation 5 waiting in the wings, could it be due for an encore?
