Sony just announced out of the blue that they will be ceasing support for a majority of major apps on the Vita. Youtube is getting the axe too.

In a hitlist announced today, Sony said that the Maps and Near apps are reportedly going to stop being supported and all of them will be completely removed in a future firmware update in March. All data including bookmarks on those apps will also be removed and deleted once you update. Even if you don’t update the services will be completely shut off. Certain content from Near will remain for 7 days. The apps will no longer be able to be accessed. The Youtube app will still be able to be used until April 20th but the app will be removed from the Playstation store to download starting now and will cease to work in April. But why? What does it mean?

Really, it’s completely incomprehensible as to why Sony is giving up on these apps really leaving to speculation and finger pointing. There was no clear cut reason why Sony is deciding to do this. Some of these apps never even reached their full potential such as the soon-to-be extent Near; a 3DS StreetPass contender and/or equivalent. Sony has been consistently criticized for not supporting the Vita and this is another bullet in the chamber for that argument, for a majority of owners.

With Maps, Sony has nearly exiled the 3G versions of the Vita making the Maps app next to useless. It’s speculated that Maps uses the Google Maps Engine, which is subsequently being killed off by Google, but not until 2016. So it begs the question why now if true? Why remove two other apps?  Sony doesn’t seem like they’re going to add a replacement Maps app in the future with the new Google My Maps Engine or an alternative service. Looks like that whole phone/console gaming on-the-go thing combination is extirpated.

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And Near, oh boy what a joke. It’s safe to say Sony just gave up on this. It was never even utilized fully or implemented in many games by Sony since the launch of the Vita. Its safe to say why this is getting the axe.

I suppose it’s somewhat understandable as to why they’re being removed, but its a huge inconvenience for users who did use them. But why Youtube! What! That’s a huge platform to remove. Youtube is a huge incentive for platforms. Its almost involuntary expectation that every device in the year 2015 at the very least has a Youtube app. What could possible be the motive behind removing a powerhouse like Youtube? I mean Sony even advertises and promotes new Vita games on Youtube! Why disconnect people like this? Maybe Sony really doesn’t want to invest resources further in the Vita? They made admittance to this already when asked about the future of AAA titles on the Vita back last year.

“The YouTube application for PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) will no longer be supported after 20 April 2015, and the application will cease to be available for download from PlayStation®Store on 28 January, 2015.

Users can continue to enjoy YouTube via the “Browser” application, and will be able to access their YouTube data, such as playlists and channels, by signing in to the same Google account via the “Browser” app and on other devices.”

Honestly, Sony’s response to not having these apps sure implied like they’re done with cleaning and upgrading house with the Vita. They say that if you want to use Google Maps and Youtube just ‘go to the web-browser’. Well, suffice to say that’s not a very good response, is it? The Vita browser is the best gaming handheld browser out there (by trail statistics) but it’s no where near as competent as other mobile browsers (such as Safari on the iPhone).

Having dedicated, optimized apps with better settings, is a much, much better option. Youtube/Google just announced today that Youtube has finally switched from that dreaded flash to HTML5. Atlas, a great move, but again not a fantastic replacement for the Youtube app which was in no means, terrible. Whats more perplexing is that they even go as far as listing the differences between browser and app! Sony even illustrates the browser is worse via a chart on their new ‘comforting’ support page.

Oddly perplexing isn’t it? Removing features, more so useful features from a product is never good. The only logical conclusion to all of this is that the contract Sony signed with Google for these apps is over and Sony simply doesn’t care anymore or see it as a necessary service. But it makes you wonder if Sony’s long term vision for the Vita has changed.