Sony to close Go!Messenger PSP service

Free IMing coming to an end in March

23 February 2009 21:23 GMT / By Verity Burns

Sony has announced that it will be closing down the PSP Go!Messenger service at the end of March.

The service, run in partnership with BT, is a free instant messaging program that is compatible with the Go!Cam for video chat. It was launched just over a year ago in the 3.90 PSP firmware update.

A post on the official PlayStation forums broke the news, stating: "The Go!Messenger service will be withdrawn by BT and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEE) from 31 March 2009".

"Although Go!Messenger brought innovative communications features to the PSP community, the service has not developed the base of users that we were hoping for".

Apparently the service picked up a significant number of registrations for the service, but regular user numbers were not up to expectations, causing it to be dropped.

For those PSP users with a Go!Cam, Sony has promised that "future products" will be released to take advantage of its added functionality. We'll keep you updated.

Full tags

Gaming, PSP, Sony, BT, VoIP, Phones, Software