After almost five years of service, Sony has officially pulled the plug on PlayStation Vue<\/a> on Thursday, January 30. Sony announced that it would shutter the service back in October of last year<\/a>, giving users more significant notice before following through with its plan. <\/p>\n Alongside Sling TV<\/a>, YouTube TV<\/a> and Hulu<\/a>, PlayStation Vue was one of just a handful of cable alternatives that provided live TV to customers without a contract or extra equipment, and was considered by man to be a pioneer in the streaming space.<\/p>\n The service’s closure comes after months of subscription price changes and increased competition from new on-demand streaming services, all of which were cheaper than a live TV alternative like PlayStation Vue.<\/p>\n As of today, the sign-up portal has been closed down and the PlayStation Vue app on mobile devices only displays the message “PlayStation Vue is no longer available. Thank you for your support.” <\/p>\n Although support for the streaming service has wavered throughout the years, the service was one of the first to give subscribers a viable alternative to cable. While its absence won’t impact a massive amount of subscribers – say, in the same way Netflix shuttering would – but its loss is still detrimental for folks who relied on it for live TV in lieu of cable.<\/p>\n The good news is that, for those looking to replace PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV is a great alternative and, thanks to a recent update, is now available on PS4, browsers and mobile phones – pretty much everywhere you could watch PlayStation Vue.<\/p>\n If you’re looking to shave a bit of money off your monthly subscription, Sling TV is a bit cheaper than PlayStation Vue was at the end of its run, but it doesn’t have as many channels and its performance, at times, can be spotty. <\/p>\n Of course, if you want something that’s free you can always check out Sony’s other streaming service, Crackle<\/a>, which has ad-supported movies and TV shows… though they’re all a bit older and not as high-caliber as the content on Netflix. <\/p>\nVue is gone, so what’s a cord-cutter to do?<\/h3>\n