Those hoping that Sony's virtual world, PlayStation Home, might one day appear on PlayStation Vita or PlayStation 4 are in for some bad news. Not only will that never happen, but the PS3 version of the service will be shut down early next year in the United States,Canada, and Europe.

This news comes by way of posts from community managers in both North America and Europe, both of which attribute it to "a shifting landscape." Sony will no longer publish new content for Home after November 12. Users will have until about a month later, on December 3, to download any content they might want. A complete shutdown of the service will then happen on March 31, 2015. Fans who stick with Home in the months leading up until then will receive some free, unspecified content.

Today's news doesn't come as a complete surprise, as Sony Computer Entertainment Japan announced a shut down of Home's Asian services last month. Sony clarified with Game Informer at the time that Home in North America and Europe are handled separately, and would continue to operate in those regions despite SCEJ's announcement.

PlayStation Home was first revealed at GDC in 2007. Pitched as a free, Second Life-style virtual world where you'd create a virtual version of yourself that could have an apartment, meet up with friends, socialize, and watch movies or play games, Home never met the full potential of what was originally outlined. Although it attracted millions of users following its launch in 2008, numerous overhauls--including a relaunch in 2011 and the addition of game-themed content--never turned Home into what Sony hoped it would become.