Ultraviolet, one of the entertainment industry’s first attempts at creating a comprehensive digital locker service, is shutting down on July 31st, according to Variety. Users should link their libraries to the service of at least one retailer which can then be used to access their films and TV shows after the shutdown.
Ultraviolet’s days were numbered ever since Disney, the only major Hollywood studio not to join, launched its expanded Movies Anywhere locker service in 2017. Not only did it offer broad studio support, it could also be connected to major digital retailers like iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play, unlike Ultraviolet.
Walmart’s Vudu, the biggest retailer to support Ultraviolet (and later Movies Anywhere), issued a statement to ease concerns from those worried about the closure of the cloud-based locker service.
“Customers who use Vudu to watch, rent, or buy movies and TV shows will not be impacted by the discontinuation of the Ultraviolet platform,” said Vudu VP Scott Blanksteen in a statement carried by Variety. “These customers will continue to be able to enjoy Vudu content as they have been and continue to access any and all movies and TV shows they have saved in their Vudu library, even after the shutdown of the Ultraviolet service.”
Ultraviolet claims more than 30 million users who store over 300 million films and TV shows in their lockers. Wendy Aylsworth, president of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) consortium tasked with running Ultraviolet, told Variety that users will be informed of the shutdown on Thursday.
This article is from The Verge
