In addition to being home to millions of Android apps, the Google Play Store is also a place where you can buy movies, ebooks, and audiobooks. But it seems you won't be able to purchase or rent movies from the Play Store in the future.

In an announcement on Tuesday, Google revealed that the Play Movies & TV section would soon be removed from the Google Play Store, with the standalone Google TV app serving as your new one-stop shop for buying, renting, and watching movies moving forward. The move will come into effect in May 2022. Note that only the Play Movies & TV tab is going away. You will still be able to buy books from the Play Store.

Google TV app home screen

"Starting in May 2022, the Google TV app will be your home for buying, renting, and watching movies and shows on your Android mobile device or tablet. On the Google Play app, Movies & TV will no longer be supported. Google Play will continue to be your store for apps, games, and books," reads an announcement on the Google Play support page.

Google notes that this move won't affect the overall buying and renting experience for end-users. For example, your purchased content will continue to be accessible from the Google TV app, and there's no impact on family sharing and your Google Play Points. You will also be able to redeem your Play Credit and Play gift cards for purchases in the Google TV app.

The removal of the Movies tab from the Google Play Store doesn't come as a big surprise. In recent years, Google has slowly been phasing out the Play Movies & TV branding. As part of this exercise, Google renamed the standalone Play Movie & TV app to Google TV back in 2020. And last year, the company killed the dedicated Play Movies & TV app on Roku and several other smart TVs platforms.

Source: Google Play support page