Sony Is Not Closing PlayStation Store for PS3, PS Vita After All (Sorry, PSP)

UPDATE: Amid public backlash, Sony has reversed course and will not close the PlayStation store for the PS3 and PS Vita, though PSP users are still out of luck.

"It’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices. PSP commerce functionality will retire on July 2, 2021 as planned," Jim Ryan President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said in a statement.

"When we initially came to the decision to end purchasing support for PS3 and PS Vita, it was born out of a number of factors, including commerce support challenges for older devices and the ability for us to focus more of our resources on newer devices where a majority of our gamers are playing on," Ryan said. "We see now that many of you are incredibly passionate about being able to continue purchasing classic games on PS3 and PS Vita for the foreseeable future, so I’m glad we were able to find a solution to continue operations."

Original Story:
Last week, it was rumored that Sony was preparing to close the PlayStation Store for the PS3, PS Vita, and PSP. This week, Sony confirmed the closures will happen later this year.

On July 2, the digital store will close for PS3 consoles and the remaining purchase functionality for the PSP will end on the same day. For PS Vita owners, the store closure occurs on Aug. 27, offering them a little longer to grab some new games.

After these dates, no new purchases will be possible, and that includes in-game purchases on these platforms, e.g. DLC content. Any PSN Wallet funds you have will remain, but can only be used for PS4 and PS5 products.

Sony hinted this was going to happen in October last year, when a new version of the web and mobile PlayStation Store launched with access limited to PS4 and PS5 content. Now we have confirmation these stores are set to disappear almost completely. I say almost because there is some good news in all of this.

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While Sony is cutting off access to a very rich library of games spread across three hardware platforms, any games you own will still be available to re-download. As long as your console or handheld continues to work, you can continue to play the games you own and grab fresh copies off Sony's servers. This news is sure to result in a rush of purchases by people who still own a PS3, PS Vita, or PSP and have a list of games they still want to play.

With the entire library of games remaining accessible for existing owners, the decision to close all three stores makes little sense. The games are still there, so why not keep on selling them? Sony's reason for the decision is, as you'd expect, kept quite general: "After thoughtful consideration, we decided to make these changes in an effort to focus our resources for PlayStation Store on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, which will enable us to enhance the customer experience even further. We thank you for your support on these platforms throughout the years."