Report: PS3, PS Vita, and PSP Stores Shutting Down This Summer - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 22 March 2021 / 2,248 Views
The PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PSP digital stores will be shutting down in July, according to a source familiar with Sony's plans who spoke with TheGamer.
The PlayStation 3 and PSP stores will be shut down on July 2, while the PlayStation Vita sore will close on August 27. After these dates, you will no longer be able to purchase digital games or DLC for any games on those PlayStation platforms.
The PSP released in December 2004 in Japan, in North America in March 20005, and in Europe in September 2005. The PS3 launched in Japan and North America in November 2006 and in Europe in March 2007. The PlayStation Vita launched in Japan in December 2011 and in North America and Europe in February 2012.
The PSP was discontinued in 2014, the PS3 in 2016, and the PS Vita in 2019.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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All hail digital gaming!!
The fact they are shutting down the PSVita store is insane. There are games which recently released on the system only within the last few months. Not a good move at all.
Be cool to see at least a big blow out sale before this happens. Noticeably, it's worded as no longer able to purchase, which does sound like the ability to download bought games will continue to exist.
wow so sad!
this is r.i.p old gen psn!
well we have to move on!
nintendo is killing mario games on their online store too soo theres that haha!
Really disagree about PS3. It could have been given at least 2 extra years. Hopefully they include an easy and convenient way to re-download purchased games, otherwise this sends a really terrible message for everyone.
Also, they need to clarify what will happen with PS Plus games: Do we lose access to games we've had for so long, and which we are still entitled to as PS Plus members? If so, then that's really, really, really terrible. I was even thinking and hoping that Sony would release the DRM for PS Plus games already installed on the date PS3 services go down. I guess that since this is only about the store, re-downloading games, and thus PS Plus games already download, will still work under an active PS Plus license.
Still, Sony needs to clarify all these things to avoid any nasty surprises. I, for one, would be extremely appalled if it ended up the case that my PS Plus games will no longer function despite having a subscription running until 2023.
Omg, this drama is all over internet...why people make so much fuss about something they expected it could happen? did you spend thousands of $/€ in your psn games? sorry, you're out of luck, but it's your fault, you were buying steam.
About the updates, yeah, that's an issue, but you have already a solution, which is a jailbreak. Just enter in HEN, apply the update through USB and leave HEN, where is the drama? I will tell you, the people who is "ohh my god, piracy, jailbreak, custom firmware? nooooo, I am legit, I want to support my loved company, I will never do anything bad, poor me". Just shut up and fix the problem the way you can istead of whining, as PS5 does.
Your all digital future right there.
And to the people saying they switching platforms because the digital grass appears greener, hey I got a bridge to sell you.
Digital only future is about control, not freedom regardless of platform.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Digital Future so many are pushing for
Eventually this will happen to the PS4 shop too. And then PS4 hardware will slowly die over the years. And the only way to play PS4 games will be on some sort of emulator.
PS5 is backwards compatible. Only if PS6 is only backwards compatible to the PS5 or not at all will this happen this decade.
Good. The ps5 is out and by now should be moving to a ps4, not staying or buying a ps3//
Sucks, guess I will consider buying any content that I find remotely interesting.
Hahahahahh
I guess the answer to that would be emulators or PS3 Jailbreak. Though I'm not sure how active the PS3 scene is so you might have a hard time finding your games and especially DLCs.
Hey, at least owners of the PS3, Vita, and PSP will still have the physical media option even after the store goes down. The five people who purchased a PSP Go are about to have their console move one very big step towards being an expensive paperweight.
It's unreasonable to expect a company to keep supporting 15-20-year-old machines whose production has been discontinued a long time ago. The only reason Microsoft touts their BC is because it's a helluva lot easier and cheaper for them to implement due to their choices in system architecture. No way would they put any extra effort and cost into it, if it was needed on a scale similar to Sony's situation.
Move on, people. We're in the age of the PS5 already.
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