Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Vita Digital Stores are no longer closing this year, according to an announcement made on the PlayStation Blog.
The u-turn means that the legacy storefronts will no longer be closing on 27th August this year. PlayStation users and preservationists alike were not happy with Sony’s decision and the backlash proved this. In a post made to the official PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan addressed the situation:
“Recently, we notified players that PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices was planned to end this summer.”
“Upon further reflection, however, 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.”
What Does This Mean For the PlayStation Store?
Many fans will be glad to hear that the PS3 and Vita storefronts are here to stay for now. However, the PSP’s limited store functionality is still being retired. Ryan also explained the reasoning behind the original decision:
“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. 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.”
Hopefully, Sony has realised the value of video game preservation and accessibility. The storefront’s extended lifespan means that gamers will be able to access a plethora of classic PlayStation titles, from original PlayStation titles to digital PS3 downloads and everything else in between.
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