Sony Officially Closing Down PS3, PSP, and PS Vita Digital Stores

Today Sony confirmed they're ending the PlayStation 3, PSP, and PS Vita stores This July 2021.

Sony provided the exact moments these digital stores will be closed in an official statement.

We are closing PlayStation™Store on PlayStation®3 consoles on 2nd July 2021 and on PlayStation®Vita devices on 27th August 2021. Additionally, the remaining purchase functionality for PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) will also retire on 2nd July 2021. 

Gamers can still re-download all previously purchased content but cannot make new purchases on these stores.

This isn't new as most digital stores eventually close as seen with Nintendo's various eShops. However, this does showcase how digital purchases, while convenient, has major drawbacks. Physical purchases can last longer if properly cared for but once the owner of a digital store decides to take something offline the user loses access to those items.

This also adds to the problem of the preservation of games. Certain titles are only playable on specific platforms and most publishers simply refuse to re-release games on modern platforms or license issues. This makes physical releases that more appealing given once you own the game you can play it whatever as opposed to the risk of losing access to the digital version. Which has happened such as with Tron Evolution.

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
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