It’s time to crack open a fresh LP of Boyz II Men, because we’ve once again come to the end of the road for a piece of the gaming industry’s legacy. Last week it was reported that Sony would be pulling the plug on its PS3, PS Vita, and PSP online stores, news which Sony confirmed last night. The PS3 and PSP stores will go offline on July 2 this year, with the PS Vita following its brothers into obscurity on August 27.
“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,” Sony said in a statement that explained the reasoning behind the stores being shut down. But fret not, your digital game purchases are actually safe!
While you won’t be able to make new purchases after those dates, any content that you already own will still be available for download. Here’s the breakdown
- You will still be able to download your owned PS3, PS Vita, and PSP content, including games and video content.
- You can download your owned content onto your PS3, PS Vita, or PSP by accessing the Download List on the respective device.
- If you have purchased a PS3/PS Vita cross-buy bundle and have only downloaded either the PS3 or PS Vita version, you will need to download the other version prior to the closure of PlayStation Store on the relevant device.
- Video content that you own can be streamed on PS3, PS4 or PS5 through the My Videos app, or on mobile devices through the PlayStation Video app.
- You will still be able to re-download and play game titles you have claimed through PlayStation Plus as long as you remain a member of the service.
If you have vouchers, wallet funds, and and cross-buy content for games, here’s how the store will work:
- You will still be able to redeem game and PlayStation Plus vouchers on PS3, PS Vita, and PSP devices once PlayStation Store and purchase functionality for these devices close.
- You will no longer be able to redeem PSN wallet fund vouchers (e.g. gift cards) on PS3, PS Vita, and PSP devices once PlayStation Store and purchase functionality for these devices close.
- Your PSN wallet funds will remain in your PSN account, but you will only be able to use your wallet funds to purchase PS4 and PS5 products on PlayStation Store on the web, PlayStation App, or on PS4 and PS5 consoles.
- You will still be able to purchase cross-buy content through PlayStation Store on the web, PlayStation App, or on PS4 and PS5 consoles and access both the PS4 version and the PS3/PS Vita/PSP versions.
If you’re looking to sneakily break into ye olde storefronts after they close on their respective consoles, bad luck friend as the web storefronts for those systems have already been shuttered. Long story short, if you still have one of these old consoles and a hankering to buy a game that has been on your wishlist forever, the clock is ticking.
Also I’m going to retire in absolute luxury when I sell an NFT of my PSP loaded with rare Japanese RPGs.
Last Updated: March 30, 2021
