A number of weeks ago, SIE announced that the PlayStation Stores on the PS3, PSP and PS Vita were set to close later in 2021. After this news came out, many were understandably annoyed that many titles for those systems effectively disappear due to the lack of backwards compatibility. Today, a PlayStation Blog post by SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan has announced that thanks to consumer feedback the PS3 and PS Vita stores will remain open.
The PSP store is still set to close July 2, but the PS3 and PS Vita stores will now continue on, saving a substantial list of digital-only titles from fading into obscurity. This is what Jim Ryan had to say about this decision in the blog post:
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.
It’s great to see an unpopular decision overturned when the gaming community speaks up, but this entire ordeal underlines Sony’s lack of commitment to preserving their own history, something that I’m sure many are hoping will be rectified in the future.
Are you glad to see the PS3 and PS Vita stores live on? What are your favourite memories with these consoles? Let us know.
Adam’s undying love for all things PlayStation can only be rivalled by his obsession with vacuuming. Whether it’s a Dyson or a DualShock in hand you can guarantee he has a passion for it.
