Sony Confirms PlayStation Store Shutdown Dates For PS3, PSP & Vita

It’s official, the PlayStation Store will be shutting down on PlayStation 3, PSP and PlayStation Vita in 2021. Confirmed via a notice on the PlayStation website on Monday, the PS3 and PSP stores will close on July 2nd 2021 with the Vita store granted a stay until August 27th 2021. 

Rumours began circling about a possible shutdown of stores earlier this month and Sony has now acted, at the same time confirming the status of previously purchased digital games.

All previously purchased content will be available via the download list on each device, so there’s no need to worry about your digital games. However, players may want to scour the PlayStation Store for some hidden gems before that deadline hits. Furthermore, all ‘cross-buy’ purchases will still be honoured.

Sony has also confirmed that titles claimed via PlayStation Plus will not be affected and any games on their PlayStation Now service will also be unaffected by the change. Any voucher codes you have for affected games will still be redeemable too.

The long and short of it is that after July 2nd (PS3 and PSP) or August 27th (Vita), no new purchases can be made and money can no longer be added to PSN wallets on those specific stores. Money left over in those wallets — which is still accessible to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners — can be refunded by PlayStation upon request.

The PlayStation Store launched alongside the PlayStation 3 in 2006 before being retroactively added to the PSP with a firmware update in 2008. The launch of the PlayStation Vita brought the store to another handheld in 2011, with the system’s full library being made available in 2016. Sony continues to utilise the PlayStation Store, albeit a vastly updated version, on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

How are you feeling about the PlayStation Store shutdown? Will you be revisiting it one last time to claim any hidden gems? We have a list of the PS3 games that you don’t want to miss, with lists for PSP, PS Vita and PlayStation Classics to come!