Sony will keep the PS3 and PS Vita stores online thanks to fan outrage

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In a quick about-face, Sony has announced that the online stores for both the PlayStation 3 and the PS Vita will stay online for the “foreseeable future.” However, the PSP store will still be getting shut down on July 2, 2021.

Sony previously announced last month that the stores for all three of these consoles would be getting pulled down this summer. However, backlash from users who were upset about not being able to purchase digital games on these consoles anymore caused the company to pull back on its plans to shut down the store.

The original announcement was only made a few weeks ago, and it didn’t take long for the community to speak up and ensure that these stores remain supported. Gamers spoke up and fortunately, PlayStation listened. Sony’s President, Jim Ryan, said this in a blog post earlier this week on the PlayStation website:

“Upon further reflection, 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.”

Sony originally decided to close these stores in order to free up some resources to focus on newer projects, like the PlayStation 5. But people are still attached to these older consoles.

The PlayStation 3 especially is a classic console that introduced a lot of people to video games for the first time. It’s cool to see Sony cares enough to keep these stores going for its customers for a little while longer.

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