PlayStation console maker Sony has announced it is shutting down two of its classic console platform stores, with both the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita being affected. This might be a familiar sight to fans of the consoles, considering this is the second time the company has announced the shutdown.
Sony says that select markets will see the stores go dark in 2026, followed by a global shutdown in July 2027. No games will be purchasable digitally on these platforms following this point, but the company won"t block any installed games or physical discs from being played.
Despite the stores going away, Sony added that it plans to continue having the PlayStation 3 and Vita servers online to let players download their purchased games "for the foreseeable future."
"As the PlayStation Store continues to evolve to support modern commerce systems, including updated payment processing standards, PS3 and PS Vita are no longer able to support these updates at the level required," said the company about this decision.
Here are the timelines for the shutdown:
- Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua – PlayStation Store on PS3 will close starting August 2026.
- Additional Latin American and Middle Eastern countries – PlayStation Store on PS3 will close starting late 2026.
- In all other countries, PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita will close in July 2027.
Last time Sony announced the closure of PlayStation 3 and Vita stores was back in 2021. However, following a massive backlash from the community, former Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and president Jim Ryan reversed this decision quickly. We will have to wait and see if the community will react the same way this time too.
As services get pulled from classic stores, Sony says it will be using the freed-up resources on its "newer devices" where the majority of its customers are. Don"t forget that the company today announced plans to go fully digital on its modern consoles too, removing game discs from PlayStation 5 (and probably PlayStation 6) entirely.