Furthering this concern, Sony also announced today that it will be shutting down the PlayStation Store on PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, with US access ending in July 2027. While the number of gamers relying on those stores is declining, it’s notable that Sony is reluctant to commit to making previously purchased PlayStation 3 and PS Vita games downloadable for the lifetime of customers.
“To ease the transition, players will be able to download previously purchased content even after the closing date in the near future,” Sony said.
Both blog posts contain comments condemning Sony’s announcements and their implications for the ownership and long-term use of PlayStation games.
For example, a user named Mosquito53 commented:
Another disappointing decision taken in a single day. No matter how many users still use these stores, they must remain open. With so much content only released digitally, even on these platforms, these games will become lost over time.
Imagine what will happen in the future when the same decision is made for the PS4 or PS5 or even eventually the PS6, which looks to be completely digital with the announcement of no longer producing physical discs.
We won’t have anything, that’s really sad.
Sony has repeatedly reminded PlayStation customers that the digital library may be temporary. In September, users in the United Kingdom will lose access to previously purchased titles from movie and show production and distribution company StudioCanal. Sony had previously pulled StudioCanal content from the PlayStation libraries of customers in Germany and Australia. And in 2024, Sony removed subscribers’ Funimation digital library, while Funimation previously claimed that subscribers would be able to access these digital copies “forever”, but with “some restrictions”.
Sony has also shown lukewarm commitment to its digital stores. In 2021, it stopped selling movies and show rentals/purchases. Leaving the door open for customers to lose access to digital games they purchased for the PlayStation 3 or PS Vita simply doesn’t inspire confidence about the digital future.
Furthermore, the removal of the storefront could mean that it would become nearly impossible to find beloved games that were only released digitally. We’ve seen this happen with Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games. According to a 2023 report by the Video Game History Foundation, following the closure of the digital storefront in 2023, the number of Game Boy games released during the Game Boy’s lifetime that were still available dropped from 155 to 25 out of 1,873.
A user named Radgut commented on Sony’s PS3 and PS Vita announcement, “This is why physical media matters.” “More and more evidence is that you are just buying a license that can be taken away whenever the companies feel like it.
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