Games can no longer be purchased on a device.
Sony is preparing to permanently close its PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita digital stores starting in July.
As reported by TheGamer, citing a verified source familiar with the situation, on July 2 Sony will permanently close its PSP and PS3 stores, while the Vita store will close on August 27.
At this point, the PSP store will be active for more than 16 years, with PlayStation 3 and Vita stores reaching 15 and 10 years, respectively.
DF Retro Extra: Sony PSP vs Nintendo DS at E3 2004.
Today’s report is not a totally unexpected development, of course, given that games for PlayStation 3, PSP and Vita disappeared from the desktop and mobile versions of PlayStation Store last October after a redesign. However, Sony’s latest changes mean that it will no longer be possible to buy digital copies of games or DLC for PlayStation 3, PSP and Vita directly from a device’s store app.
There is no indication of how the change could affect games purchased before the store closes yet – presumably players will still be able to download their purchases again as needed – but more is to be revealed in Sony’s official announcement, scheduled for the end of March.
We contacted Sony to see if they have any comments on the report before that, and I will update the story if a response is received.