Sony will shut down online stores for legacy PlayStation games this summer

If you’ve been waiting to purchase and download a game on your PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, or PlayStation Portable, you’d better do so soon. Sony has announced that new PlayStation Store game purchases on those consoles will be discontinued on the following dates:

• PlayStation 3: July 2, 2021
• PlayStation Portable: July 2, 2021
• PlayStation Vita: August 27, 2021

After these dates, users of these older systems will still be able to re-download and play previous purchases, including videos and media. Continuing PlayStation Plus subscribers will also be able to download previously claimed games from that service.

But users won’t be able to make new game purchases, including purchases of in-game content or DLC on these systems after those dates. Existing funds in a PSN wallet on these consoles will still be redeemable on a PS4 or PS5, or they can be refunded at the user’s request.

The closure caps off nearly 15 years of availability for game downloads on the PlayStation 3, which Sony launched in late 2006 and officially stopped producing four years ago. The Vita, meanwhile, became one of the first systems to ensure that every retail game would have a corresponding downloadable version when it launched in 2012.

If you’re looking to take one last spin on your legacy Sony hardware, a group of redditors has compiled a list of PS3 digital exclusives worth checking out.

Though the closure was officially announced today, the details were reported accurately a week ago by “a source familiar with the situation” who spoke to TheGamer.