Sony Backtrack on PS Store Closures (Mostly)

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I was actually pretty worried when I first heard of Sony's decision to terminate support for the PlayStation Store on PS3, PSP and Vita. I'm the kinda guy who buys a ton of games at once but take ages to actually start playing them. I recently thought I'd get out my old PS3 and check out some retro titles that are unavailable on PS4, like the entire Metal Gear series up to MGS4, Parasite Eve, Gungrave Overdose and God Hand to name a few, with a whole list of other hidden gems I still need to get. But being told that I would no longer be able to buy new games online came as a shock. I've been Team PS since pretty much forever, and this is how Sony treat their customers? No wonder the announcment caused such a backlash.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO & President Jim Ryan spoke about the company's decision to U-turn on the store closures in a recent blog post. He said:

"Upon further reflection, however, 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."

By removing the option for consumers to purchase digital titles, Sony almost opened the floodgates to scores of scalpers selling physical games at a premium, or people just pirating those games instead. Either way would result in a loss for Sony, so it's not hard to see why they changed their mind. Ryan said it best:

"We see now that many of you are incredibly passionate about being able to continue purchasing classic games on PS3 and PS Vita for the foreseeable future, so I’m glad we were able to find a solution to continue operations."

PSP owners aren't as lucky. The PS Store will be going down for the Portable as planned on July 21, so better be quick if you still have a PSP and wanna check out some games you missed during its heyday.

What do you guys think? Did Sony fuck up when they announced the closures in the first place? Is it time for the PSP to officially be put to rest? Sound off below!

MrObvious 3 years ago

Hmm, what a pleasant surprise. The fact that they backtracked this fast means they got the message from fan backlash or they simply want to keep an extra source of revenue open even if the devices are 'dated' per say. Going to celebrate a bit by revving up my old first gen PS3 and playing through Modern Warfare 2's campaign on veteran, wish me luck fellow pervs!

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Anon - Anon 3 years ago

The battle may have won for us, but the war is far from over. At least they listened to the backlash (then again, i would take it as a grain of salt that they would give a damn), hopefully the prices for the physical vita games will drop soon (like gravity rush is beyond overpriced, got damn!). PlayStation has to understand that these classic games should be preserved and appreciated not forgotten

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kaishi10 3 years ago

Fucked up? Yup. But the situation pretty much describes the consumer industry in general over the years. Kind of sad to me, mainly because I clearly remember meeting and speaking to Co-Founder Morita as a kid growing up in Hawaii. Sony back then would actually make custom electronics tailored for specific areas - to better work within specific climate ranges and such. Samsung did the same.

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Oddest Ball 3 years ago

Jim Ryan is a braindead fuckup who needs to be fired ASAP. He doesn't understand the industry he's in the slightest bit.

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exodusee7 3 years ago

Oh Sony. Only you can destroy yourselves.

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WM-R 3 years ago

Sony most assuredly fucked up. It's like the opposite of that ad from a few years ago, when there were all, "here's how you can play games with a friend" and hand a physical disk to someone else.

I'm pretty sure they realised that Microsoft's console offering the ability to play older games was going to hurt them.

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Neostarman 3 years ago

Glad they back tracked it. PSP is ancient history at this point so it makes sense

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Kasaix 3 years ago

You should still be able to purchase PSP games, just on the PS3. I haven't turned mine on in ages, but you should be able to access a download list on your PSP. If not, hook your PSP up to your PS3 and download from there. It's tedious, but not impossible.

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