PS3, PS Vita Stores Will Not Be Closing As Sony Backtracks On Controversial Decision

Update: According to a developer working on Vita games planned for this year, the continued support for the store does not extend to new game submissions. These will still only be available until this summer.

Original story follows...

Sony has reversed course on a controversial move, stating that it now plans to continue supporting purchasing functionality for the PS Vita and PS3 after previously planning to shut down the stores this summer. The PSP will still be closed as planned.

The move comes amid weeks of outcry from PlayStation fans, many of whom criticized the company for removing their ability to continue purchasing games for platforms they still used. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan explained that the company understood it was the wrong move.

"Recently, we notified players that PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices was planned to end this summer," says Ryan. "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. PSP commerce functionality will retire on July 2, 2021 as planned."

The blog post goes on to explain that the initial decision was made due to numerous factors, including the challenges associated with supporting an older commerce platform and dedicating resources to newer project. But Ryan says that the company now understands that passion its fans still have for the hardware, which helped inform the reversal.

The PSP store will still be taken offline this summer as planned, but for now you don't need to continue panic buying titles only on both PS3 and PS Vita to have them secure in your download library. Still, here are some good suggestions for both platforms if you're already there.