As reported by TheGamer, the PS3, PS Vita, and PSP online stores will (apparently) soon be shutting down, with in an announcement coming later this month. Take this news with a grain of salt as this is from "a source that is familiar with the situation" type of situation, but given how old the systems are (the Vita is ten years old, and that's the newest system) the store closures had to happen eventually.
Apparently the PSP (released in 2004) and PS3 (released in 2006) stores will be closed on July 2, 2021, while the PS Vita store will be given a stay of life (heh) until August 27. After those dates you will be unable to purchase digital games or DLC from any of those stores.
As for what's no longer going to be available to purchase, it's going to be quite the list. For PS3 games there's a ton, and the "well-received digital-only PS3 exclusives" includes games like Bomberman Ultra, Crash Commando, Savage Moon, Snakeball, Tetris HD, SnakeBall, and many others. And that's just some of the games people actually like, let alone the other exclusives that no one cares about. As the Vita and PS3 are devices from an era where we began seeing digital only releases become more and more common, many of these games will become unobtainable in any legal manner.
For more information on this evolving story, stay tuned to TechRaptor for more details.
Quick Take
It's surreal to be writing this article. I remember being super hyped about the PS3 release back in 2006, and now apparently the PS3 storefront is going to be closed. I put hundreds of hours in games like the Killzone series, Resistance 2, and Super Sonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars among other games. It was a great console, and I'm still using it over a decade after I bought it. Still, I'm only 27, Sony. I'm not supposed to feel old. Maybe wait until I'm 30 so I can have a pretend to have a somewhat-legitimate mid-life crisis, please? Thanks.
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