With Sony moving towards expanding the PlayStation 5, previous generations of the consoles are slowly being discontinued in regards to production and services. Similar to the legendary PlayStation 2 console, Sony will be discontinuing its store services for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and the PlayStation Vita.
In a nutshell, the online store where users could purchase games through the internet will no longer be available. According to a report by TheGamer, the store for the PS3 and PSP will close on July 2nd, 2021 while the store for the PS Vita will shut down by August 27th, 2021.
Presently, the Vita and PS3 games can be accessed through the PlayStation Store but it’s highly unlikely that the digital copies of the game will stick around any longer. Though in terms of production, Sony has discontinued the PS3 and PS Vita, as a result of the massive success of PS4, the consoles are still available on any local store.
However, the shutting down of these services is more of an issue for Indie game developers and such studios and developers sold their games for the PS Vita and gained much profit from it.
Though the PS4 does not support backward compatibility, users can still enjoy their old PS3 games through the PlayStation Now streaming service. The PlayStation 3 will surely be remembered for its initial high price and the introduction of the PlayStation Network. However, many users will find it difficult to see Sony end the Portable series of the PlayStation i.e. the PS Vita and PSP as these consoles had defined portable gaming.
As Sony completely ends the legendary consoles, users do not have to worry about the PS4 as it will last for many years.
