PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita virtual stores to close in summer 2021

Owners of PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita consolesThis week was expected by quite unpleasant, but expected news from Sony. So far, according to unofficial information, confirmed only by the authoritative publication TheGamer, the company plans to close virtual stores serving the above consoles this summer. According to an insider, Sony will announce this officially before the end of March.

First warning for old ownersconsoles appeared at the time of the presentation of the updated PlayStation Store during the launch of the PlayStation 5. Then the sections offering games for the PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita disappeared from the store. However, just two months later, Sony opened the old version of the PlayStation Store, where owners of outdated gaming devices could replenish their collections of games directly from the console.

Now, according to the statement of the informedInsider's virtual stores for PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita will be completely closed. The PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 will lose their online store on July 2, while the PlayStation Vita store will remain open until August 27.

It should be recalled that the PlayStation 3 launched inNovember 2006, was produced for 11 years in three modifications and was sold worldwide in the amount of 87 million copies. The PlayStation Portable, launched in March 2005, had a slightly more modest but still impressive print run of 81 million units. Released in December 2011, the PlayStation Vita portable console did not meet the expectations of the developers and could not compete with Nintendo - in total, from 10 to 15 million units of the console were sold.