Nothing lasts forever (in the cold July-ember Rain), but the Vita has had a good run and dodged shutdown by PlayStation a couple of times. But I guess this is the final countdown to extinction, with July 2027 the cut off date for new purchases on European and most markets.
By the end, Vita's store will have clocked-up 15 years of live, introducing my to the likes of Bitmap Bureau, Flying Oak Games, Mike Bithell, and many more through a forest of great indies when the AAA activity died down. It has been amazing, and driven a great community of friends.
Then came the raft of fun physical releases that spawned the likes of Limited Run and many more, so - all things considered - gaming has a lot to thank the Vita for. I've still got my PS3 too with a mighty digital library to play, plus physical-only Ridge Racer on disc and a few others.
Consigned to Digital History
We'll still be able to download owned games. And while we've been here before, I doubt Sony will backtrack again. Talking of, Sony also has some news on new disc games, but that is currently borked, presumably as PS5 winds down, and when the PS6 arrives, games will go digital only.
A new post by Sony says,
"After nearly two decades of supporting the PS3 console generation, we wanted to let you know we will be closing the PlayStation Store on PS3, as well as on PS Vita. PlayStation Store on PS3 will close in select markets starting this year, followed by global closures for PS3 and PS Vita next year. That means new content purchases will no longer be possible once the PlayStation Store closes on these devices. To ease the transition, players will still be able to download previously purchased content after the closing date for the foreseeable future.
As the PlayStation Store continues to evolve to support modern commerce systems, including updated payment processing standards, PS3 and PS Vita are no longer able to support these updates at the level required.
Sony burbles on, "As we continue to expand the PlayStation experience on newer devices that most of our users are playing on today, we need to focus more resources on delivering the best gaming experiences on these platforms as we look ahead towards the future.
To our amazing players, we want to give our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing passion and support, which has helped inspire us to shape PlayStation into what it is today. We are excited for the future ahead as we continue to push the boundaries of play. We look forward to having you on this journey with us as we explore new game worlds and new adventures that have yet to come."
