Sony says closing the PS3 and PS Vita stores was a 'wrong decision'

[Cal Jeffrey]

In a nutshell: As Sony shifts focus and resources to the PlayStation 5, it decided it would shutter its older legacy stores this summer. However, after fans spoke out, the company reversed its decision. All PlayStation marketplaces will remain open except for the PSP store.

Last month, Sony confirmed that it was shuttering the PS3, PSP, and Vita stores this summer. The announcement came in response to rumors of the closures made the rounds after it took the online versions offline.

The company has since changed its mind about closing the digital PlayStation 3 and PS Vita stores. On Monday, SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan said they were rolling back this decision.

"Upon further reflection, however, it's clear that we made the wrong decision here," Ryan explained in a statement to users. "I'm happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices."

However, Sony still plans to close the PSP marketplace on July 2, 2021, as initially announced.

Ryan says that the decision to sunset the PS3 and Vita stores arose from the complicated nature of keeping those marketplaces open for the aging hardware. He also noted that Sony is focused on offering content to newer consoles, particularly the PS5. Besides not having enough consoles to keep the scalpers at bay, the PlayStation 5 currently suffers from a shortage of content.

The change of heart came after considerable backlash from the PS3 and Vita communities.

"We see now that many of you are incredibly passionate about being able to continue purchasing classic games on PS3 and PS Vita for the foreseeable future, so I'm glad we were able to find a solution to continue operations."

Ryan did not mention a new timeline for closing these stores in the future. So they will remain open indefinitely for now. Sony has already assured customers that even when the marketplaces do eventually shut down, they will still have access to their digital games.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/89365-sony-closing-ps3-ps-vita-stores-wrong-decision.html

 

[Lounds]

I guess it comes down to does the PS3 and PSVita stores make enough revenue and profit to support the maintenance and cost of running the servers and staff needed. Maybe any loss is worth while for good PR to sell more PS5's.

 

[Dimitriid]

I'd like to think they say all of the people going "LOL We ok to pirate that stuff then?!"

But yes Sony: if your news item causes an outrage of people who want to give you money and you turn them away (Presumably to push them into a mostly still non-existent PS5) then yes, you can definitively say it was "the wrong decision". On business we like to call that "Customer Revenue Left on Table"

 

[Kosmoz]

I'd like to think they say all of the people going "LOL We ok to pirate that stuff then?!"

But yes Sony: if your news item causes an outrage of people who want to give you money and you turn them away (Presumably to push them into a mostly still non-existent PS5) then yes, you can definitively say it was "the wrong decision". On business we like to call that "Customer Revenue Left on Table"

Only it's not left on the table if the revenue is less than the costs, as @Lounds said above, that is the more likely scenario here...

I have the same opinion here as for backwards compatibility issue. Xbots keep throwing this around how much BC they have and Sony only for PS4 games, but really how many people do really play older games than PS4 ones? I mean compared to the majority... I'm pretty sure it's below 10%, so that means that 90% play PS4 and PS5 games, so does BC really matters that much beyond a point (PS4 one)?

Maybe for a PR perspective, but Sony's revenue I don't think it matters much...

 

[Carlos GarPov]

Check the grammar, please!

 

[kiwigraeme]

What am I not getting - I still have a PS3 hooked up - yes the PS4 sees more game time - but my family sometimes fires up the PS3.
Sony says it will continue to support digital purchases after the close down - surely that is the cost there.

The PS store for PS3 is amazingly the same as for PS4 and 5

So what costs are Sony exactly saving - changing the GUI .

Can someone pls explain

The only thing I can thing of is hoping for a lowering server access going forward - What???? I can understand active gaming servings for online games - but PS3 games are tiny compared to 50Gb monsters of PS4/5

Any new people getting into gaming - go XBOX/PC huge backlog and support - better value

anyway PS3 games bought cheap ( physical ) are complete - so don't need internet to play and update

 

[Dimitriid]

Only it's not left on the table if the revenue is less than the costs, as @Lounds said above, that is the more likely scenario here...

I have the same opinion here as for backwards compatibility issue. Xbots keep throwing this around how much BC they have and Sony only for PS4 games, but really how many people do really play older games than PS4 ones? I mean compared to the majority... I'm pretty sure it's below 10%, so that means that 90% play PS4 and PS5 games, so does BC really matters that much beyond a point (PS4 one)?

Maybe for a PR perspective, but Sony's revenue I don't think it matters much...

I addressed this argument before in other "Store is going away" articles: Sony's costs to keep up the store would really negligible if they allowed/switched to peer-2-peer hosting of the files: fans of older games and archivists would gladly host at no cost to Sony and they get to keep their store only to "Validate" an item purchased while the data has to be obtained from the distributed network.

The only reason companies like Sony never do this it's because they're paranoid about piracy. Except in this case if given the option of "Make *some* money while some people might get around your encription and pirate games" or "Make no money at all whatsoever and let people emulate and pirate 100% of their games elsewhere anyway" they chose the second, because they cannot conceive of a system that would actually be useful to players like bit torrent distribution.

 

[Puiu]

What am I not getting - I still have a PS3 hooked up - yes the PS4 sees more game time - but my family sometimes fires up the PS3.
Sony says it will continue to support digital purchases after the close down - surely that is the cost there.

The PS store for PS3 is amazingly the same as for PS4 and 5

So what costs are Sony exactly saving - changing the GUI .

Can someone pls explain

The only thing I can thing of is hoping for a lowering server access going forward - What???? I can understand active gaming servings for online games - but PS3 games are tiny compared to 50Gb monsters of PS4/5

Any new people getting into gaming - go XBOX/PC huge backlog and support - better value

anyway PS3 games bought cheap ( physical ) are complete - so don't need internet to play and update

The backend and software support are completely different. You cannot compare the PS3 shop with the PS4/PS5 shops as they are very different even though the UI is similar.

People seem to be under the impression that since it "works" Sony doesn't have to do anything anymore to keep it running. And it's not the hardware/software that is the biggest problem, it's the manpower needed for it.

It's good though that they reorganised and managed to find a way to keep them open for longer. But I suspect that they just extended the support for a few more years.

 

[CrisisDog]

And it's not the hardware/software that is the biggest problem, it's the manpower needed for it.

What manpower? It's not like the store is getting anything new to sell. Just let the server run and process what few transactions there are. And don't even mention the cost of spending money to keep the lights on, it's probably resource shared with the PS4 / PS5 store hardware blade(s).

 

[Puiu]

What manpower? It's not like the store is getting anything new to sell. Just let the server run and process what few transactions there are. And don't even mention the cost of spending money to keep the lights on, it's probably resource shared with the PS4 / PS5 store hardware blade(s).

"just let the server run" - ok...