Furthering this concern, Sony also announced today that it will close the PlayStation Store on PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, with the US losing access in July 2027. Although the number of gamers relying on those stores is declining, it remains notable that Sony shied from committing to making previously purchased PlayStation 3 and PS Vita games downloadable for customers’ lifetime.

“To ease the transition, players will still be able to download previously purchased content after the closing date for the foreseeable future,” Sony said.

Both blog posts have comments decrying Sony’s announcements and their implications for ownership and long-term access to PlayStation games.

One user going by Mosquito53, for example, commented:

Another disappointing decision made in the same day. No matter how many users still use these stores, they should remain open. So much content released digital-only, even on these platforms, these games will be lost to time.

Imagine what will happen in the future when this same decision is made for PS4 or PS5 or even the eventual PS6, which now looks to be all digital with the announcement of no more physical disc production.

We will own nothing, it’s truly sad.

Sony has repeatedly reminded PlayStation customers that digital libraries can be temporary. In September, users in the United Kingdom will lose access to previously purchased titles from movie and show production and distribution company StudioCanal. Sony previously pulled StudioCanal content from customers’ PlayStation libraries in Germany and Australia. And in 2024, Sony deleted customers’ Funimation digital libraries despite Funimation previously claiming that customers would be able to access these digital copies “forever but” with “some restrictions.”

Sony has also shown a wavering commitment to its digital stores. In 2021, it stopped selling movie and show rentals/purchases. Leaving the door ajar for customers to potentially lose access to digital games they bought for PlayStation 3 or PS Vita doesn’t boost confidence around the digital-only future.

Further, the removal of storefronts could mean beloved games released only digitally become virtually impossible to find. We’ve seen this happen with Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games. After those digital storefronts closed in 2023, the number of Game Boy games released during Game Boy’s lifetime that were still available dropped from 155 out of 1,873 to 25, according to a 2023 report from the Video Game History Foundation.

“This is why physical media matters,” a user named Radgatt commented on Sony’s PS3 and PS Vita announcement. “More and more proof that you’re just buying a license that can be taken away whenever companies feel like it.