PlayStation har dramatiskt U-vänt på sin beslutet att stänga PlayStation 3 och Vita digitala butiker, efter kritik av fans.
I en meddelandet issued this evening, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan admitted “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here”.
PSP-butiken kommer fortfarande att stänga den 2 juli i år som planerat.
PlayStation’s decision to drop support for digital PS3 and Vita game purchases was met with significant criticism from fans concerned over the impact it would have on game preservation. Eurogamer sammanställt en lista över klassiker som skulle gå förlorade för gott – and it’s a debate which will likely still continue for PSP.
Och för Vita, den decision impacted developers still creating games for Sony’s aging handheld – either because they were due out only weeks before the device’s previously planned store shutdown, or because they looked to have run out of time to be finished at all.
Here’s Ryan’s statement from today in full:
“Recently, we notified players that PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices was planned to end this summer.
”Vid närmare eftertanke står det dock klart att vi tog fel beslut här. Så idag är jag glad att kunna säga att vi kommer att hålla PlayStation Store i drift för PS3- och PS Vita-enheter. PSP-handelsfunktioner kommer att avvecklas den 2 juli 2021 som planerat.
“When we initially came to the decision to end purchasing support for PS3 and PS Vita, it was born out of a number of factors, including commerce support challenges for older devices and the ability for us to focus more of our resources on newer devices where a majority of our gamers are playing on. 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.
“I’m glad that we can keep this piece of our history alive for gamers to enjoy, while we continue to create cutting-edge new game worlds for PS4, PS5, and the next generation of VR.
“Thank you for sharing your feedback with us – we’re always listening and appreciate the support from our PlayStation community.”
