Fans Mark History by Revoking Sony’s Decision to Close PS3 & PSVITA Stores
Photo by Batu Gezer on Unsplash
The PlayStation 2 by renowned Japanese manufacturer Sony took the world by storm during its launch back in late 2000 and is still the highest-selling video game console in the world today. Naturally, consumers were eager to get their hands on its successor, and the world saw the birth of the PlayStation 3 in 2006. For some of us, it was the first console we owned; for others, it’s the console that got them seriously interested in gaming. Whichever category you fall under, there’s no denying that the PS3 has a special place in all of our hearts.
For most of us 2000s kids, the PlayStation Portable was the Game Boy of our era and our most prized possession, making many long trips bearable. While the PlayStation VITA didn’t live up to the laurels of the beloved PSP that preceded it, it was the sole market offering for handheld enthusiasts until the Nintendo Switch came out years later in 2017. So, when Sony announced the closure of all their online stores this March, it left many veteran players, including myself, feeling cheated.
Upon receiving the initial announcement regarding the closures, I personally felt that the decision was odd considering how Sony had urged players to adopt the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition this console generation. Since the release of a digital-only version of their new PS5 console seemed to be a statement regarding the future of gaming as a whole, isn’t it counterintuitive to close the only stores fans can purchase this kind of content from? What does this mean for those who bought the digital version of the PS5 — are their days numbered right from the start?
However, if there’s anything this year has taught us, it’s that companies can no longer turn a blind eye to consumers. Perhaps inspired by the eventual release of “The Snyder Cut” as a result of consumer pressure, several fans voiced their dissatisfaction with Sony’s announcement online, using social media to rally against the closures. The backlash against Sony was strong, creating a large enough buzz about the issue that Sony reevaluated their decision to close their online stores. Had Sony still gone forward with the closure despite the adverse reactions of consumers, I speculate that the decision would’ve tarnished their reputation with long-term fans and necessitated years worth of make-up efforts.
Photo by Nikita Kostrykin on Unsplash
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan announced their decision to revoke the closure in a PlayStation Blog post: “Upon further reflection… it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices…”. Ryan went on to explain Sony’s initial motivation behind the decision: “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”.
Now before you start rejoicing, there’s still a catch — the PSP store will close on July 2nd of this year, as previously announced. So, while we still have more time with the PS3 and the VITA, it’s time to bid adieu to the PSP after seventeen great years. You’ve served us well, little guy, and no fancy handheld console hybrid is going to replace you, even if it has 4K resolution.
Although Sony’s new decision to keep some of its online stores active is all over the internet at this point, I did catch an interesting easter egg in the blog post. At the very end of the post, Ryan mentions, “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.” Could this be a tease for a more detailed announcement regarding the next generation of PlayStation VR? While Sony did confirm in February that they are working on it and it won’t release in 2021, fans’ thirst to know more about the future of VR has only increased. This is only my speculation, but we could very well be seeing the announcement of the first round of PSVR 2 (at least that’s what I believe it will be called) games in the upcoming months.
So, what can we infer from everything that has happened? I would say that players finally have the power to influence the decisions that affect us. Players are no longer willing to tolerate exploitative practices of gaming companies and stay silent — whether that means shipping unfinished titles that don’t work on the platforms advertised (*cough* Cyberpunk 2077) or adding microtransactions into games after promising players to never do exactly that (I’m looking at you Doom Eternal). Companies are finally starting to realize the power of the consumer, meaning we can start expecting more consumer-friendly business practices, at least in the realm of video games.