While it hasn't made games for the PlayStation 3 for a considerable amount of time, Sony has kept the PlayStation Store running on its last-last-generation platform for almost two decades at this point. But this support is coming to an end.
In-line with announcing that physical media is being sunset and soon Sony won't be manufacturing discs for new games on PlayStation consoles, the entertainment giant also revealed that the PS Store is being shut down on PS3 and also PS Vita.
This change is coming into effect in certain regions as of August 2026 (including Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua), before then spreading to other Latin American and Middle Eastern countries by the end of 2026, all before all other countries experience the shut down in July 2027.
We're told that when the stores are shut down, users will no longer be able to make content purchases, but they will still be able to download previously purchased content "for the foreseeable future."
Likewise, as for the reason for this change, Sony explains: "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. As a result, we will need to close PlayStation Store on these devices".