PS3 and Vita stores being shut down July 2027.

[weirdfeline]

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/an-update-on-playstation-store-for-ps3-and-ps-vita/

[wolff242]

It was inevitable, especially after Xbox shut theirs down. Glad we got a few extra years. I purchased everything I wanted before the last shutdown.

The saddest part for me, is that this kills any chance of the PS6 being truly BC with ps3 (Which wasn't likely anyway...but I was hoping)

[sworddude]

[telekill]

With the added knowledge that PS6 will be digital only, I decided to rebuy a PS3 slim and download all my digital titles from the era before the nuke is detonated.

[marvelvscapcom2]

With the added knowledge that PS6 will be digital only, I decided to rebuy a PS3 slim and download all my digital titles from the era before the nuke is detonated.

Imo it's the greatest console ever made. It got off to a shaky start. But the Bluetooth support was genius which is why it still supports literally PS5 controllers till this day. Unreal forward support for accessories. Blu ray.  Insane library.  PS2 and PS1 backwards compat on the og model.  And my Goodness was its ecosystem fun.  360 as well. It was a time to be alive.  Imo the final console war that was actually a war. You really didn't know which console to buy. Tbh if you didnt own all 3 you were missing out.  Now a days between Xbox and Playstation you pick whatever your wife likes best and its the same crap lol..  Except switch hence switches sales. (For now)



With that.said I just got Rain and Outland because the English dub is digital only on ps3 store exclusively for the former.  Not including an extremely rare 300 dollar HK English/asia import of Rain which I will never be buying lol. 


I also am considering a few others but most are available on Xbox and PS4 classics digital storefronts. Rain and Outland as far as I can tell are games you can't play elsewhere as of now aside.from.the import.exception I mentioned. 


RIP ps3 store

[telekill]

Adding to the conversation here as well, I bought both Sonic Adventure games on PS3's PSN so my son could enjoy them. I don't have a Dreamcast or Gamecube, but if I ever buy a Gamecube again, I'll be buying the physical versions.

Taking a look, there's a list of delisted PS3 PSN games and it's larger than 400 items. 

The announcement of the PS3's PSN shutting down has had a very real effect on the physical game prices for collectors as has been pointed out earlier. One of the games impacted is Alice: Madness Returns (PS3). I was going through my download list and found I had claimed the first game back when I had the sequel. I downloaded it, but it isn't accessible without the Madness Returns disc. It's one of my wife's favorite games from the generation, so I went to look up the cost and it's well over $100 now. Best I could find was $60 in unknown condition at a "local" store three hours away. Unless by some miracle prices begin to peak and then return to normal levels, she may end up just buying the Steam version for $10.

[telekill]

Here's a thought I'm not sure many considered.

What happens to the "free" PS Plus games once the store shuts down? Many of the games offered, such as Wet, are even delisted.

Has Sony even addressed this?

If they're downloaded, they just shrug and say, "keep it"? Will it still somehow look for an authentication? Will they all brick/become inaccessible the day the store is turned off?

[ssj4yamgeta]

Here's a thought I'm not sure many considered.

What happens to the "free" PS Plus games once the store shuts down? Many of the games offered, such as Wet, are even delisted.

Has Sony even addressed this?

If they're downloaded, they just shrug and say, "keep it"? Will it still somehow look for an authentication? Will they all brick/become inaccessible the day the store is turned off?

Are they playable offline? If so, I'd recommend disconnecting the console from the internet at least a day before the store shuts down, and then never re-connecting it again. I keep all of my consoles except for my Switch offline unless I absolutely need to download something, for exactly that sort of reason. The service providers can't send a kill command to something they're not connected to. I personally don't have any free PS+ games because I never subscribe to the service, but I do want to prevent my consoles from automatically downloading updates that add stuff like age verification or other detrimental "features."

[dhaabi]

What happens to the "free" PS Plus games once the store shuts down? Many of the games offered, such as Wet, are even delisted.

If they're downloaded, they just shrug and say, "keep it"? Will it still somehow look for an authentication? Will they all brick/become inaccessible the day the store is turned off?

Are they playable offline? If so, I'd recommend disconnecting the console from the internet at least a day before the store shuts down, and then never re-connecting it again.

Software redeemed through PlayStation Plus requires an active subscription, so I imagine that it's therefore also required to maintain an active internet connection to launch these items.

[ssj4yamgeta]

What happens to the "free" PS Plus games once the store shuts down? Many of the games offered, such as Wet, are even delisted.

If they're downloaded, they just shrug and say, "keep it"? Will it still somehow look for an authentication? Will they all brick/become inaccessible the day the store is turned off?

Are they playable offline? If so, I'd recommend disconnecting the console from the internet at least a day before the store shuts down, and then never re-connecting it again.

Software redeemed through PlayStation Plus requires an active subscription, so I imagine that it's therefore also required to maintain an active internet connection to launch these items.

Ah, probably true if it works like those Switch Online SNES games. Bummer.

[telekill]

Software redeemed through PlayStation Plus requires an active subscription, so I imagine that it's therefore also required to maintain an active internet connection to launch these items.

I'll test disconnecting my PS3 from the network tonight (it's wired) and seeing if I can launch any of them. If I can, then I'll follow the recommendation above and simply disconnect my PS3 once I'm done with the final couple PSN game purchases/downloads later this year... well in advance of the shut down.

[telekill]

This morning, I disconnected the PS3 from the network, ensuring it was offline, and did some tests.

I tested numerous games I'm 99% sure we're PS+ offerings and every single one loaded without issue, including one of the Metro games I hadn't ran yet. It simply installed the trophy data and got to the main screen. Other games tested include Dragon's Dogma, ICO, and LittleBigPlanet Karting, among others. No authentication ever appeared to be happening, so my best guess at disappointment is if my PS+ expiration date is saved somewhere on the hardware as a ticking time bomb once it expires. No way to test that till it happens, but I don't believe that form of authentication makes sense for an online support structure.

The most annoying issue I ran into was while playing a purchased PSN game, Bionic Commando Rearmed. After each level, it wanted to connect to the network to upload stats. Easy enough to press O and back out of it though.

Sadly for me, the version of Wet I have is merely the demo. It doesn't tell you that till you hit the main screen. Given the cost of it now, that's unfortunate. I wouldn't expect demos to be impacted by authentication concerns.

Best advice -- Download everything from your old list and disconnect your PS3 from the network well in advance of the store closure next July.

[dhaabi]

This morning, I disconnected the PS3 from the network, ensuring it was offline, and did some tests.

I tested numerous games I'm 99% sure we're PS+ offerings and every single one loaded without issue, including one of the Metro games I hadn't ran yet. It simply installed the trophy data and got to the main screen. Other games tested include Dragon's Dogma, ICO, and LittleBigPlanet Karting, among others. No authentication ever appeared to be happening, so my best guess at disappointment is if my PS+ expiration date is saved somewhere on the hardware as a ticking time bomb once it expires. No way to test that till it happens, but I don't believe that form of authentication makes sense for an online support structure.

I decided to find an official answer. Unless a contradictory update has since been published, this PlayStation Blog post from May 2022 states the following:

When I’m offline, can I play games I’ve downloaded from the games catalog offered in PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium/Deluxe?

Yes. However, when playing a downloaded game from the game catalog in PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium/Deluxe plans, you’ll need to connect to PSN every seven days to validate your PlayStation Plus membership and maintain your access to the game.

[telekill]

Ok.... then it's a ticking time bomb for 1 week from disconnecting from the network forever.

[wolff242]

This morning, I disconnected the PS3 from the network, ensuring it was offline, and did some tests.

I tested numerous games I'm 99% sure we're PS+ offerings and every single one loaded without issue, including one of the Metro games I hadn't ran yet. It simply installed the trophy data and got to the main screen. Other games tested include Dragon's Dogma, ICO, and LittleBigPlanet Karting, among others. No authentication ever appeared to be happening, so my best guess at disappointment is if my PS+ expiration date is saved somewhere on the hardware as a ticking time bomb once it expires. No way to test that till it happens, but I don't believe that form of authentication makes sense for an online support structure.

The most annoying issue I ran into was while playing a purchased PSN game, Bionic Commando Rearmed. After each level, it wanted to connect to the network to upload stats. Easy enough to press O and back out of it though.

Sadly for me, the version of Wet I have is merely the demo. It doesn't tell you that till you hit the main screen. Given the cost of it now, that's unfortunate. I wouldn't expect demos to be impacted by authentication concerns.

Best advice -- Download everything from your old list and disconnect your PS3 from the network well in advance of the store closure next July.

Easy way to check if a game is from PS+ is to check it's expiration date. If you own it, it won't have one. PS+ games expire when your sub expires. When I let my PS+ expire, I bought the games I wanted continued access to, unfortunatley like 10 or so were delisted so I'm SOL there. Sounds like the store is even more of a mess now though, glad I don't (think I) need anything else.