Sony is shutting down several payment options for purchasing digital PlayStation 3 and PS Vita content this month, removing the ability to use credit cards, Paypal, and other payment methods.
Fans of classic PlayStation consoles are well aware that Sony has been trying to shut down its online services for those platforms. Sony announced that it was closing the PlayStation Store back in March, but it subsequently reversed that decision and decided to keep those stores online. However, you're going to have a pretty hard time buying things towards the end of this month: Sony is shutting down several payment options on the store for both platforms.
What's Happening with the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita Payments?
As Siliconera reports, Sony updated its "Important Notice" page on the PlayStation Support website; this web page is typically used for announcing the shutdown of various web services. A new entry debuted today with some unfortunate news for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita owners.
"Starting 27th October, 2021, you can no longer use a credit or debit card, or a payment method such as PayPal, to buy digital content or add funds to your wallet when visiting [PlayStation] Store on your [PS3] console or PS Vita system," read the announcement.
Don't sound the doomsday alarms just yet, though -- you'll still be able to buy digital content on the PS3 and PS Vita. While it's ending the ability to use credit/debit cards and other payment options on the PS3 and PS Vita, you can still refill your PlayStation Store wallet on a PC, mobile device, or a newer PlayStation console. If those aren't options, you can still purchase PlayStation Store gift cards and use those.
Unfortunately, things are a bit worse for Japanese gamers -- as the Japanese version of the announcement states, the ability to purchase games rated 18+ will effectively be removed by this change since buying those games requires a direct purchase.
This new speedbump aside, the PlayStation Store will continue to remain open on these older consoles for the foreseeable future. PlayStation fans are a tenacious lot who will go to great lengths to preserve older games, so I'm sure they'll figure something out when the inevitable shutdown for the older consoles comes, too.
What do you think of Sony shutting down several payment options for the PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita? Do you still use either of these consoles? Let us know in the comments below!
