Earlier this year, Sony’s apparent decision to close the PlayStation 3 and Vita stores caused a furor among fans. Sony eventually reversed course, but it will soon be very difficult to purchase new games from the stores regardless.
As spotted by Kotaku, buried on PlayStation’s support page is a notice that the PlayStation Store on Vita and PS3 will soon no longer accept credit card or PayPal. That won’t make the library completely inaccessible — it will still be possible to load up your wallet through devices like a desktop PC — but it will make it considerably more inconvenient.
In order to purchase PS3 or Vita games on the PlayStation Store, you’ll need to either purchase a gift card, or use the wallet system via Sony’s website. You can also use any funds that you add via your PS4 or PS5.
Even now, it’s not the easier task in the world to access the PlayStation Store on a Vita. If you have two-factor authentication enabled, you will have to go through a separate song and dance just to log in. You would think that PlayStation Vita owners have suffered enough, but Sony’s defunct device keeps finding new and inventive ways to torment them from beyond the grave.
If you do manage to log in to your Vita or PS3, there are plenty of great games available that are difficult to find elsewhere, including a multitude of PS1 games, PSP games, and even PS2 games. Many are difficult to find elsewhere and are worth snapping up if you can.