The story of Sony and its virtual stores Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita It has had several twists and turns this year. At the end of March, the company announced the closure of the same, but reversed the decision a few days later due to criticism from fans. But while the platforms have remained active, they will undergo a major change soon: they will no longer accept payments with credit cards, debit cards, or through PayPal.
The novelty was confirmed through an ad made by Sony on their support page. Measure It will be effective as of October 27, according to the information. From that date, content can no longer be purchased from the PlayStation 3 or PS Vita with the aforementioned payment methods. And it will not be possible to use them to add funds to the wallet of the PlayStation Store, when entering from these consoles.
This does not mean that you will not be able to continue shopping in the virtual stores of both consoles. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to adopt alternative ways to credit the money. “To purchase digital content for your PlayStation 3 or PS Vita console, you must have sufficient funds in your wallet at PlayStation Store. To add funds, redeem a PlayStation Store gift card, or use a credit or debit card, PayPal or other payment method available from a computer, mobile device, PS4 or PS5 “, they indicated.
While it is possible to circumvent this limitation by loading funds from devices other than the PlayStation 3 or PS Vita, it is undoubtedly a discomfort for users. What’s more, VGC indicates that in countries like Japan a credit card is required to buy rated games for those over 18 years of age, due to the age verification system. Therefore, when this form of payment is no longer accepted, it will be impossible to acquire them.
What about PlayStation 3 and PS Vita games with integrated stores?
As Sony explains, all the content that is available in the games through internal purchases can continue to be acquired. However, payments must be made with funds available in the PlayStation Store wallet. This means that neither can PayPal or cards be used for purchases in-game. This measure also affects the DLC, of course.
We will see what impact this decision has on the virtual stores of PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. Everything suggests that Sony is starting to discontinue some services to “force” users to migrate to more modern platforms. Beyond its longstanding commitment to the PS3, the company’s determination is logical, even from a security standpoint. Whether the fans like it or not, at some point older products must go into retirement.