Having leaked last week, Sony have now confirmed that a new version of the PlayStation Store is set to launch for web browser and mobile in the latter half of October. It’s another change being made to the PlayStation Network infrastructure as Sony gear up for the launch of the PlayStation 5 in November.
While we don’t know what the new store will look like, Sony have emailed out a notice to users stating that after 21-26th October on computer and after 28th October on mobile, you will no longer be able to buy the following currently available content:
- PlayStation®3 games and add-ons
- PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) games and add-ons
- PlayStation®Vita games and add-ons
- Apps
- Themes
- Avatars
Additionally, the Wishlist feature is being discontinued.
This doesn’t mean that this content is being delisted, though. You will still be able to buy PS3, PSP and PS Vita content directly from their respective stores, and PS4 apps, themes and avatars will be available via the PS4’s built in PS Store. You’ll also still be able to access all of the previous content you own on their respective consoles.
However, it’s clear that Sony are keen to only really present the content that they need to for their current and upcoming platforms. The PlayStation 5 is almost universally compatible with PlayStation 4 games, so these two generations can happily coexist, but PS3, PSP and PS Vita will just be unneeded clutter for an awful lot of people.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of the PlayStation 5 UI reveal yesterday, which showcased the speed of the system, the Control Centre overlay that provides access to pretty much all system features while in game, the new PlayStation Activites and card-based interface, and more. A part of the change is that the PlayStation Store will be baked into the main system software and not be a separate app.
There have also been other foundational changes made over the last few weeks. The PlayStaiton 4 was updated to system software 8.00 making fundamental changes to how parties and messages work to tie into the new philosophy behind social interactions on PS5 – much to the chagrin of some users – and the standalone PS Messages mobile app is being discontinued as the feature will be integrated back into a new PlayStation App on smartphone.
ron_mcphatty
I think ditching the wish list feature is a mistake, it’s so useful around sales time and I for one spend more money because of it. Since the AppStore got rid of theirs I’ve only bought two games, before I was a prolific money waster.
The rest sounds good though, great to see the old console stores aren’t being abandoned, but I might go back and ram my PS3 full of everything I own just to be sure.
Geffdof23
Same about the wishlist. I’m disappointed it’s going.
Andrewww
Very annoying indeed.! I use my wishlist a lot and will be much more likely missing sales of games, or keep track of interesting stuff generally. Will be good to keep my backlog from growing, but business-wise, it’s plain stupid to discontinue the feature.
MrYd
Not sure why they need to hide all that pre-PS4 stuff in the web store. None of it’s going to show up without searching for it. It’s not as if it’s going to get in the way of all that new stuff they want you to buy.
And just when they give you handy access to your entire library of games (at library.playstation.com). Neat new feature that hasn’t officially appeared yet, with everything you own (plus a PS+ and PS Now section) on one (long) page where you can easily search for things and then download them to a console direct from the page. Including things that have been delisted in the store. But no PS3 or Vita stuff.
So if you ever need to download anything on the PS3 or Vita again, you’ve got to put up with the aging, creaky store on the console. Good luck hunting down something in the download list if it’s been delisted and you can’t search for it.
I agree about the wish list. Am I the only one that goes through everything on offer when there’s a sale, clicking on the little heart to add too much stuff to my wishlist and then narrow it down later once I’ve realised I probably shouldn’t spend £150 on things just because they’re on sale?
Hopefully some sort of similar function is coming when the PS5 launches.
coruscant
Very odd they’ve done this before launching the new version of it… better get saving my wishlist somewhere else! Very annoying. As others have said, I’ll probably spend less as a result.