Sony to shutter its native PSP store at the end of March

The PlayStation Store for PSP be removed on March 31 for the SCEA region, Sony has announced (via IGN).

The company explained that, after March 31, you will still be able to purchase content from the PlayStation Store website and access your previous purchases from the Download hub on your system. You will also still be able to make in-game purchases after the shutdown. But the Store itself on PSP is going away.

This news is important for Vita owners, too, since the Vita’s backwards-compatibility with digital PSP titles is quite a draw – especially for fans of classic games and JRPGS. It’s also interesting in the context of the axing of the PlayStation TV.

Update: Native PSP store to close on 3/31. Content purchases still accessible at https://t.co/luJeIk6YxT. More info: https://t.co/vBJvdJR1pG

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 29, 2016

The PSP itself, which launched in 2004, was discontinued in June 2014. By Sony’s latest count, the device had sold more than 76 million systems worldwide.