PS3, PS Vita Stores Won't Accept Credit Cards Or PayPal Soon

Big changes are coming to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita digital stores, as customers will soon be unable to purchase credit on the PlayStation Store through those systems. Instead, players will have to resort to buying credit on other devices and using that money to buy games, or they’ll have to buy PlayStation Store gift cards to top up accounts.

Early in the year, Sony declared the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita stores were closing. The company partially backtracked that announcement, as the PSP store closed in July but the PS3 and PS Vita stores are still open. It’s understandable why Sony would want to shut the online functionality for these consoles down, as their userbase has diminished over time – especially as more and more people have transitioned to the PS4 and PS5. What makes the closure of the online stores frustrating, however, is that some digital-only games will vanish forever, save for those being preserved through unofficial means.

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While the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita PSN storefronts are still active, they will receive some unfortunate changes for users later this month. An official Sony email outlines the changes that are due to come. Starting on October 27, 2021, customers won’t be able to purchase digital content or add funds to their wallet using credit cards, debit cards, or PayPal on the PS3 or Vita digital storefronts.

Instead, players will have to use another option to add funds to their accounts. PlayStation Store gift cards can be purchased on many online stores, and these can be redeemed. It’s still possible to use a PS4 or PS5 console to purchase funds, as well as through the desktop PlayStation Store site and mobile app.

It’s possible Sony didn’t change its mind about PS3 and PS Vita after its apparent reversal on the store shutdowns, instead opting for a more gradual closure of the consoles stores. It’s usually more effective to slowly chip away at something rather than removing it in one go, as that will attract attention from console owners who don’t want to lose access. The PS3 and Vita users of the world have been given a little extra time to use the digital storefronts for those systems so they should stock up on the games that they want ahead of October 27, as they seem to have received a stay of execution rather than an actual reprieve.

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About The Author

Scott Baird
(2513 Articles Published)

Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.