It’s hard to believe that the PlayStation Store is still active on the PlayStation 3 and Vita across various regions. Sony originally planned to shut down the stores for both platforms globally in 2021, but they quickly backtracked on that decision after some outrage. However, they have still been quietly shutting down the stores in various countries, such as Croatia, a couple of years ago.
Today, on the official PlayStation blog, Sony announced that it is officially shutting down the PS Store for the PS3 and Vita in Bulgaria. The page also details the move from Bulgaria’s currency, the Lev, to the Euro. This particular change will take place starting from January 16, 2026. Here’s what the blog post officially says about the PS3 and Vita:
“From mid January, you will no longer be able to make purchases from the Bulgarian PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita stores.”
The Beginning Of The End
Back in 2021, Jim Ryan, President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, stated the following regarding the PlayStation Store operations:
“Upon further reflection, however, it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices. PSP commerce functionality will retire on July 2, 2021, as planned.”
The PlayStation 3 is home to some incredible sports games (We’re still waiting for Fight Night Champion 2), but all good things come to an end. It’s not surprising that Sony is finally moving on, officially this time. They seem to be attacking this on a country-by-country basis, maybe so the outrage isn’t as loud this time.
Someone has to be the first, and this already started a couple of years ago with Croatia. The store is still operational on the PS3 and Vita in the U.S. However, it’s outdated, slow, and buggy, and users have to rely on the desktop website or add funds via PS4/PS5/web first. There are plenty of maintenance issues, broken categories, and limited purchase options. It looks like there are no resources dedicated to keeping the store operational, so it’s only a matter of time before it shuts down in other regions.
