Owners of Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld console are about to have their devices cut off from the PlayStation Store. The news comes from IGN who spoke to a Sony representative on the matter. While access to the PlayStation Store is denied, the users will still be able to use the other online functions of the PSP; and can still buy digital games for their consoles through the Sony Entertainment Network Online Store.
Not all regions are affected by this decisions, which mainly covers Asia, Europe, Oceania, and some parts of Africa. North America will be left alone while Sony ‘evaluates market trends’ to decide what to do. These regions will be cut off on 15 September 2014; and users should not be surprised if their PSP fails to connect to the store after that date. However, past digital purchases can still be downloaded from the downloaded list in the system.
Speculation is that this move is due to Sony’s announcement that it would no longer be shipping PSPs; which would surprise anyone who assumed that this had happened years ago. The company has been struggling with the handheld market for the PlayStation Vita, despite the overwhelming success for the PlayStation 4. Integrated options like Remote Play have not appeared to help the Vita, although Sony has had a tendency to avoid speaking about the sales of the handheld.
[Source: IGN]
