About a week after reports on the subject surfaced, Sony announced that it will be shutting down the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita Stores for good this summer. These closures mark the end of an era and highlight some disturbing facts about gaming's all-digital future. Many of the games featured on these stores never received physical releases, meaning that they will be hard (if not impossible) to access once the digital marketplaces that sold them disappear. If Sony doesn't take measures to preserve these titles, many fantastic games will be lost as more digital stores close their virtual doors.
Video game preservation is becoming even more important as gaming moves into the all-digital age. There are countless hidden gems by smaller developers that are only available on primitive digital stores. Unfortunately, Sony hasn't taken the necessary steps in preserving these titles, causing them to drift further into obscurity as they move into the next console generation.
Beyond the huge issue of game preservation, digital store closures also have detrimental effects on smaller developers. Some indie studios still receive revenue from their older digital titles as gamers go back and find lesser-known games that initially flew under the radar. When people purchase these games on their PS3 or PlayStation Vita, the developers are still compensated for the purchase. Taking away these digital stores strips indie creators of potential profits, something indie devs have discussed on Twitter. With indie studios playing a pivotal role in video game innovation, it's vital for them to turn a profit to continue growing the industry.
Although Sony has done little to preserve digital games on its online platforms, other companies are doing more to keep older games alive. Companies like Limited Run Games focus on bringing digital media to physical form, giving physical releases to games like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Darkwood and Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. However, Limited Run cannot do this work important work alone, and other companies need to follow in its footsteps to preserve the art that so many gamers cherish.
The gaming industry moves at such a rapid pace that it sometimes forgets to slow down and cherish its past. It's vital to remember a company's legacy and see how it grew into what it is today. Shutting down a digital store without taking the proper measures to preserve the titles on it only hurts the industry and the passionate fans who support it. Sony in particular needs to find a way to celebrate its history by preserving digital games before shutting down the storefronts that distribute them. If it doesn’t, gamers can expect more fantastic titles to be lost in the digital age.