Sony admits it made the 'wrong decision' and will now keep storefronts open for classic PlayStation games after fans complained (SNE)

playstation 3 sony consoleKevork Djansezian/AP

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Following an outcry from impassioned PlayStation fans, Sony is reversing course on a major recent announcement.

The company will continue operating the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita digital storefronts, PlayStation leader Jim Ryan announced on Monday. 

"It's clear that we made the wrong decision here," Ryan said on the PlayStation Blog. Both storefronts will continue operating in perpetuity, which will enable users to continue buying and downloading games from both storefronts.

"We see now that many of you are incredibly passionate about being able to continue purchasing classic games on PS3 and PS Vita for the foreseeable future," Ryan said, "so I'm glad we were able to find a solution to continue operations."

Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita have distinct digital storefronts disconnected from the current PlayStation Store, and purchases made on those platforms don't carry forward to more recent PlayStation consoles. If Sony were to shutter those storefronts, a variety of games would simply disappear from availability.

Read more: The processor shortage that made the PlayStation 5 and some cars harder to find was almost over — until a ship got stuck in the Suez Canal. Here's why it's likely to get even worse.

When Sony announced the impending closure of both storefronts in late March, it was met with criticism from fans who saw it as Sony dismissing older game libraries. More specifically, it was viewed by some as the latest example that PlayStation leadership doesn't respect its own history.

In an oft-cited 2017 interview with Time, Ryan said, "I was at a 'Gran Turismo' event recently where they had PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 games, and the PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?"

Notably, Sony's PlayStation 5 is able to play most PlayStation 4 games, while Microsoft's new Xbox consoles are able to play Xbox games from throughout the history of Xbox. It's a major point of distinction between the two competing game console makers, and one that Ryan has downplayed.

"When we've dabbled with backwards compatibility, I can say it is one of those features that is much requested, but not actually used much," Ryan said in the Time interview.

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