Lately, the folks over at Sony have been making some serious moves in regards to the PlayStation Store. Earlier this month, the company announced that it would be discontinuing TV & Movie rentals and purchases beginning later this year, citing the rise in popularity of third party streaming services as the reason for the change. Now, it appears that Sony is consolidating its platform efforts by shutting down the PlayStation Store on the PS3, PS Vita, and the PSP.

The report comes by way of The Gamer from a “source familiar with the situation” that stated that the PlayStation Store will be shutting down starting this July. The store will be closed down for the PSP and PS3 on July 2nd, while the PS Vita’s store will remain open until August 27. Following these dates, users will no longer be able to digitally purchase games or DLC. An official announcement is expected at the end of the month.

While the shuttering of the PlayStation Store on some of Sony’s older consoles is more or less an inevitability over time, it deserves mentioning that many video games from the older generations – PS1 titles, mainly – will no longer be easily obtainable or playable without the use of emulators. Given that the earlier reports on the PS5’s backward compatibility features fell flat, it’ll be interesting to see if Sony comes up with a way for older gamers to still enjoy their favorite classics without having to resort to rummaging around for physical discs on decades-old hardware.

So, thoughts on the PlayStation Store reportedly shutting down on the PS3, PS Vita, and PSP? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!