Sony Is Reportedly Removing Patches From PS3 Games Ahead Of Store Shutdown


If you were feeling pretty happy about downloading all the PS3 games you wanted before Sony shuts down the store in July, then you may need to think again.

That's because some users (on both PSNProfiles and ResetEra) are reporting that patches for games have been removed by the platform holder, while also making lists of some of the affected titles – including big third-party releases like Battlefield 4, as well as first-party games like Gran Turismo 5.

These patch limitations do appear to vary by region, but at present, there's no way to say if this is an issue or a deliberate move from Sony.

Read More: Sony Confirms PlayStation Store Shutdown For PS3, Vita, PSP

Sony Is Reportedly Removing Patches From PS3 Games Ahead Of Store Shutdown

As you can imagine, the community is somewhat perturbed by the fact that Sony is essentially reverting games back to unpatched states.

Not only would this ensure that those games can't be played online (for those with servers still working), but it also reverts games back to pre-patched states which undoes the work of developers following the product's launch.

In many cases, that could bring bugs and other technical issues back into games, too.

It's a slippery slope for PlayStation. Sony had previously confirmed that PS3 and PSP stores will shut down on July 2, while the Vita store will close on August 27.

We discussed the ramifications of Sony's decision here.

"There are PlayStation Vita games launching this year that will be removed from sale in just a few months time. That's a developer's livelihood being reduced to a short-term sales target," we said.

The reported removal of patches comes less than two weeks after Nintendo drew criticism for the removal of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars Bundle.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Console News page.