PlayStation and the services it offers are about to undergo a serious makeover. The rollout of its new three-tier PS Plus begins later this month, the highest tier of which will include access to a library of games dating as far back as the PS1. That may mean other consoles are eventually left in the past, and an update to the PS3 and PS Vita that became available this week continues to suggest support for both is gradually being shut down.
This week's updates (version 4.89 for PS3 and 3.74 for Vita) have removed the ability to create PSN accounts from either console. Should you want to create a new PSN account for either of these consoles moving forward, you will have to do so using a third party device like your phone or computer. What's more, if you need to recover a password for your PSN account on these systems, you will now need to recover them using another device.
The update has also removed some other account management settings from the PS3 and Vita. However, Sony hasn't offered up an explanation as to why this update has been applied. It follows a previous update to both consoles preventing owners from buying games using credit or debit cards. You now have to add funds to your digital wallet through another device or on a PS4 or PS5 should you want to spend them on a PS3 or Vita.
This gradual removal of both consoles' features is likely PlayStation's response to the backlash it received when it simply tried to close both down. People who still use their PS3s and Vitas hit back against the news so hard that PlayStation quickly reversed the decision. However, updates like this one imply the plan is still in place, it is just being enacted more slowly than Sony would like, probably in a hope that those who hit out against the shutterings won't notice.
A number of PS3 games will soon be available to play if you have PS Plus Premium. However, due to the unique layout and features of the Vita, there has been no mention of it so far in PlayStation's new Plus plans. The touchscreen and touch controls utilized for most of its games make them difficult to port to the PS4 and PS5. Whether that means a solution will never be realized or not remains unknown.