For the past 24 hours, the PlayStation store on the PlayStation 3 console has been continuously displayed with "maintenance" status, and players cannot purchase, search or new games through the platform.This abnormal situation immediately caused an uproar in the game community.

According to player feedback, the purchased game is still normal, and the PS Vita store has not been affected yet.

Although Sony has not issued an official statement yet, there is widespread concern in the community that this may be a precursor to the permanent closure of the PS3 digital store.If the guess comes true, games such as Metal Gear 4 that are only released through digital channels will face the risk of out-of-print.

It is interesting that Sony planned to close the PS3/PS Vita store as early as 2021, and eventually withdrew its decision due to strong opposition from players."After reevaluating, we realized it was a wrong decision," Jim Ryan, then CEO, admitted in an official blog.

Unlike the early warning several months ago, this sudden "maintenance" has no warning.Regardless of the final result, this incident sounded the alarm again: in the era of fully digitalized gaming, the ownership of players' digital assets has always been on the line.