Sony Shutters PlayStation Store In China For Security Improvements

Sony has announced a very surprising move that sees it unable to sell games in the largest gaming market in the world. Sony has announced that it has suspended its PlayStation Store in mainland China saying that it wanted to improve the online store’s security. The announcement was made by PlayStation China on Sunday.

Sony said that it closed the store for a “system security upgrade” with no additional details offered. No reopening date was specified for the store. Reports had surfaced that claimed mainland PlayStation users were able to switch to oversees services via a backdoor and get around the Chinese restriction on downloading unlicensed games.

Sony offered no comment on if that workaround was why it closed its Chinese stores reports Reuters. China puts heavy restrictions on what type of video games players can play, and there are companies offering workarounds for Chinese gamers. It would seem on the surface that Sony may have been pressured to block some of these workarounds.

However, as of writing, there is no indication that the store closure was to stop gamers in the country from getting around restrictions placed on the store by the Chinese government. China has long maintained that violent console games could have a detrimental effect on the mental health of players.