Sony has reiterated that it has no first-party titles currently in development for the PlayStation Vita, as the hardware manufacturer is entirely focused on producing new software for PlayStation 4.
Speaking with 4Gamer, Masayasu Ito, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) Senior Vice President, said that its portable games console is continuing to strengthen its third-party lineup, something which has served the handheld well in recent months, particularly in its native Japan.
“At the beginning the PS Vita did not resonate with age targets under 20, but now the situation is changing and the popularity with younger demographics is increasing. Minecraft: PS Vita Edition has provided a boost. In addition to that, a variety of third party games is also planned for the future, and in order to further accelerate that flow, we decided to release new colors for the PS Vita this fall.”
“Currently, first party studios have no titles in development for PS Vita. Since third parties are working very hard on PS Vita, SCE’s own strategy is to focus on PS4, which is a new platform.”
PS Vita was released in December 2011 in Japan and later launched in the west in spring 2012. The handheld’s first 18 months were fairly successful, with a string of major titles including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Killzone Mercenary, Gravity Rush, Resistance: Burning Skies, Tearaway, and more seeing release. Despite this, the system failed to set tills alight in the U.S. and Europe, although it performed considerably better in Japan. Nonetheless, Sony has admitted that it hoped PS Vita would sell better.
In recently times, the handheld has established itself as a strong platform for indie titles, and Sony’s been keen to champion its Remote Play functionality, seeing the device as a companion to the PS4. While some folks have been quick to stamp PS Vita’s death card, Sony has made it clear the system isn’t going anywhere and insisted it is happy with the device’s performance in the west. It did, however, make it clear that there’s no plans for a PS Vita 2 any time soon.