The head of Sony Computer Entertainment U.K. has insisted that PlayStation Vita will be sticking around for a good while yet, but admitted it is unlikely to receive support from triple-A franchises such as Uncharted or Killzone again.
Speaking during an interview with Eurogamer, Fergal Gara said that the handheld, which launched in Japan in December 2011 and hit Europe the following February, continues to enjoy steady sales.
"It’s trucking along," said Gara. "It’s currently in year-on-year growth and enjoying a healthy year, and it’s about to hit its biggest and potentially most powerful release of the year, which is Minecraft. That could be an extraordinary release for Vita.
"We’re seeing a bit of reflected glory from PS4. So there is a traction in remote play, and we see the numbers there. But it’s more than that. It’s just found its niche. It’s not the biggest niche in the world, and we’ve been fairly open about talking about it entered a crowded landscape with many other devices providing some sort of handheld fulfilment. But for those who want that more specialist device and a more specialist experience, it does a damn good job, and therefore it trucks along quite nicely."
Sony initially announced PS Vita in early 2011—then known as the ‘Next-Generation Portable’—with the promise of support from console-quality titles from major franchises.
However, titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Resistance: Burning Skies, Killzone: Mercenary, and Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified failed to make much of an impact. As such, Sony reevaluated its strategy and positioned PS Vita more as an indie-friendly device—and it’s paying off.
Sadly, this does mean that the handheld is unlikely to receive more titles along the lines of Uncharted or Killzone in the future.
"But what we are excited by is the number of games we can take to the platform that have been created for other platforms,” added Gara.
"Minecraft is a classic example. We’ve got Lego Batman 3 coming to Vita as well as PS4 and PS3. The multitude of digital titles that are proving attractive on the console, and the fact it is a substantially digital device – a big chunk of the sales come direct from the store to the device – the multitude of titles in the indie sector in particular we’ve done a lot of work with has proven popular, both in terms of affordability and their quirky nature, which seems to suit many of the consumers who are buying Vita. And also a bunch of younger gamer titles, which is another substantial niche.
"We’ve done great numbers through the summer. You may have seen our TV campaign focused on younger gamers around the Lego titles. There’s a nod to Minecraft in there and LittleBigPlanet. It’s proved successful."
Sony released a slimmer version of the PS Vita earlier this year, which features a new LCD screen, 1GB of internal memory, and increased battery life.