It’s no secret that Sony has been distancing itself from the PS Vita for some time now. Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company’s in-house game development studio and official publisher hasn’t released a title for the handheld since 2015. It’s not like third-party studios are heavily supporting it either. The Vita’s upcoming release list is full of niche Japanese games and indies, with no AAA US-based games in sight.
For some reason, Sony has refused just to come out and say that they’re not interested in pursuing PS Vita development any longer. Just last month Sony’s gaming chief Andrew House stated that he didn’t see the handheld market as a tremendous opportunity and that there wasn’t a large demand for the Vita experience.
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If that’s the big shot of the gaming department talking, it’s quite apparent the Vita is dead in the water. Sony execs have bee making statements like this since 2014, and whether it’s to save face, or try to keep selling the remaining stock though, the company will just not admit defeat. Today’s Paris Game Show 2017 presentation though made it clear that the PS Vita may have zero internal support from Sony.
Sony spelled it out right at the start of the show with a simple image that speaks volumes. As you can see above, they displayed a picture at the beginning of the main Paris Game Show showcase showing their current products line-up. We see the PlayStation 4 Slim, PlayStation 4 Pro, and PSVR, but the PS Vita is absent. Also, once again, a Sony showcase passed without a single mention of the handheld.
It’s unfortunate because the PS Vita is a handheld with a lot of potential, which was never really tapped into by the market. Sony expected to drop it and have people flock to it like the 3DS, but didn’t give it the support it needed to flourish. It seems like the any day now Sony will finally throw in the towel on the PS Vita, but until then we’re just going to have to watch it wilt away.
