Last week, reports were circulating that Sony was not making any more games for the PlayStation Vita, and that they were expecting other developers to support the system. But now Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan said that statement was wrong.
Ryan did an interview with vg247 at Paris Games Week. He said Sony is still very much involved in the Vita, but the question is how much? Ryan was asked about Sony’s commitment to VR and the reporter used the Vita as an example of wavering support. Here’s what Ryan had to say:
“To clarify what was said about Vita, which was either misinterpreted or misreported: I think what was said was that we’re no longer in the business of triple-A development of games for Vita. But there is still first-party Vita content being worked upon.”
If you play close attention to this quote you’ll see that he said Sony was still working on “content.” He didn’t say games. He may have meant games, but he didn’t say it outright. The Vita has many features that go beyond games So in theory, Sony could still be working on things like apps or bringing more games to PlayStation Now.
This sort of message shifting isn’t anything new to gaming. It happens all the time. But now what seemed like the death of the Vita, may not be all that bad after all.
The Vita launched in early 2012 and despite its robust features, never really caught on with the public. Most of the games that had any kind of impact on the success of the Vita have been games made my Sony, like Tearaway and Uncharted. If Sony is indeed not making any more of these big games for the system, it seems likely that it won’t live very much longer.
Until we get a clear message from a Sony executive, we just don’t know what might happen next.
