Sony revealed that PlayStation Vita production is ending in Japan next year, marking the end of an era for the company's lineup of portable consoles.
The PlayStation Vita launched in Japan in 2011 and in the United States in 2012. Several years later, the handheld console is sounding its death knell after significantly underachieving compared to its predecessor, the PlayStation Portable.
PlayStation Vita Production Ends 2019
Hiroyuki Oda, a senior vice president for Sony Interactive Entertainment, told Famitsu at the Tokyo Game Show 2018 that manufacturing and shipping of the PlayStation Vita in Japan will come to an end sometime in 2019.
Meanwhile, in comments translated by Gematsu, Oda confirmed that Sony does not have any plans for a PlayStation Vita successor.
The PlayStation Vita has suffered a slow death after it failed to live up to the success of the PlayStation Portable. The PlayStation Vita has only sold 16 million units worldwide, compared to 80 million for the PlayStation Portable, as excellent games such as Persona 4 Golden, the Final Fantasy X and X-2 remasters, and Spelunky were not enough to propel the platform.
Sony stopped developing PlayStation Vita games in 2015 and then announced that physical Vita games will stop in 2019. In addition, free PlayStation Vita games will no longer be offered to PlayStation Plus subscribers after February next year.
Goodbye, PlayStation Vita
The launch of the PlayStation Vita came just as smartphone gaming was taking off, limiting interest in the device. A PlayStation Vita successor, meanwhile, will still be in wrong timing now, with the popularity of the Nintendo Switch.
Sony fans will need to say goodbye to the PlayStation Vita, in the same month when it was announced that PlayStation 2 support will be ending in Japan. Production of the 18-year-old console, which holds the distinction as the best-selling video game console in history, ended several years ago. However, it was just recently that Sony stopped providing service for it.
Meanwhile, the announcement of the end of the PlayStation Vita era comes right after the surprise reveal of the revival of the original PlayStation through the PlayStation Classic. The miniaturized version of the first PlayStation console, which is now available for preorders at $99.99 each, will come with two controllers and 20 pre-installed games that include Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, and Wild Arms.
Also at Tokyo Game Show 2018, Oda said that the 20 included games in the PlayStation Classic will be different in Japan and the west, though the five announced titles will be present in both version.
