The PS Vita community celebrated when Sony cancelled their plans to close the PS3 and Vita stores last month. However, that sense of euphoria may have been short-lived as developer Sometimes You reported on Twitter this week…
As part of Sony’s initial announcement it was confirmed to developers that submissions of new PS Vita games was to cease in July. That placed immense pressure on those currently working on games to get them completed, tested and sent for approval to get them released before the deadline. In response many simply abandoned their projects, writing them off as a lost cause.
With Sony backtracking on their store closure plans, it have developers hope that this submission date would also be extended. However Sometimes You have confirmed that this is not the case and – at present – no new games will be accepted after this point.
The long term impact isn’t known right now but this could once again accelerate Sony’s plans to close the PS Vita store. Without new releases game sales could slow down and if these are being monitored as we suspect the platform could prove to be unprofitable for Sony. Once the final games are released on the PlayStation Store, the future of the Vita will be dependent on the sale of older and legacy titles and there will come a point for most gamers where we will own all the digital titles that we want.
However, as has been proven with the closure of the Store itself, Sony have demonstrated that they are capable of changing their minds. But it will take a coordinated large scale effort to make that happen. Developers and gamers alike need to put pressure on Sony constantly to make them aware that we still want new PS Vita games throughout 2021 and beyond. At the same time we have to vote with our wallets and not only purchase older games but support developers like Tikipod and Sometimes You who have been supporting the Vita with new releases.
If we continue to remain vocal on social media then there may still be hope. Extending the QA for Vita games will cost money for Sony so we have to come together as a community to show them that it’s not only wanted, but commercially viable for them to do so.
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