While the PS Vita had a large variety of games released during its commercial lifespan with an incredibly diverse catalogue, there were a few notable omissions. One of the most notable was the world of pro wrestling, more specifically WWE. It’s notable that the PS Vita is the only Sony console without any official wrestling game. So what happened?
Release Of The PS Vita
The first thing to note is when the Vita was actually released. It hit stores in Japan on 17th December 2011, and was released early the following year in North America and Europe on 22nd February 2012. With wrestling games being released on an annual basis (and generally originating in the US, even those being created by Japanese development teams) that meant that any released with a 2012 date would have needed to have been completed and ready for release by the time the Vita was launched in Japan.
WWE Game Timeline
Truthfully that wasn’t likely to be the case so the first game we would have seen would have been the following year. It has to be noted however that the 2012 release was given a 2013 branding in the form of WWE ’13 released by THQ. Now this is where things get interesting for the Vita.
This was the last WWE game released by THQ as the license moved over to 2K Games and their first release, WWE 2k14 hit the shelves at the end of 2013 across a range of formats but again not on the PS Vita. Being 2K Games’s first wrestling title it was in development for some time although the developer Yukes had been responsible for a number of wrestling games in the past so they were quite adept at the genre.
Poor Performance?
At that point in its lifespan, the Vita wasn’t a huge seller compared to the other systems that received a version of the game. In fact, 2K Games didn’t convert the game to the Nintendo Wii U for the very same reason (with the Wii U selling fewer consoles than the Vita). While both systems could cope with the game on a technical level, the costs involved for development and character licensing would have proved too expensive, especially as 2K Games would have been looking to maximise their return on their newly-acquired license.
Talking of the Wii U, at the same time 2K Games gambled on releasing a Wii U version of NBA 2K13 and this was the only game in the series to be released for that platform. In fact, NBA 2K13 turned out to be the last game in the series for any Nintendo console for several years until the release of NBA 2K18 on the Nintendo Switch.
WWE On The PS Vita’s Digital Store?
However, no matter how gloomy the situation was, there is one wrestling game lurking away for PS Vita owners on the PlayStation Store. The PSP version of THQ’s WWE All Stars released in 2011 is still available for purchase as a digital download. While this is expensive compared to the price of buying a physical copy for the PSP itself, it’s the only way to get an official WWE game for the PS Vita at the moment.
But What About Other Promotions?
Moving away from WWE, there are other wrestling companies out there who have had video games released, so why didn’t any of them look to the PS Vita? It’s a lot easier to explain that you might think.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) didn’t actually exist as a company until 2019 and at that point the PS Vita ceased to be a commercially active platform. TNA Wrestling has only had one game released by Midway and the last version of that was released for mobile platforms back in 2011, prior to the Vita’s release.
While other promotions have had their wrestlers appear in games, there has been a notable void during the Vita’s lifespan, both ECW and WCW had closed down by the time the Vita hit the market. And finally looking at New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), they saw a gap when it came to any commercial games being released either as dedicated titles or those featuring their roster members during Vita’s lifespan.
Can The Homebrew Scene Help?
Surprisingly not. The PS Vita homebrew scene is vibrant and has delivered an astonishingly varied selection of original games, as well as ports of titles from other formats. But for some reason, the wrestling genre is one that has avoided it completely. The only way any games can be played on the Vita is by unofficial means on consoles that have been hacked (which needs to be done to run homebrew titles anyway).
It has been reported that the Vita has been able to deliver exceptional performance when running older PlayStation and PlayStation 2 titles via emulation. But as this is not a legal option for most Vita owners, we’re left with just a single game available.
Closing Thoughts
With wrestling games still as popular as ever, it’s sad that the Vita was overlooked for such an established genre. With rumours still circulating about another handheld from Sony perhaps this time a game will make it to the portable market, but only time will tell.
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