PS Vita Production in Japan Will End in 2019, No Successor Planned

Mark it on its tombstone, the PlayStation Vita will cease production in Japan after 2019. What's more, there's no successor to the Vita planned at Sony according to Sony Interactive Entertainment senior vice president Hiroyuki Oda.

In an interview with Famitsu, Oda confirmed the end of Sony's handheld in Japan. "Currently, we do not have any plans regarding a new handheld device," Oda said during the interview [Thanks, Gematsu]. "In Japan, we will manufacture PlayStation Vita until 2019. From there, shipping will end."

The PS Vita was first released in 2011 as a successor the PlayStation Portable, or PSP. Unfortunately, the handheld never gained much traction despite big franchises like Persona, Uncharted, and Final Fantasy making inroads to the system. Although there were just as many big promises broken for the Vita like the cancelled BioShock game.

Even more recently, games like Bloodstained had to cancel its Vita versions due to the oncoming death of the system. Sony will also stop offering Vita games as part of PS Plus subscriptions next year.

In eight years, the Vita seemed to have peaked at 16 million units, a number surpassed by the Nintendo Switch after a year and half. With competition from Nintendo as well as the continuing rise of mobile gaming, it's no wonder Sony isn't interested in revisiting a portable console just yet. Especially since the PlayStation 4 continues to do so well.

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#1 WiIIyTheAntelope A month ago

RIP Vita. We hardly knew ye.

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#2 SuperShinobi A month ago

2011-2019 is 8 years, so the Vita at least has had longevity. 8 years in production is above average for a games console. The Vita's long funeral in the games media, which began in 2015 or perhaps already after the lackluster E3 2014 showing, will in 2019 have lasted longer than the entire lifespan of some consoles.

My prediction remains that there will be another Sony handheld released in the 2020's, some kind of companion device for the PS5.

I currently own 3 Vita consoles - OLED, Slim and a hacked OLED. I'm going to import another Slim with a nice color from Japan soon, so I'll be well prepared and stocked for the end of production.

#3 Jonnyboy407 A month ago

RIP Vita

Your deserved better.Edited September 2018 by Jonnyboy407

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#4 LBD_Nytetrayn A month ago

They're still making them? Do they still make the memory cards there, too?

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#5 bernicestock A month ago

PS Vita is not a gaming.... "I stroke the pony" "I feed the unicorn" - that are PS Vita. The game is to hang around the battlefield, forgetting which button you have "First aid kit". What a game!

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#6 ReianaSmiley A month ago

I just wish it had a successor..... If Sony doesn't plan a successor to the Vita, I will have to buy the PS4 instead.Edited last month by ReianaSmiley

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#7 GFoppy A month ago

@LBD_Nytetrayn You can easily find Vita memory cards in Japan game shops, usually at cheaper prices than what they would normally sell for. Most stores have trouble selling Vita accessories since not a lot gamers purchase them any more.