August 10, 2013 - With the recent announcement of PlayStation All-Stars Island for iOS/Android, but not PlayStation Vita, it has to be asked what this means for the future of Sony's handheld in regards to first party support. We consulted the renowned video game analyst Sebastian Kramer from market research firm NTH* for an expert opinion.

"The ongoing slow PlayStation Vita sales could lead to a loss of first party support. Yes, absolutely. Our data backs this up, with only a handful of developers still being interested in working on the system. The platform is already in the process of getting abandoned completely."

We did further research on the subject and here is what we found:

BigBig Studios was closed shortly after disappointing sales of their PSV title Little Deviants.
Zipper Interactive was closed shortly after disappointing sales of their PSV title Unit 13.
Studio Liverpool was closed not too long after disappointing sales of their PSV title WipEout 2048.

So is it any wonder that the remaining first party studios moved on when it is clear that there is no money to be made with PlayStation Vita titles, and worse, flops have repeatedly led to studio closures? But to be fair, Sony could still turn things around with a price cut for the system itself and its proprietary memory cards, and in turn convince first party developers to stay on board of what looked like to be a sinking ship for the longest time. However, Kramer paints a bleak picture.

"I don't think we'll see a change of mind and there's nothing Sony can really do about it. The PlayStation 4 is, simply put, much more attractive as a platform to develop for, because it seems to be guaranteed that third parties will build an installed base that is large enough for first party studios to sell their games to and make a profit, something that has been sorely lacking on the PlayStation Vita."

It's hard to disagree with this analysis, but what do our readers think? Let us know in the comments below.

*NTH (Now that's hardcore) is a fictive market research firm that collects its data primarily from internet message boards.

Wow o.O i knew the games didn't sell way but they closed down the studios already?? things are looking to good for vita. sony even said there main focus at gamescom will be the ps4...

I hope that doesn't happen, the Vita has potential, but I don't get why Sony won't lower the price.

I like the hardware, but things are getting desperate now. Let's see what that new Killzone game does.

ive got a vita its an excellent device BUT there's something missing, the games are just normal console style?

plus it feels very brittle and mem cards are ridiculous, its got potential but needs re design and price reduction

a £149 redesigned vita with a built in 8gig flash drive would be bonkers

there's no shame in re design and re launch, look at the orig DS

lololol

Wow the overreactions about this are hilarious!

A third party makes a game for android and ios. They get licensing from sony and coca-cola.
Megaton!

"*NTH (Now that's hardcore) is a fictive market research firm that collects its data primarily from internet message boards."

Ahhhh.

I don't agree with the analyst,PlayStation All-Stars Island is not in PSVita but it is also not in ps3 or ps4,i don't think the sale of Little deviant and Unit 13 are disapointed they are the two a new IP Little big planet vita is so why they didn't close Tarsier Studios.

The most likely reason is reducing its price would cause them to take a loss/bigger loss (if it already is). Seeing as they already have to deal with the inevitable loss of launching a new home console, I doubt they have the money to spare by doing that right now.

Sebastian Kramer has been right before.. Its like the only anaylist I trust