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.
