Sony announces end of Vita 1000 support (Sony's Response)

Speaking at Sony's 2015 Investor Relations Day, Sony Computer Entertainment's President and Global CEO, Andrew House, called the PlayStation Vita a "legacy platform".

What does this mean for the Vita to be labelled as a "legacy platform"? Basically, expect to see no more major commitments to it as far as major support and investments go outside of Japan and Asia.

And, that's it. That's a wrap. Unless you live in Japan, the PS Vita is now officially finished.

SOURCE

UPDATE:

Sony has issued a follow up to the statement, saying that this statement was intended only for the first generation of Vita hardware, and that the second generation of Vita, plus PSTV, will continue to be supported. Honestly, while the entire thing comes off as weak damage control in a sense, it's good enough for me- at least Sony cares enough to not want to further the impression of the Vita being a dead system.

Earlier today, we reported that Sony Computer Entertainment chief executive officer Andrew House didn’t have many plans for the PlayStation Vita as part of his company’s strategy for 2015. He even referred to the Vita is a “legacy platform,” but Sony is now clarifying that only applied to the older models of the handheld.

“What Andy mentioned as ‘legacy platform’ was a part of the write-off the PS Vita component for the first generation of PS Vita, which is no longer available in the market,” a Sony spokesperson said in a statement provided to GamesBeat. “And he did not directly mean the current PS Vita and PS TV models, which are available in the market. Our portable business will be continued, and many users are now enjoying PS4 remote play features as well as original PS Vita game titles on PS Vita and PS TV.”

VentureBeat (thanks topgunmv)

Lolvita

Good some one got around to this. I was too lazy to post it

Never make another handheld again Sony.

As bad as it is for gamers, it makes sense for them. The thing was a disaster in terms of sales.

Oh shit, and I was about to buy one...

Nope, nope, nope...

sony needs to give vita users refunds or something this is disgusting i have one i didnt thnk it would get no support

If you find it for cheap, I would still say pick it up. It has a few gems that are totally worth it, assuming a low enough entry price. Alternatively, you could pick up a PSTV.

remember that fire sale someone posted last week? saying the vita would get price cut to 79$ ?

vita tv for a 20?

might just be real.

Yes I do, I wonder if this is going to benefit or hurt the PlayStation division as a whole, I can see investors getting scared off.

lolvita

.... seems disrespectful to speak ill of the dead.

The best Vita games are Japanese and it was never alive here in the west. Golden Abyss is a piece of trash.

lol blab and Solidgamebasic am cry.

Seriously. Just stop with the handhelds, Sony

SHIT I was gonna have them repair my Vita

Scared off by Sony ditching a money losing product?

So Sony botches USF4, Kills Vita, and admits that PS4 is sparse. Looks like Sony hit the trifecta! We should get some Kaz gifs in here.

They'll still do that, they are legally obligated to.

Yeah, between their announcement that they're de-emphasizing first party games, and this one, I can't say I'm a big fan of them at the moment.

Sad. They better release Persona 4 Dancing All Night or I'll cut a bitch.

Scared off by a failed product which now completely damaged their image. Why did the Vita fail? Lack of first party support, what is the PlayStation 4 currently lacking?

People might connect those dots and get spooked.

The Vita officially had a shorter life than the Sega Saturn.

Yikes.

And Sony just burned their fans with the Vita... AGAIN.

lolvita.

But seriously it's a shame it didn't succeed. However, I blame Sony for not learning from the PSP's mistakes in terms of memory cards and relevance outside of Japan. Hell the PSP's popularity died a long time ago and the Vita was a continuation of that irrelevancy.

The difference is, the PS4 is selling like water in a desert. The Vita is selling like water in the Amazon.

damn.. Oh well, i still enjoy the hell out of it. i mainly use it for indie and fighting games.

If that rumor about the Vita dropping to $80 is true i plan on picking up two more for back-up.

i mean, if a legacy platform is one they dont support then hasn't the vita always been a legacy platform?

Officially cancelled outside of Japan. Sorry.

@charizard1605: got mine for 90 euro last year so its a win

Yeah, I got a 3G OLED model new for $30 with 4GB of Memory, and The Walking Dead.

All of this was, again, new.

I thought they gave up on it like 5 years ago.

I wonder how many Vitas have been sold worldwide. Probably less than 10 million, as I would be surprised if Sony chose not to publicise such a milestone.

Rough calculations would indicate about 9.5-10.5 million at last count.

How is it that such a console could never develop solid and thorough support? Hell, years ago a Bioshock on the Vita was being thrown around with probability.

Like above, start giving these away for under one bill and it would be too hard to pass up.

So literally nothing has changed since the Borderlands 2 port.

*goes back to huge Vita backlog*

What happened to playing PS4 games remotely on the Vita? That was a big deal once upon a time.

@ProtossX: no, if people were foolish enough to buy something as useless as a Psvita, they deserve it.

You can still do it, but the experience is awful. Vita does not have enough dedicated buttons (missing L2, R2, L3, R3, and the depressable touchpad), and the Wifi radio is horrific, so it's a miserable experience all around.

Speaking as someone who tried playing Bloodborne and Witcher 3 using my Vita on the can yesterday.

Depressing. I hope those who picked a Vita up loved it though, which seems true at least to some Vita owners on here. :P It's a shame it never reached its potential. I wonder if Sony will continue to venture into the handheld market or if it'll be replaced by Morpheus which could turn out just as bad.

It probably means no more software updates and hardware suppy will more than likely cease.

I'm so glad i never brought one.

a new handheld from sony is money in the wind. let them focus on the ps4 because the vita is dead now , the 3ds maybe next.

im just glad i have it

Tonight we party in your name. I dont understand why they would do this, why not just let it go and leave it alone.

Now the question is, will Sony release another handheld or will Vita be their last handheld? Or will Sony release a new handheld only in Japan?

I'm getting another one soon for my wife, so I'm happy!

Considering how anemic Vita sales were even in Japan, I highly doubt they will bother.

They're were just trying to out do the Wii U and win any idiot over that saw that as a selling point. What about all PS4 games supporting the Vita as a controller and basically being a Wii U tablet?

3ds is a much better machine and actually gets support