Sony CEO: conditions ‘not healthy’ to release successor PS Vita

The circumstances are ‘not healthy’ to make a successor to the PS Vita. That says a Sony CEO in an interview. People more often play games on smartphones, which are also mostly free or free-to-play.

Sony CEO Shuhei Yoshida is not sure if Sony will make a successor to the PS Vita, but he is negative about the opportunities for handheld game consoles. “I hope this culture of playing games on portables continues, but the climate is not healthy right now because of the dominance of gaming on smartphones.”

Yoshida does point out that gaming on a handheld like the Vita is essentially different. “Playing on a touchscreen is fun and some games are well designed, but having joysticks and buttons makes the experience completely different.”

The PS Vita came out a few years ago. Sony has tried to get a foot in the door with its gaming platforms with a PlayStation service for smartphones and the Xperia Play smartphones. The Xperia Play did not receive a successor, while the PS service for smartphones has now been discontinued.