Sony: climate "not healthy" for PlayStation Vita successor
Because of the "huge dominance of mobile gaming".
Don't hold your breath for a PlayStation Vita successor - so says Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios.
Yoshida was quizzed on Sony's plans for a gaming handheld during the Q&A portion of his just-finished EGX 2015 developer session.
The affable exec replied that he and the rest of his team had enjoyed working on Vita, but that the rise of smartphone gaming had created an unhealthy climate in which to launch a successor.
"That's a tough question," he replied when asked about a PlayStation Vita 2. "People have mobile phones and it's so easy to play games on smartphones," Yoshida said. "And many games on smartphones are free, or free to start.
"I myself am a huge fan of PlayStation Vita and we worked really hard on designing every aspect. Touch-based games are fun - there are many games with really good design. But having sticks and buttons make things totally different.
"So I hope, like many of you, that this culture of playing portable games continues but the climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming."
PlayStation Vita originally launched in Japan back in December 2011, then in Europe during February 2012.
The handheld continues to sell fairly well in Japan, although sales elsewhere in the world have slowed to a trickle.
Both Sony's Vita and Nintendo's 3DS have sold less than the handheld machines that preceded them.
Catch up with the whole session below:
