10 Key Reasons Behind the PlayStation Vita's Failure

Drinkbox Studios recently unveiled Severed, a highly regarded game that might very well be the last notable release for the PlayStation Vita. While it could be tempting to view Severed as the moment the Vita 'officially' dies, the reality is that the handheld has been on a downward spiral for quite some time, with Sony themselves labeling it as a 'legacy system.' Whether you’re a diehard fan or barely recall the Vita’s existence, the fact remains that it has mostly been a failure. Despite a dedicated fanbase and continued third-party support, Sony has essentially moved on from the Vita. Now, there’s little reason to invest in one unless you’re particularly fond of indie games. But how did we end up with such a promising piece of gaming hardware failing to leave a significant mark? The story is a bit more complex than just the rise of smartphone gaming.

10. Evolution in the Mobile Gaming Landscape

If you were to ask Sony about the main cause of the Vita’s failure, they would likely point to the rise of smartphones as the culprit. Shuhei Yoshida made a similar statement last year when questioned about the possibility of a Vita successor, saying, “the climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming.” While mobile gaming isn't the sole factor in the Vita’s poor reception (Nintendo’s 3DS managed to do quite well despite competition from smartphones and tablets), it certainly played a major role in the Vita’s lack of success.

Even though the Vita arguably provides a superior gaming experience with its physical controls and impressive graphical capabilities (which admittedly have become less significant since 2012), the demand for a dedicated handheld gaming device has dwindled in a world where everyone already carries a perfectly capable gaming machine in their pocket. People can only carry so much, and they simply aren’t going to choose the Vita over their phone. The Vita still has value, but in a world full of smartphones and tablets capable of doing much more, its relevance has faded.

9. Expensive Hardware Costs

The PlayStation Vita debuted in February 2012 in North America with a price tag of $250 (there was also a $300 3G version, though it didn’t garner much attention), which, considering the device's power, was quite reasonable for a handheld gaming console. However, this price point was still too steep for many consumers, especially when compared to the significantly cheaper 3DS. At that time, you could purchase a PS3 or Xbox 360 for just about $50 more than the Vita, or even a decent phone at the same price or cheaper. With all these factors combined, the Vita’s price, although fair, was simply more than most people were willing to pay.

8. Costly Memory Cards

Although the Vita’s steep initial price was a significant factor in its struggles, it wasn’t the most significant cost-related hurdle for consumers. People expected to pay a premium for the Vita since it was marketed as a high-end handheld device, but what they didn’t anticipate was Sony's decision to charge exorbitant prices for proprietary memory cards. Instead of allowing the use of cheaper, more widely available cards like SDHC flash memory, Sony forced customers to purchase cards that cost up to $100 for 32GB; meanwhile, a 32GB SDHC card was priced around $20 at the time.

This issue wouldn’t have been as major if there were other options, but with no built-in storage and no alternative memory solutions, customers had no choice but to pay for these expensive cards. This frustrated early buyers and also discouraged others from purchasing the device. After all, who wants to buy a memory card that costs a third of the price of the product itself?

7. The PS4 Remote Play Gambit

Sony appeared to lose faith in the Vita relatively early, but they attempted to salvage the situation by leveraging their newer, more successful console, the PlayStation 4. The company dedicated considerable resources to positioning the Vita as a companion device to the PS4. Through remote play, the Vita can sync with a PS4 over Wi-Fi and function as a controller for the system, which is useful when you don’t have access to your TV or want to play your PS4 games on the go (though this feature requires a very strong Wi-Fi connection to work properly). While the Vita’s remote play capabilities are impressive, with games like Destiny and Fallout 4 running surprisingly well, it’s more of a novelty than a compelling reason to purchase the device. Not many people would want to buy a $250 handheld just to play their PS4 games elsewhere in the house.

6. Incomplete Support for Older Games

With its dual-stick controls and stunning LED screen, the Vita is arguably one of the finest handheld gaming consoles ever created for playing games. This also makes it an ideal device for enjoying older games. Given Sony’s massive library of past titles, one would think they would go the extra mile to make sure every notable PS One and PSP game was available for resale on the platform. But, well… that didn’t quite happen.

Though Sony has made a number of classic PS One and PSP games available on the Vita, their overall backward compatibility efforts have been nothing short of disappointing. Even today, more than four years after the Vita's release, some games still require shortcuts and workarounds to function, which is just absurd. And we’re not talking about obscure titles here; iconic series like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro—two of the most beloved franchises from the PS One era—aren’t officially supported on the Vita, despite being available for download on PlayStation 3. And believe it or not, this isn’t even the worst case of Sony mishandling Vita’s backward compatibility…

5. No PS2 Games Support

It’s bad enough that Sony’s efforts to support PS One Classics and PSP games have been lackluster, but the real head-scratcher is how they missed the opportunity to turn the Vita into a platform for PlayStation 2 games. The PS2 is the best-selling console of all time and boasts one of the most extensive game libraries, so it would make sense for Sony to leverage that past success to boost the Vita. Sure, PS2 emulation on the Vita might have been nearly impossible due to hardware limitations, but Sony could have ported over some of the PS2’s biggest hits. To be fair, they did something similar with compilation titles like The Ratchet & Clank Collection, which offered HD remasters of PS2 games, but that doesn’t quite match the convenience of downloading a classic PS2 title directly to your Vita for just $10. In the end, PS One classics are great, but PS2 support would have been even better.

4. Few Killer Apps

While the importance of exclusive games for a console's success is up for debate (the Wii U had a fantastic lineup of exclusives but sold poorly, while the PS4 has fewer must-have exclusives and is dominating the market), the Vita’s lack of unique games definitely worked against it. The main issue was that even early on, the Vita lacked sufficient support. After its impressive launch in February 2012, which showcased an exciting mix of first-party and third-party games, there was a noticeable gap in content updates that never fully recovered.

It’s true that the Vita serves as a solid platform for niche indie games, but even these titles are often available on other devices, and they don’t have universal appeal. Vita owners were promised games that could rival titles like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but after four years, that game remains one of the strongest reasons to own the system—and it was a launch title! The Vita has never really had a standout game that could drive sales, so most people never had a compelling reason to buy one.

3. Crappy AAA Games

One of the Vita’s main selling points was its promise of console-quality gaming on the go, and early titles like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Wipeout 2048 delivered spectacular visuals and satisfying gameplay, making it feel like a mini-console in your pocket. However, after that initial batch of AAA releases, the quality began to plummet. Many big-name franchises had disappointing spinoffs, such as Resistance: Burning Skies and Call of Duty: Declassified, which represented the worst aspects of their series. While some titles, like Killzone Mercenary, were successful, many poor-quality games made players turn back to their consoles for their AAA fix.

2. Didn't Follow The Nintendo 3DS's Example

The Nintendo 3DS initially struggled, perhaps even more than the Vita. For a while, it seemed like the system was doomed, but instead of giving up, Nintendo took decisive action to turn things around. They implemented a significant price drop less than six months after launch and worked hard to build a strong library of exclusive games. In contrast, when faced with a similar dilemma with the Vita, Sony essentially gave up. They didn’t lower the price until years later and relied heavily on indie developers to keep the system afloat. The 3DS showed there was still demand for dedicated handhelds, but Sony chose to ignore the lessons from Nintendo's success and made several unsuccessful attempts to boost sales. Unfortunately, the 3DS’s lower price and far superior game library didn’t help the Vita’s case either.

1. Sony Chose To Ignore It

As Kotaku’s Jason Schreier pointed out last year, the primary reason for the Vita’s failure was Sony itself. It wasn’t mobile gaming or any other external factor; it was simply a case of Sony sabotaging its own success for years (as he put it, not me). Sony’s neglect of the Vita over time is evident—numerous events went by with Sony barely acknowledging the system’s existence, which is puzzling considering the amount of time and money they invested in its creation.

The Vita was an exciting device when it debuted in 2012 (great graphics! two analog sticks!) but as soon as the system's fortunes began to fade, Sony acted as if the Vita was no longer a part of their plans. Maybe the Vita was always destined to fail, but it would have been reassuring for the loyal owners, who knew its true potential, if Sony had at least tried to salvage the situation instead of letting it fall apart.