Developers cancelling games due to planned closure of Vita store

After rumors surfaced stating that Sony was planning to close the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita stores this year, the platform holder confirmed the news to be true. Two stores will close in July 2021, with the Vita store closing latest in August. Now, many developers are canceling their games due to this shocking news.

In just the last two days, numerous developers have made the decision to cancel their games, or at least the Vita ports, since the store won’t be available for long enough to make the work worth the return.

Certification on products for the Vita store will end on July 12, 2021. This is roughly one month before the closure of the Vita store. This is a tiny window for developers to finish their game in. Especially if they were planning to launch later in the year when many other games are also hitting the market.

One victim of the store closure is from Lillymo Games. The developer has fully canceled its next project. Other games such as Thief’s Roulette and Lazr have been canceled and may never see the light of day.

However, there are plenty of games that are still going to make it to the store for the brief window it will be open this year. Scourgebringer will only be available for 100 days for example. Russian Subway Dogs from Spooky Squid Games and Hand Cannon Janky from Suicidal Robot Games will also make it to the platform.

The whole situation doesn’t paint Sony in the best light. In the case of Lillymo Games, the developer had recently purchased a PS Vita development kit. This had been sold to them without any word on the fact that the store they are making a game for is closing.

In fairness, it may still be possible to produce physical Vita games after the store closes. All that will happen is that digital versions of the game won’t be available. However, the physical games market for the Vita is small, and only collectors bother to buy them these days. With the closure of the store, this could change. Then again, it’s not a chance a business can take if it needs to pay developers.