Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO, Jim Ryan, has just spoken out about the company’s thoughts on handhelds. This topic came up after an interview with Game Informer about the 25th anniversary of the PlayStation.
Looking back on PlayStation’s years, Ryan said that while he believes the PlayStation Vita is a “brilliant” console, Sony is no longer interested in the handheld segment. Therefore, Sony is no longer planning to develop the next console for the PS Vita or create other handhelds in the future.
Jim’s words are similar to those of Jack Tretton, former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. After Tretton left Sony, he talked about the company’s position in the handheld arena. Similar to Ryan, he said he thinks PS Vita is great, but the world now prefers to play mobile games on non-specialist machines (phones, tablets, etc.). This seems to be the general opinion of most Sony heads. Back in September 2015, Shuhei Yoshida, then president of SCE Worldwide Studios, said that PlayStation fans would probably see a successor to the PS Vita. He said the market is not suitable to launch a mobile PlayStation anymore because the mobile game market is gradually dominating the world.
However, John Kodera, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment before Jim, disagreed. John believes PlayStation can continue to experiment with handheld consoles. Instead of blaming the market, Kodera thinks Sony should treat the mobile gaming market with home consoles as one and Sony should figure out what customers want from a mobile device. John’s method is similar to what Nintendo did with the Nintendo Switch, the console is not only a great home console but also arguably the greatest portable gaming device of all time.
Whatever the opinion, Sony has no plans to continue the PS Vita or create other handhelds in the near future. Maybe Sony will change its mind later, but the possibility is not high. The company has just reduced the price of a series of PS Vita games. Overall, the company will focus all its efforts on the PS5.
PlayStation 5 will launch in winter 2020.
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