The news that Sony was shutting down the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita stores was shocking for fans of the company. When news of Sony's decision to shut down those stores broke, the fan outcry was swift with many players worried that some of their favorite titles would forever be stranded on those platforms or even lost altogether.
Thankfully, Sony eventually reversed its decision to close those storefronts down for good, but it seems that some developers are now receiving some unfortunate news. It appears that developers who were working on PS Vita projects before and amid the shut down news will still not be able to submit their games to release on the PS Vita, despite the storefront remaining operational.
The confirmation comes by way of the official Twitter account for Lillymo Games, a developer known for releasing brand new titles on the PS Vita even today. In fact, the studio's latest title, Habroxia 2, released on the PS Vita on February 3, despite the production of physical Vita games ending in 2018, with production of the handheld itself ending the following year. Lillymo Games released a tweet earlier today reading, "We have heard back from Sony and there will unfortunately not be an extended window for Vita game submissions. So our next project code-named 'Forest Guardian' or 'Barry Bobble' will not be launching on the platform."
Lillymo Games has made it clear several times in the past that the company would continue to release on Vita for as long as it could. Unfortunately, it seems like Lillymo Games, as well as other studios who were actively developing titles for the PS Vita, won't be able to release their new titles for the system. Interestingly, Lillymo Games also confirmed on April 19, which was the day Jim Ryan reversed the various storefront closures, that the company was "waiting to hear back if the cutoff date for submitting games" would be changed following the news. This would mean it took almost an entire month for Sony to get back to the studio, while the development of these titles essentially remained in limbo.
The reason for the lengthy response time could be due to a myriad of factors. Sony may have been internally debating whether or not to continue to allow platforms to submit games at all, or could have possibly been finalizing its plans for an earlier or later cutoff date for submissions. Regardless, this news does confirm that the PS Vita will no longer see new releases after a certain point. Additionally, developers like Lillymo Games and Spooky Squid Games will have no choice but to cancel upcoming Vita games that were in development.
No more official PS Vita units are in production and the last approved Vita game, ScourgeBringer, should release sometime on April 22, 2021. With that, one of Sony's most underrated consoles and its last handheld will further fade into the background. Still, fans can continue to download older titles on the PS Vita for a while longer.