Sony has revealed that it plans to stop manufacturing physical PlayStation Vita cartridges in 2019. Digital games will still be available on the system, which Sony all but abandoned several years ago. Third-party publishers and studios continue to release new titles for the handheld.
The PlayStation Vita has never been a smashing success for Sony, with low sales numbers eventually leading the company to stop developing first-party titles for the system. Independent developers and third-party studios have continued supporting the underrated handheld, but if you want to buy a new game for the Vita, you’ll soon have to do so via download.
Kotaku reported that Sony is planning to end production of all physical PlayStation Vita games by March 31,2019, and the site was told by a Sony spokesperson that all product code requests need to be submitted by June 28,2018. The decision won’t affect the sale of digital games on the device, which often make more sense given its portable nature.
Sony moved away from physical games for the Vita long before this move was made, however. MLB 15: The Show — the last game in the series to make it to the Vita — was only released as a digital download for the system. Despite this, the game still got a “boxed” release in stores — it just contained a voucher for the digital version instead of a game card.
This doesn’t mean you should put your Vita in storage just yet, however. Stardew Valley — available on just about everything but a Texas Instruments calculator — comes to the system May 22, and it’s the perfect game to take with you during a commute on a bus or train. Dragon’s Crown studio Vanillaware is also planning to release its next game, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, on both the Vita and PlayStation 4.
Despite the lack of first-party support for the Vita in recent years, there are a still a number of great games you can purchase for it. Launch title Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a worthy, if somewhat gimmicky, entry in the series, and Killzone: Mercenary ‘s multiplayer servers are still active. Despite the handheld control scheme, the game manages to translate console-level first-person shooter gameplay to the smaller system quite faithfully, and its campaign is made up of short missions you can complete when you just have a few free moments.
If you don’t have a Vita, you can still try out a few of its “exclusives” ported to the PlayStation 4, including Tearaway and Gravity Rush. Dragon’s Crown, previously only on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3, is also now on the PlayStation 4 as Dragon’s Crown Pro.
