In September, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida told an audience at EGX that “the climate is not healthy” for dedicated portable gaming devices like PS Vita, but now Yoshida has reassured fans that Sony has no plans to drop the Vita anytime soon. However, he also said PlayStation itself has little in store for the device.

“I’ve been pretty honest saying our focus has shifted to PS4 and PlayStation VR, [but] it’s not like we don’t have any development at all,” Yoshida said in a recent interview with Gamespot. “We do, but our focus is on PS4 and PlayStation VR, and we are happy to see third-parties and indies support it.”

Yoshida has previously stated that he is personally a big fan of the PS Vita, and he said that there are still many games coming to the device that he is excited about.

“I can’t wait to play a game called Severed, by DrinkBox studios, they are one of my favourite indie developers,” he said. “And there’s Nuclear Throne, by Vlambeer, and Volume is a great game that I’m waiting to come out on Vita. I’m also really looking forward to Dragon Quest Heroes 2, the first one just came out on PS4 in the west but the sequel is coming out on PS4 and Vita too, so Square Enix and Japanese publishers are almost increasing their support.”

Still, Yoshida made it clear that there will be little in the way of first-party development for PS Vita, as Sony continues focusing on the increasing success of the PlayStation 4 console, which is currently the top-selling console in the current generation of systems.

Yoshida also briefly talked about the company’s increased focus PlayStation VR, but he could not reveal any details about its cost or expected release date.

“We’re still not ready for a date and price, but the hardware has been going very well,” he said. “It’s pretty much done, but the team in Tokyo is working hard to get the system software and the SDK done and continually improve it, to make sure that the experience is great for customers and developers.”

He added, “We also want to make sure that when we launch we also have a good selection of games, so it’s a bit too early to sort out a price and date.”

Photo by Cognoscenti*