The device's sales have been growing steadily, and Sony found a different niche for the handheld to fit into

Sep 12, 2014 12:15 GMT  ·  By

While Sony has been largely ignoring the PlayStation Vita in more recent days, the company's UK boss assures fans of the handheld that it's here to stay, in spite of apparently not receiving enough attention from its makers.

The PlayStation Vita didn't show up for Sony's biggest press events this year, and many think that due to its poor market performance, Sony is giving up on it. While it's true that the company cut first-party AAA support for the handheld, it's still trying to push it, albeit in a slightly different way.

Sony's most recent efforts are meant to reposition the mini-console, in order to make a modest profit out of the surge of indie games and ports, as well as games geared toward younger players, and for remote PS4 gameplay streaming.

The present

"It's trucking along. It's currently in year-on-year growth and enjoying a healthy year, and it's about to hit its biggest and potentially most powerful release of the year, which is Minecraft. That could be an extraordinary release for Vita," Sony UK chief Fergal Gara tells Eurogamer.

The success of the PlayStation 4 is having a beneficial effect, with its glory being reflected on the handheld to some degree.

"But it's more than that. It's just found its niche. For those who want that more specialist device and a more specialist experience, it does a damn good job, and therefore it trucks along quite nicely," Gara explains.

The future

When Sony's strategy to offer an experience on par with home console gaming on the go failed, the company adapted to the reality and expectations of the market, finding a new niche that would cater to gamers' preferences, and cemented the Vita's role.

"We will certainly not be ignoring it this Christmas. We're very pleased with how it continues to sell, and look forward to another big, seasonal spike at Christmas. Its sales profile has over the last couple of years proven to be far more seasonal than, say PS3, and how PS4 will behave once we have another year under our belts," Gara says.

The company has already announced a PS Vita FIFA 15 bundle coming to Europe, showing its continued support, albeit of a different nature.

"There's a perception that it's fading away. I can absolutely assure you that that's not happening. It's proving remarkably resilient. We enter the peak season very optimistic about hitting similar or bigger numbers to last year. So we feel in good shape," he concludes.