Some time ago I wrote about the PlayStation Vita’s major problem, in that making full-blown exclusives for it doesn’t seem like a feasible or sensible option anymore. At the time and as Remote Play became a thing, I started to believe that this was a movement to replace the need for high quality exclusives on the handheld platform.
But now, I’m completely convinced of it.
Remember the Vita exclusive Assassin’s Creed: Liberation? As we know, at the beginning of this year that game saw an HD re-release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It seemed like a sensible decision from Ubisoft to
milk
draw it away from its lonely place in the Vita’s line-up and make some money off it.
Today, however, I read that Batman: Arkham Origins BlackGate is coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in an upgraded Deluxe Edition.
Either those guys were inspired by Ubisoft, or this is another step in putting a stop to major handheld exclusivity. At least, as far as everyone but Nintendo is concerned.
I don’t think this is a bad thing however. As I said in the past, it’s too costly to produce high quality games on a system as powerful as the Vita, and furthermore the audience is far too small.
In this day and age, you’d be far better off simply making an indie game and putting it up on the PlayStation Store, where you’d get a far wider audience and much better distribution.
For me this is one of the first steps in the change that our gaming industry is heading towards. I’m not saying that there will never be Vita exclusives, but games like Killzone: Mercenary or Assassin’s Creed – big budget, triple A level exclusives, are going to be greatly reduced.
After all, Sony was smart in making remote play a major factor. Because, why bother with a watered down Killzone or Assassin’s Creed when you can play the real thing?
For me, I was this close to selling my Vita. That was until remote play to be honest. Now, the entire PS4 library will be open to me on the system. Effectively, the need for big exclusives has been eliminated.
And these HD re-releases of Vita titles is simply a good business move, but it’s also telling that it’s unlikely we’ll see exclusives of that nature, built specifically for Vita, in future.
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