Sequels to two fan-favourite PS Vita games were in development before the budget for both games was diverted to PlayStation 4 development.
That’s according to former SIE president Shuhei Yoshida, who this week revealed that the sequels were in development, but ultimately scrapped as Sony transitioned from focusing on the cult-favourite handheld to putting its resources behind the PS4.
Speaking on Sacred Symbols+, Yoshida said: “We were actually working on Soul Sacrifice 2 and Freedom Wars 2, but because of budget limitation we had to stop and move on to PS4.”
Yoshida also claimed that the move to PS4 is the main reason that more Sony first-party IP didn’t receive a PS Vita iteration, in the same style as Sony Bend’s Uncharted: Golden Abyss.
Freedom Wars was originally developed by Dimps and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. While a niche hit in the West, the game was far more popular in Japan, achieving the second-highest opening sales for any PlayStation Vita title.
“In the distant future, humanity is in a struggle to survive. Pollution has devastated the planet, and the remnants of humanity are divided amongst city-sized prisons called Panopticons,” the game’s official description reads.
“So scarce are resources that living itself is a crime and those born are immediately given a million years of prison time.”
A remastered version of the game was released in January.
Marvelous developed Soul Sacrifice in collaboration with the now-defunct PlayStation Japan Studio. The game was designed by Capcom veteran Keiji Inafune, and was released in 2013. An exdanded version, Soul Sacrifice Delta, was released the following year.
