Since its release in 2012, the PlayStation Vita has had a rough time. Despite a few exceptional games and a devoted, loving fanbase, the handheld just never found the audience it was looking for. According to the former President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Jack Tretton, it was never a mystery why the Vita was struggling.
Speaking with IGN, Tretton touches on the Vita, saying, “Now that I don’t work there anymore, I think internally it was: ‘This is a great machine, it’s just too late. The world has shifted to portable devices that aren’t dedicated gaming machines.’”
He continues, “I think PSP was incredibly successful and I loved what it did and I think it brought a console-like experience, and brought genres to an older gamer that didn’t typically have console-like games to play on a portable platform. But Vita was a nice machine, at a time when very few people felt like they needed a dedicated portable device.”
Though he was with Sony since the original PlayStation, playing a role in both the PS1 and PS2, Tretton was the man in charge throughout the lifespan of the PS3, taking over as CEO in 2006, the same year the console launched. He stepped down from the position in 2014.