Some PS Vita developers were not properly advised that the PSN Store would close

The PlayStation Store for PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita is coming to an end, and while few people are still making games for PS3 or PSP today, there are still games for Vita in development. And according to their developers, they found out about the closure of PSN around the same time as everyone else. On March 29, the same day that IGN reported on the closure of the PlayStation Store, Lillymo Games announced that canceled the Vita version of your next game because the store will be closed before the game is ready for launch.

In a DM for IGN, Barry Johnson of Lillymo Games says the studio “has not been warned about the closure of the Vita store in any way”. In fact, Johnson says he bought a second Vita devkit last month.

“When word got out that the story was going on at TheGamer, we asked Sony for clarification and got no response. We discovered, at the same time as the public, that we would have to cancel our Vita version of our next game. “

TheGamer, who initially reported to the PlayStation store for the closure of legacy Sony consoles, also spoke with several developers who were working on PS Vita games for future release.

One such developer is Miguel Sternberg, game designer at Spooky Squid. Sternberg is currently working on a version of his game Russian Subway Dogs and is trying to Get the Vita version before the store closes In August.

“I have been working to port the game to PS4, Xbox One and Vita, alternating between a few weeks,” said Sternberg in a message to IGN. “It was a serious emotional lash to be happy with the new improvements that I implemented [to the Vita port] at the weekend, to learn, it may be too late to launch the game, and now knowing that it is possible, but only if I manage to meet the deadline. I miss it for any reason and all this work is for nothing! “

IGN learned separately what these deadlines are like for Vita developers, thanks to an email that PlayStation sent to developers that IGN independently acquired and verified.

According to this email, the final date for submitting games to the PS Vita store is July 12th, and the last day for launching content on PS Vita is July 20th. The deadline for submitting a game for Sony’s global QA is July 6, although Sony says it cannot guarantee slots for review.

The short window for developers was incredibly frustrating. Johnson says there were already problems like their games not appearing in the latest release section of the PS Vita store, but the lack of warning was an even bigger surprise.

“Having to find out through news that the store was closing was not something I expected. I expected to receive something like a one-year notice to complete all projects, ”laments Johnson.

Sternberg says he is in a luckier position, as he is close enough to release the game if he meets the deadline. But the lack of warning “added a lot of stress and unpredictability to what was a fun and passionate project that I was working on while finishing the doors to the big consoles,” he says.

“Now, I either throw that job away and cancel the Vita version, or I make it my priority for the next few months and hope that nothing unexpected gets in the way.”

Matt TM Kim is the news editor at IGN.