Sony Cancels Former LittleBigPlanet Developers' Vita Game

Push Square: "A team comprised of former LittleBigPlanet developers has turned to Kickstarter following the cancellation of its first PlayStation Vita project. Ambient Studios – which was founded in 2011 – had been working on a Sony-funded handheld title for a year before the platform holder decided to pull the plug."

[MagneticDeath]

I know it would not be a system seller the Vita needs but that sounds awesome. I would of picked it up.

[legionsoup]

This topic title is somewhat misleading. Put up for hit bait. Could have easily been something like "Kickstarter for new Vita game"

[oricon]

Main problem Sony has with the Vita they need to stop outsourcing their 1st party titles to other developers and get their 1st party developers to make vita games, Sony needs to set an example with the games on vita so other 3rd party developers will follow suit like they did on ps3

[Conzul]

Well that's a shame...another Vita game in trouble...

[G20WLY]

Don't like the sound of that - what other games are in trouble then?

[Sanquine90]

Dragons crown and warriors lair

[extermin8or]

Warriors Lair isn't in trouble, it's beeing worked on by Santa Monica now, and was delayed to ensure a higher quality of the game- they will release it when they are damn good and ready...

[TheDivine]

I don't know about games but Sony closed 3 studios after making vita games. Wipeout dev, Zipper, and Nihlistic all closed. Also no big games are announced right now besides Kz and Soul Sacrifice. Bioshock prob won't ever happen and guaranteed sales like Type-0 won't even release on psn. All the big franchises are going on the 3ds. Dragon quest 7 remake which is a remake of a ps exclusive is now exclusive to 3ds along with everything else other than ports. Sucks because I love my vita but its going the psp route. Hopefully it lasts long enough to see a FF and MGS release on it. Persona 4 rocks though.

Sony needs to support it like Nin does its handhelds. All devs make a game not just a few shitty b teams here and there. Nin has far more ip's though. Seriously there's a new big game every month. Fire emblem in feb, luigis mansion, mh tri, mh4, soul hackers in march, on and on. I don't know when a new vita game drops. There's Kz sometime next year and ...ninja gaiden 2 which il buy even though I own it already because it rocks on the go but what else? I want to have faith but I need to see something big. Persona 5, FF12 port, MGS, GOW exc. E3 is make or break it for vita IMO.

[Hicken]

Well, it's no longer a Vita game, so there's that.

Also, what other Vita games are "in trouble?" I haven't heard of anything. Do you know something the rest of us don't know? Or is this more smoke blowing?

[ronin4life]

Dragons crown has been in development for a LONG time...

And then there was the rumor that devs were jumping ship and dropping planned support, which sony quickly denied... only to confirm a few months later by proxy with a statement along the lines of "it has been difficult to obtain support for the Vita."

Outside of n4g, the reality is Vita isn't doing to well. Go anywhere else (from the well mannered and neutral siliconera community to the roudy destructoid community and all levels inbetween) and you will see this.

[Inception]

@ronin4life
" Dragons crown has been in development for a LONG time... "

Long time is an exagarated word. Vanillaware and Ignition (the publisher) announced it on E3 2011.
http://asia.gamespot.com/ne...

George Kamitani had Dragon's Crown CONCEPT for thirteen years, but there's no one wants to publish it, until Ignition came of course. In the way, Ignition drop the title and Atlus pick it up from them (thx Altus!). Some key member from Atlus will help Kamitani to make this game.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012...

" And then there was the rumor that devs were jumping ship and dropping planned support, which sony quickly denied... only to confirm a few months later by proxy with a statement along the lines of "it has been difficult to obtain support for the Vita."

Vanillaware isn't jumping ship and droping support for PS3 or even Vita. That's why Muramasa: The Demon Blade got ported (with extra content) for Vita. It also had a solid release date in japan: 28 March 2013. And this year, a lot of games from 3rd party will be release for vita.

[Megaton]

You're right. It needs games first before they can be in trouble.

[Protagonist]

@Conzul

Do tell, what is the other Vita games in trouble?

[Conzul]

Probably shoulda said *more trouble for the Vita*.

[cooksauce]

I didn't know the vita had games...

[Sanquine90]

@Thedevine: Nihilistic is not even a Sony studio so do not talk bullshit.

[DOMination-]

But the other two heebtiobed were tbf although i think it was just coibcidence it sas after vita games.

Zipper have been terrible for a while and SCE Liverpool had already pretty much merged with Evolution

[aquamala]

So it begins

[Enemy]

So...what begins? A bad-looking game being canceled?

[Protagonist]

What begins? Sony focusing on what games to develope for the Vita?

[cee773]

batman!

[cooksauce]

aaahhhhh vita... games may appear at some point

[DarthJay]

Seems like something they should have done a long time ago.

[Ezz2013]

do you ever post something that add anything to the topics ??
no you only troll sony articles and fail at it too

next time READ the article not just the headline before making a stupid comment like that

EDIT: iamsuperman beat me to it
" I assume you didn't bother to read the article nor think. Sony probably cut their loses (as it wasn't going to do well enough/ other multiple, sane, reasons) with the game and those developers you developed that canned game are now using kickstarter to make a BRAND NEW game (i.e. it isn't the one Sony canned). Games get cancelled all the time for various reasons (anything from poor production to too much cost)

The title doesn't help but the game isn't the cancelled one
"

[poo342947294792]

like where the heck is syphon filter the psp one were like the 2 best games on the psp we need a vita one lol or ps3 one its been years

[MattyG]

I thought it meant Tearaway. I woulda been PIIIIISSED.

[Enemy]

Tearaway is being developed by Media Molecule, not former LBP developers at Ambient Studios.

[MattyG]

Yeah, and Media Molecule said they wanted to move on from LBP for a bit, and Tarsier developed the Vita version. So in a way MM is a "former LBP developer". Obviously when I clicked the article I realized it didn't mean MM, but based off a first glance I thought it did.

[DOMination-]

It's easy to see why you'd think Tearaway from the title though.. I thought the same when I saw the headline.

[BlackIceJoe]

I think the game sounds cool. I see it talks about as a stretch goal wanting to bring it out on the tablets. So it would be nice if they made that goal they could make one for the Vita too. Seeing as they would already know how to work with the Vita.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

@Enemy
"So...what begins? A bad-looking game being canceled?"

Assuming something is bad because sony said no? ok..

Nintendo said no to "binding of isaac".

Coming to pc? I will give $20.

[Godchild1020]

Nintendo said no to the "Binding of Isaac" because of the context of the game, not because it was good or bad.

"the main cause of the rejection was that the game contains “questionable religious content”.

http://www.vastseaofgames.c...

Sony cancelling a game they funded is something different. Since they had money invested in it, so they can cancel the game at anytime. The only problem is that amount of money lost because they decided to cancel the game a year in development.

[SilentNegotiator]

You're comparing funding being pulled to Nintendo rejecting a game that they felt had questionable content?

Besides, there are concept screens. His comment doesn't say he took Sony's word.

You're better than that, shutUpAndTakeMyMoney. Come on, now.

[GraveLord]

Why don't these developers make iPad/Vita multiplatform games? I heard Vita development was pretty easy so I can't see why adding a platform would do anyone any harm.

[Gr81]

User base is too small to justify the costs.

[3-4-5]

What is with Dev's nerdy obsession with Death...The name Death Inc. is co generically cliche...that alone makes me not want to play the game.

There are only 500 other games where you play death....lets give it a break you sick twisted weirdos.

[brich233]

Sony needs to get Android on the Vita to make it more appealing.

[cee773]

vita has a re-skinned android os sony needs psmobile to be more like the playstore/amazon store, more effing apps not just games(more games non the less) but also more apps

[axerated]

That's okay, guess they're gonna be more cautious about their vita games after the panning some games have gotten. I just hope that during 2013 we get confirmations of a mgs, resi, gta and maybe even dead rising game designed for vita, these franchises are system sellers and would help get more people interested in vita so they can see how truly awesome it is

[ronin4life]

They are big franchises, but I wouldn't call them system sellers on their own(but in combination? Yes. Perhaps)

The problem is, none of those devs have showed faith in the system(with mgs being the most likely). And they have little reason to at this point. It just isn't likely that we will see such games... not impossible, but not likely.

[SAE]

Imagine gta on a vita console bundle , anyone who like rockstar games will buy it without thinking , same with GT , real cod and battlefield games ..

sony just need to investe on these games and not release declassified type of games with that price , i wouldn't buy it even if it's 10$

[ronin4life]

It really wouldn't though. People wouldn't buy a whole new expensive console to play only 1 game in a franchise they can play anywhere else. I could buy GTA3 for 2 dollars on the phone I am typing this with right now.

When I think of a system seller, I don't imagine a good game selling great on its launch week with a modest hardware boost and dying off. I think of a game that sells monstrously for months and continually drives hardware. Games like Animal crossing 3ds and MHp3rd on psp (In Japan of course) Those titles sold well and kept doing so for months, driving hardware as they did.

I don't see GTA as that kind of game at this point. But backed up by other big franchises, they could combine into a strong library that would improve and drive sales. Provided the majority were unique to the platform and not ports or remakes of course.

@inception up above
Out of bubbles... harumph...

Anyway, it has been in development a long time given it has had several release windows pushed back and still has no solid date. To put that into perspective, Code of Princess( a 3ds side scrolling rpg-ish brawler made by the gaurdian heroes team) was announced after Dragon Crown and released spring last year in Japan and autumn in the west(and eshop just last week)

The problem with your Vanilla ware statement can be expressed by looking at other Vita devs and thier behaivor: the devs support has not grown at all; the major games are coming from the same groups that already provided support. Support in the form of: remakes and ports. Which they have chosen to follow up with: MORE remakes and ports. The few major players that stuck around aren't taking any chances for the same reason new devs aren't joining in; they don't see the benefit of doing so worth the incredible risk.

Despite supporting the system, this behaivor shows they have little actual faith in it at this point.
Instead, they are going for cheap low risk decent return ports in a niche market to make a quick easy return. If that helps the platform grow or keeps it in stasis long enough for someone to actually invest in the system remains to be seen, but until that point support will continue to be small, and may only be percieved as more risky as time goes on.

[Inception]

@ronin4life

" Anyway, it has been in development a long time given it has had several release windows pushed back and still has no solid date. To put that into perspective, Code of Princess( a 3ds side scrolling rpg-ish brawler made by the gaurdian heroes team) was announced after Dragon Crown and released spring last year in Japan and autumn in the west(and eshop just last week) "

Lol seriously, you compare it with Code of Princess? This two game had the same genre, but Dragon's Crown using more detailed graphic than Code of Princess. And we don't know much what Kamitani cook for Dragon's Crown besides hack & slash and online MP with demon souls / D&D style. So obviously Code of Princess are more easy to develope than Dragon's Crown. Btw, there's no solid date to begin with and there's no "SEVERAL pushback" like you claim for Dragon's Crown. CMIIW with a legit link from a good gaming site or from sony / vanillaware / atlus site.

" The problem with your Vanilla ware statement can be expressed by looking at other Vita devs and thier behaivor: the devs support has not grown at all; the major games are coming from the same groups that already provided support. Support in the form of: remakes and ports. Which they have chosen to follow up with: MORE remakes and ports. The few major players that stuck around aren't taking any chances for the same reason new devs aren't joining in; they don't see the benefit of doing so worth the incredible risk."

I don't know what's your problem but this is only 8 january 2013. There's a lot of time for Sony to pursue more support from big 3rd party dev / publisher. And even it's only remakes, remades, or ports like NGS2+, DoA 5, Tales of Hearts R, or Muramasa, that's a clear sign more games are coming and 3rd party really want to take some risk for Vita.

"Despite supporting the system, this behaivor shows they have little actual faith in it at this point.
Instead, they are going for cheap low risk decent return ports in a niche market to make a quick easy return. If that helps the platform grow or keeps it in stasis long enough for someone to actually invest in the system remains to be seen, but until that point support will continue to be small, and may only be percieved as more risky as time goes on."

In it's 1st year, 3DS also full with lot of ports and remakes such as DoA:D, SF IV, Zelda: OoT, or Tales of the Abyss. But after Nintendo cut the price, more support (new IP or new sequel) are coming from big dev/publisher. And i don't see why Sony can't do the same thing with Vita. Besides, big dev such as R*, Capcom, or SE had games that sold millions on PSP. I don't think they crazy enough to abandon Vita who had more potential than PSP.

[B_Rian89]

the description of this game seems very familiar. Wasn't there a game released like this on the PSP a while back?

[ElectricKaibutsu]

I'm not sure but the title reminds me of Death Jr.

[B_Rian89]

yep that's the one :)

[GloriousBagel]

Maybe there is a reason why they dropped the title.... former head of Lionhead studios xD They are not exactly the best devs in the world.

[RuperttheBear]

Media Molecule was founded by Lionhead employees. You know, the same guys that made Little Big Planet. Are they not good devs then?

[GloriousBagel]

Ummm... Hello the guy that made fable??!?!??!
C'mon the tools to make LBP game were there all he needed to do is write up a story and copy paste. The tools from lionhead bug the crap out of me.

[5eriously]

The exDevs admitted in the article they could not deliver. What more prove do the Sony haters want?

[remanutd55]

Oh my god, i think the vita is doomed because sony cancelled this title.

[DivineAssault]

so many games coming this year that i really dont care...

[auen1]

i was worried they were talking about tearaway. that looks like an awesome game.

[SirRidge]

Goddamn that title gave a few of us a fright.
Not cool to see a would be Vita title cancelled though, seems like that system could use the extra content this year.

O well, luckily Persona 4 might entertain me forever.

[GloriousBagel]

For me, first play through for fun and story sake, then I go to hard mode and finish all my social links and get all of the ultimate personas. And my final play through the hardest difficulty, use my ultimate personas and max everything to lvl. 99. Doing that in Persona 3 was hella fun. Disgaea is even more intense, level 999 :D

[Kingthrash360]

Games get cancelled all the time, it doesn't mean nothin. Maybe Sony saw something they didn't like and pulled it. Third party games will come as they did for psp. It's never been a problem for Sony.... Now if we were talking Nintendo then I'd see the point. Truth be told this generation of gamers want more, fast. No patience at all. Maybe its these iOS and android micro games that come out so fast ( mainly because they are small) that gamers want real gaming system games to come so fast.
What 3rd party game has come out for the 3ds this past holiday season? ** crickets chirping** but look at its success. We sit in a world wide economy crisis right now. Drop the vitas price it will sell more.
Games will still get cancelled for it same as every other gaming system.

[Adolph Fitler]

Morons like the ones who speak negatively about the Vita, are probably the same ones who would overlook this game for Call Of Duty 2000, or Fifa Sucker....

Some of the greatest games of the past 2 gens have been created by Sony's 1st party studios & tanked in sales thanks to the majority of people either not wanting to, or being too scared to experience something different. Games like Primal, The Mark Of Kri, Wipeout, Starhawk, etc, etc, are just some of the Sony inhouse games that should have sold waaaay more than they did. I mean, inFamous 1 & 2, Resistance, Socom (yes, I think pt 4. is great, even though it strayed a little from the series), Unit 13, so many great games, so little support from gamers (or those that falsly label themselves so).

So many of Sony's inhouse developers have either been closed down or joined into there other studios, being swallowed up, because moroons are too busy playing the latest COD or Fifa or Madden, over supporting awesome developers & there games that dare to not be fps's or sports franchises.
I mean THQ beat GTA with Saints Row 3 as it is actually a better, more fun game, but it didn't sell anywhere as good as it should have, UFC 3... same story, Red Faction....same again, & Darksiders as well....I mean, these are all awesome, top of there genre games & still THQ went belly up & many of there franchises will never be seen again...in fact, the only 2 that are almost certain to get sequels are UFC & WWE, another 2 f$#king sports titles (not that EA doing a UFC is a bad thing, as I love UFC & the last game, & also loved EA's MMA), but everyone who truly loves "GAMES", gets my point, & gets my frustration at the clowns who are taking there cash to retail...
I mean, 50 Cent: Bulletproof sold like hotcakes, while Okami sold so little that Capcom dropped the studio, the 10 Fifa's & Fifa Streets & all those other breakoff soccer games all sold well enough for several sequels to be justified, yet Psychonauts & BG&E sold like crap, & the list goes on of great developers that make awesome, groundbreaking games getting low sales numbers & either going broke or not selling enough to make a sequel, while sh!t games like Bulletproof sell in masses.

Wake up people

[TongkatAli]

I agree
http://fc07.deviantart.net/...

[Kingthrash360]

You make a great point and point out some of the many, many many, problems with the gaming world. Too many band wagon fanboy nit pickers now days. I miss the days where gamers played games and didn't feel like they were all devs or somethin. For example I've never heard anyone mention how many Frames per seconds sonic is running or how you fought the same boss every level in Super Mario bros. we just played and enjoyed ourselfs. Now... These fanboy not picker types are saying the vita is in trouble because of a cancelled game? Wow what's next the vita is dead because gravity rush 2 doesn't star cat? ( not implying that will happen but that's how low some so called gamers will go)

[1upgamer99]

Lets see IF I had to pick, ummmm, 3DS or PSVita...hmmmm...I would pick the one that had better games. Oh and if you disagree, I did not say which I thought had better games I just simply said I WOULD pick the one with better games.

[CommonSenseGamer]

I follow the games not the hardware. If the games I want to play require me to buy certain hardware that I can afford then I'll buy it. Fanboys seem to forget its about the games and not the hardware.

[PhillipSantanaMusic]

for every one cancelled i bet two NEW ones will florish from the knowledge gained just in that experience alone.

like dude said above, games do get cancelled after development has started for multiple reasons. everything isn't always on the down side.

i bet there are games we dont even expect that will WOW us for Vita.

Sony thinks long term.

[WiiUsauce]

I got so scared when I saw the thumbnail, because I thought Sony had cancelled Tearaway. Seriously, Tearaway looks so amazing, it's the sole reason for me to own a Vita.

[5eriously]

A few crucial comments the Anti Sony trolls seems to miss very conveniently

Out of their own mouths!

["“We'd been working on the [Vita] game for about a year,” Hopper revealed. “Eventually it came to a mismatch of expectations of what we wanted to deliver and what we could deliver and what they wanted. So near the end of last year they pulled the funding plug unfortunately."]

A mismatch between what the devs want to do and what Sony wanted, now the question is who funded the development?

They could not deliver!!!! Now fsucking hell, no wonder Sony pulled the plug.

Secondly they missed the issue

[“We could pick it up in the future. We don't really want to right now. Financially it wouldn't work for us.”]

Now if it financially would not work for the devs why would it work financially for Sony then???

Seems to me rather a failed development effort which cost Sony a small fortune.

[Bladesfist]

It wont work for them financially because they have no investment. It is not possible to really judge how well a new IP will be received. Many games have been rejected funding and gone on to sell a load of copies.

[Adolph Fitler]

And Sony give these type of developers MASSIVE chances, while MS are scaring off Bungie by making them make Halo, after, Halo, after Halo, whereas Sony's Team Ico's, Ico tanks in sales, yet Sony says, "never mind, we love what your doing, have another go". MS on the other hand, drops the deveopers of Halo Wars, before the game even releases & proves itself in sales, & it went on to make them awesome bucks. Meanwhile SOTC is released & again the Team Ico game's sales fall way below expectations & Sony just say, "ah well, start developing whatever you like on our new machine", 6 years later & Sony are still funding that one & it's still nowhere to be seen & is rumoured to be a PSOrbis title now. Sony also told Evolution Studios that were formely best known for the PS2 WRC games, to develop a new IP, they also encouraged Insomniac to do the same & I ended up with 2 of my favorite game series this en in Motorstorm & Resistance (games that also should have sold way more, especially Apocalypse & R3, as they were best in series).

Sony have to scrap the games that don't completely make sense now, they can only fund so many arthouse, or different, or unconvential or all of the above. I mean, as much as Nintendo do there own thing, Sony do so as well, and for me, they do a far better job, as they are not just catering to 9yr old kids & teenage girls, because they have the mature stuff, as well as the Ratchets, Singstars, LBP's, etc, etc. So you get that niche arthouse stuff, the awesome family friendly & creative stuff like LBP, Modnation Racers, as well as the more tarditional family stuff, as well as the over the top arcadedy stuff like Motorstorm, as well as the Killzones, Socoms, Warhawks/Starhawks, as well as the mish mashed genred awesome titles like inFamous & the list goes on.....But unfortunately, due to mainstream, moron, sheep, mentality, we are seeing these developers of such titles go bust. I mean, Sony have lost so many developers this gen, and teams like Insomniac have had to go multiplat, as great IP's like Resistance weren't selling well enough (maybe they should have just copy & pasted the COD formula). Then other favorite developers of mine have been delegated to making Home, Singstar & other crap that takes them from creating awesome titles like Medievil, Primal, The Mark Of Kri, The Getaway, 8 Days, & the like.
I get peeved about it, & I hope consumers do not tailor make developers enough to wipe out the more creative, awesome, diffrent games, & so we end up with just certain types of action games, sports games, etc, etc. I
I mean JRPG's have been wiped out, pretty much, & Japanese flavored action games (which I personally love many of), as well as just Japanese styled games in general are going by the wayside, which to me, having grown up on them, & knowing how great they are, is a huge shame & travesty.

[black911]

Cancel could always mean Change. Maybe they decided to go with another game.

[Drainage]

damn this next gen handheld war seems to be a lopsided mess for the underdog, jeez. Sony has been getting bad press lately with their patents and what not and now this as well. Seems like Vita has no hope except for KILLZONE .

[mamotte]

Maybe it wasnt a port or a spin-off from a PS3 game.

[DJ]

Sony has a lot of PS3/PS4 developers, but nowhere near enough Vita developers. Vita has a chance of dominating the handheld gaming scene since it's the best hardware ever made. They should do right by it and start spending someone money on Vita game development.

AND proper advertising.

[jocelot]

you are doing it right sony....

[arbitor365]

the title of the article is deceiving. it makes it sound like tearaway got canceled, which is not the case. its just "death inc." a game that no one has even heard about

people in the comment section are spouting nonsense about how this is some sort of blow to the vita and that the vita is lacking upcoming games.

you serious? we have

tearaway
killzone mercenaries
sly 4
soul sacrifice
phantasy star online 2
MLB 13
Dragon's Crown
Warrior's lair

it amazes me that people still want to bash the vita and call it a failure. it has had a plethora of high quality titles in its first year, between them have walked away with almost all of the "portable game of the year" awards. and the console itself sold 4 million units its first year. how is that a failure exactly?