In a recent interview with PlayStation:The Official Magazine, Sony Computer Entertianment Worldwide Studio president Shuhei Yoshida said the company has had difficulties in recruiting third-party publishers to create games for Sony's handheld gaming system the PlayStation Vita.
"We're having a more difficult time than we had anticipated in terms of getting support from third-party publishers, but that's our job," Yoshida said in the interview. "We will continue to talk to development communities and publishing partners and tell them why Vita can provide a great experience for the IPs they have and I hope the Assassin's Creed game will prove that."
Back in May of this year, Sony announced that PlayStation Vita sales hit 1.8 million worldwide at the end of the March. But the portable system lacks exclusive third-party games. Activision's Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified are two of the few major third-party releases for the PlayStation Vita.
Other third-party publishers have games slated to release but not many. The mobile market is definitely hurting Sony, as gamer are able to purchase games for devices they already own at low to no cost. Sony's biggest competitor the Nintendo has sold approximately 4 million units to date in North America alone and is currently bucking declining sales in the industry, according to research firm NPD Group.
The Sony PlayStation Vita did not have even one game in the top ten selling retail games for July. In fact Sony's older PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 had at least one game each in the top ten list for last month.