Stardew Valley launched on the PS Vita this week, but you wouldn’t know it if you opened the PlayStation Store application – in the UK, at least. The same is true of other moderately high-profile releases like VA-11 HALL-A as well. Where every new game used to get added to the storefront’s “latest” list, it seems that the company’s not even bothering to update that anymore. Ratings and screenshots are also apparently out.

You can still find and purchase every new PS Vita game by searching for them, and of course, the web-based store allows you to keep track of new releases more easily. But while we understand and accept that the handheld is on its last legs, we think it’s a bit of a slap in the face to developers still supporting the format that their games aren’t even getting promoted in the system’s own storefront. Sort it out, Sony: this isn’t a way to treat your partners. I think I know why this is.

You're reporting on this issue now.

Its probably been like this for months

When did you last check the Vita store?

Thats why they arent updating it

Seriously this thing must only get like...15 hits a week in the UK. I knew 3 people with a Vita and they never used the store, all physical.

Wonder why... You think this is bad. The PS3's store barely sees any updates and the featured game has been bloody FIFA 18 for months now.

This is probably the wrong place to say this but as much as I love the games on Playstation consoles, I really don't like Sony. They are happy to ditch any product that doesn't meet their expectations along with the customers that supported them. @KingdomHeartsFan I think that's a bit unfair. The PS3 is 12 years old and the PS Vita is over six years old. I thought this was worth pointing out, but let's not go overboard. I completely agree, not updating the store for several years is pretty appalling. Seems to have been dropped like an unwanted child. Surely it can't be that much of a drain to update occasionally. Been thinking this for ages - surprised you didn't pick up on it ages ago! Seems to be a pattern with Sony in the UK/EU though - the PS3 "What's New" section rarely got updated even before the PS4 was around, and I only recall them making use of the scrolling news ticker once or twice as well.

There's a "latest" tab on the Vita store, and that doesn't list Stardew Valley either, but does list 7'scarlet under 25/5/2018. Bloodstained:CotM too, which is worse because i searched for it and bought it (UK store) but it won't download for some reason. 🤔 @KingdomHeartsFan You mean unlike Ninty and Wii or Wiiu and MS and xbox?
Sony has treated their customers by far better than the other two. I am glad someone else has noticed this as it has irritated me for months. @naruball how exactly has nintedo treated wii u owners badly? they supported the system until the very end. very much unlike what sony did with the vita. Maybe it's my wicked sense of humor, but it's hilarious to me how they just don't even care. I’ve downloaded two games on PlayStation Vita this year Valkyria Chronicles 2 and Trials of Cold Steel 2. Both of which I found using the search box. I don’t think I’ve ever made an impulse purchase on PlayStation Vita. @get2sammyb This article! The vita store has been a disgrace for years. If you go to your download list i have thousands of items because it also includes all of the items i bought or otherwise downloaded on ps3. Its ridiculous trying to find your vita content. Its particularly annoying if you want to redownload delisted items from the store like virtua tennis vita - have to scroll for ages looking for it because a search no longer returns any results

And totally agree with you on the landing page and 'latest' releases tab being in need of a total refresh. The vita has an incredible library, but you wouldnt know it from hitting the home page. @KingdomHeartsFan Nintendo ditched the Wii U so hard that they're now a generation ahead of Xbox and PS. As bad as the support Vita's getting is, it's still more supported than the Wii U (which is, just to reiterate, a current gen system). Man, PS3 is the same gen as the original Wii and is still getting some support and attention. I think Sony are actually pretty damn good at supporting things that certain other companies would have totally killed off. @get2sammyb you were right to point it out. Sony are notorious for releasing products and then being lax with their support. Unless it's their main home console of course. @Matroska I agree. Sony has done a way better job of supporting their older systems. That being said, I will say it's sad how awful the PS Vita online store is, I really like my Vita, but I agree with others, I've never made an impulse buy in it, because the store isn't updated. @naruball I didn't say unlike others. But I think they should all realise that it's not just hardware they release these days; They are services. And they should stand by those services and the people that have put their money into them. I just think that that's the right thing to do to keep your userbase on your side. It really hurt Sega when they kept doing that to their fans. @Matroska their main consoles yes. And it's true like Sammy said that it's really old now. Although there are probably still millions of people using theirs. So its age shouldn't be an excuse. But Sony has dabbled in other things too and just left them adrift not long after. So even though it's better than bloody Nintendo, I'm not going to give them my approval when they do pull support. @Rogueleader76 The Vita is such an amazing piece of kit. I always thought it was so much better than the 3DS. But Nintendo poured so much effort into making the 3DS a hit and drawing third party support. Did Sony even try with the Vita? I have a handheld which I seem to care about more than its creator. I agree. I've also noticed PS+ discounts not being applied when a game is cross-buy and games missing from sales. For example Vagrant Story was on sale in the recent Big In Japan sale yet there's no mention of it on the promotion, you have to search manually.

Not exactly hard things to fix either. It's been like this for years on the EU Vita store.
The US store is much better. @viciousarcanum I bought it and it won't download for me either. I have a NA PSTV btw. And yes the game is PSTV compatible, not that it matters since I can't download it. Does anyone know if the 8-bit Bloodstained is cross-buy at least? @manu0 hilarious. Thanks for the joke, man. Didn't see that coming. @KingdomHeartsFan Not exactly. Sony ditched the vita and it didn't hurt the ps4 at all. It would have hurt a vita 2.
Ninty ditched the wiiu and the Switch has been breaking records since it came out, largely thanks to the fact that it's not (just) a home console.

As for Sony not supporting the vita, you are misinformed. If you do some research, you'll realize that not only did they make several AAA games (which I'm sure you're aware of), but they worked for years with several third parties and asked them (even funded them) to make new games or ports for the Vita. There have been several studios that revealed in interviews that Sony kept pushing the vita and asked them to make a game for it even when they didn't want to.
Both COD and Borderlands 2 sold relatively well, so that wasn't a terrible idea. Then they worked with indies or made several of their AAA games multiplat (available on ps3/4 + psvita). Their support didn't end. Namco said several times that they couldn't bring tales games to the west, yet a few months later they did. Sony clearly gave them a reason to.

As a business, they put as much effort as they possibly could to justify it to the shareholders. Every time there was a report, the vita was bleeding money and they could keep it up only for so long.

Sure, fans like us may care about it more than a company, but it's not our money that's at stake nor do we have to explain to anyone why we keep supporting a failed platform. Your comparison doesn't make any sense. @Ryall OMFG! When did Valkyria Chronicles 2 get localized? I never even heard about that, unless it was so long ago I forgot about it. Thank you. Is in worth $10 US, or does it look really bad now? I'm in US, but Stardew Valley was in the Featured & new releases section for us, as I saw on Wednesday, I believe. Says the 21st was release, but I can't be bothered to count backward from 26th to see when that was actually, but they usually release on Tuesday here, so probably on release day.

Also, to be fair, none of these companies care much about us. Nintendo's making it impossible to redownload purchased wii shop games starting early 2019, so I have to buy an RF converter to hook mine up to my old TV & get a bigger SD card so I can make sure all the games I bought are downloaded. They all suck at one time or another (& yes I own all 3 main gen consoles & have owned all MS, Sony & Ninty consoles since NES [excluding Virtual Boy], PS1, Xbox), so I'm only biased in favor of great games. @twztid13 it’s noticeably more pixelated than the PS4 remaster of the first game especially when you’re directly controlling one of your soldiers what you’re expecting something that was originally a PSP game really. It has multiple smaller battlefields which you move between by capturing camps and redeploy your forces. I have really enjoyed it so far worth $10. Don't mind having to search for the game (although it's inconvenient and not good for the games publishers) but when I buy a game I expect to be able to download and play it which isn't the case with bloodstained on the vita, c'mon Sony I bought it on the vita instead of the switch and now you have made me think what a big mistake that was Wait, what is a Vita... ... And that's where I give my huge thanks to Pushsquare and all the other game sites. Cos without you guys giving us decent reviews/news/previews I wouldn't know about any new vita games. Now you mentioned stardew Valley on ps vita I'm getting it!

Yeah I agree with gaming community, ps vita support sucks really bad in the UK. the download section is seriously daft. I mean why isn't there a filter so I can only view vita games! And searching the store doesn't display the keywords I've typed in eg. Rpg. And why oh why must screen go dark after a few seconds when I'm watching a cutscene (no dark screen pls!). However I love my ps vita @KingdomHeartsFan well I was going to say, I think that's the one system that Nintendo has supported better than Sony.

3ds has been out for a long time, and it's still getting support. The Vita had so much potential. Okay, can anyone answer me this: What's the point of sticking with a Console(like the Wii U) that is failing miserably? Would you really waste more time sticking to a console or handheld that is considered a commercial flop around the world? Because if I was a CEO of a video game company, I certainly wouldn't. @Slasher Depends how fast you can move on, and consumer confidence.

What hurt the later SEGA systems in the public eye was how fast they were dropped and replaced, over and over. It damages the brand.

But more so, the issue with development time on new hardware. You cant just pop out another system straight away, that takes time. @naruball All I can provide for you is my experience. I have a Bravia that lost support very quickly and the updates that were provided included a lacklustre selection of apps and features. I can't redownload my comics on my PSP anymore, the Vita started losing app support, and it felt like decent exclusives dried up quickly on Vita and to a lesser extent, the PSP. Then we have a selection of accessories and add ons which Sony dropped support for not long after. My eye camera hasn't been out of my draw since eye pet. Move lost support and was only revived by chance last year. But even VR support seems to be gradually dropping off Sony's radar. By next year. I'm sure it'll be non existent and you'll have a bunch of headsets gathering dust in draws. If they aren't already. There are loads more reasons why I love playstation. But what I see from my experience is a company that sees its products as fads before they're even released. Then you get fools like me who bought them. @Rogueleader76 Agreed. @YummyHappyPills pretty sure the Russian storefront lacked games and screenshots (not to mention the many bafflingly GoogleTranslate-esque descriptions) back in early 2016 when I got my Vita. And as a digital buyer, I've been browsing Vita store a whole lot, but it's only the download list I access on the console nowadays. The rest doesn't even always seem to have full discount lists.

On the other hand, credit where it's due - Vita store still has separate sections for PS1 and PSP (complete or not is a different question, but still), something I haven't seen on the web storefront for ages. @Rob_230 Google PSDLE that will solve all your problems hunting for your purchased content that you want to download. Has to be the web store rather than on the vita itself but it makes queuing downloads as quick and easy as it should be. It's so simple it makes you wonder why Sony aren't using it themselves. This is sad, hopefully the US Vita store is updated. In the us store both games in question are in the new games category I just looked a couple days ago @Rgeneb1 hero. Thank you very much! 100%! This is a classic example of mismanagement, and if you're an investor, it seems like there's lots of room for Sony to tighten up their act. I think better customer support would have resulted in significantly better console and game sales for the Vita; they've left a lot on the table. We're talking about the dang store here - just help me find the deals!

PS store on PS TV is even worse though - it's still advertising for Playstation Now which was expressly dropped from Vitas as a service over a year ago (or more?).

Despite the lack of support, for anyone looking at a mini-<fill in the blank like NES, etc.>, just get a PS TV for $30 bucks and a memory card for $30, use your PS4 controllers (up to 4 can play at a time), and download all the monthly free games you've been adding to your library over the years (whoops if you haven't). It's a screaming good deal which Sony will never help you understand because they are good at making, not selling. "But what I see from my experience is a company that sees its products as fads before they're even released"
Now that's an exaggeration and you know it. You see everything extremely negatively. If you were to write down the facts (i.e. how many years Sony supported psps/psvita/MOVE/psvr) and in how many ways (conferences, ads, first party games, giving incentives to 3rd party studios or downright paying in full the development of a game, etc), you'd realize just how wrong you are. They tried with all the products you mentioned, but they are still a business. If after all these efforts the audience doesn't respond to them, as a company they need to move on.
I truly think that if you were to see it all written down (with costs added next to them), you'd see just how much they have done that you were unaware of. @naruball You have to understand that I don't see it from their point of view as a business. What I see is the experience that I've had with them. Putting figures and what not in front of me doesn't change that. You can cry "but they tried this and they tried that" it doesn't change my perception of them which I've developed over the years. I'm sorry but I'm not going to budge on this. @get2sammyb I agree with your article. It's definitely been a while since they've updated it. The Vita used to have the Sales updated but hasn't since January (might've been before, but they def had one at Christmas).
Now I have to go to the web based store to see if any software has been discounted lol hell naw, the only reason the Vita was remotely alive and received "support" (well, only in Japan) has litte to nothing to do with Sony, third-party japanese companies released games on the system because portables are gods there, and that is it.

The Switch is a 3DS successor and a WiiU successor, the WiiU floped hard but their users at least got to experience some neat exclusives and they even got BOTW last year, what Sony did for the Vita? they had some exclusives the first year and then Sony was like..."userbase? what the heck is that?" and dissapeared forever until the Vita was a fad.

Not saying that the Nintendo WiiU era was good, it was just horrible, but the Vita was just worse.
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