The PS Vita's seven-year reign as Sony's premiere portable gaming device may be coming to a close with production scheduled to cease by next year. But a recent discovery seems to shed light on how Sony has not stopped exploring the possibility of a successor to its PS Vita.
Techtastic recently covered the unveiling of a Sony patent filed last year which was made public by the Korean Intellectual Property Right Information Service (KIPRIS). According to the publication's story, the patent that Sony filed was a design patent focused on a new gaming cartridge that seems to point towards a new portable gaming system that could replace the PS Vita.
Only the gaming cartridge's physical dimensions are reported in the document. There are no details regarding the specific use and function of the cartridge. The new gaming cartridge appears to be highly dissimilar from the current cartridge design used by the PS Vita. According to the patent document itself, it appears that the new gaming cartridge will be made of a synthetic resin material, as well as metal.
While the gaming cartridge patent does not come with information on a new portable gaming system itself, the publication does note that an earlier Sony patent reveals also pointed towards a PS Vita successor. Based on the Dualshock 4 design, the potential replacement to the PS Vita shares some design qualities with the popular Nintendo Switch. But some PS Vita fans may be wondering how likely the Sony patents will eventually turn into an actual product.
PC Mag notes another possibility that does not involve a successor to the PS Vita. The new gaming cartridge design could easily be for the upcoming PlayStation 5 itself rather than a wholly different platform like the PS Vita. Such a device would actually be closer to the vision of Sony's current chief executive.
Sony chief executive officer John Kodera may not have given up on pursuing a portable gaming device, but he did mention that any future Sony gaming platform would focus more on portable device integration. According to Kodera, Sony should be thinking of portable gaming not as a separate product from consoles like the PS Vita, but as an entertainment channel that supplements the core product.
The PS Vita may not have been Sony's most popular gaming platform, but the Nintendo Switch's success opens up the market for portable gaming. With a definite market that wants portable gaming products, Sony would be remiss not to capitalize on the opportunity.
