Unfortunately for fans of the PS Vita, more server closures have been announced for the console. This time, two of the biggest Vita exclusives are receiving the ax. Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice were two of the handheld’s biggest exclusives back in the day. Both games were inspired by the Monster Hunter series which went from being exclusively on the PSP to a Nintendo 3DS exclusive series.
Monster Hunter arguably carried the PSP on its back for much of the lifespan of Sony’s first handheld console. The PSP’s success in Japan was due to the insane popularity of the series on the portable console. However, Nintendo was able to lure Capcom away from Sony and to the 3DS. The 3DS got off to a terrible start but having Monster Hunter on the handheld was the beginning of Nintendo’s turnaround for the console. This came at the expense of Sony’s second handheld console, the PS Vita. Without the console’s biggest franchise, the Vita floundered, even in Japan.
Enter, Soul Sacrifice, Freedom Wars, and a whole host of other Monster Hunter ‘clones’. Sony scrambled to try and create a series that would match the success of Monster Hunter on the PSP. While Soul Sacrifice and Freedom Wars never reached the incredible popularity of the Monster Hunter franchise, they were well-received games. They just weren’t enough to take on the Monster Hunter juggernaut and save the PS Vita.
Fast forward to 2021 and PlayStation Japan has announced that the Japanese servers for the games will close down on December 24, 2021. Considering that the games were far more popular in Japan than in the west, it’s safe to assume the rest of the world’s servers will go down on the same date or shortly after. For trophy hunters and fans of the games, you’ve got a little less than a month to enjoy these superb titles online before they’re gone for good.
