The Playstation Vita version tactical fantasy indie game The Banner Saga was thought to have been delayed indefinitely — that is until Sony announced today that they will be helping developer Stoic finish it.
International Business Times reported that Banner Saga developers Stoic had previously announced their intentions of releasing their game on Sony’s handheld Playstation platform. However, due to financial problems, it was reported that Stoic had shelved the Vita version of their popular independent game completely.
The Banner Saga is a tactical RPG video game originally developed by Stoic for PC. The game was developed by a relatively small team for a relatively small budget, though after it received favorable reviews it gained a modest following.
Stoic then announced plans to release the game on other consoles. It was, for example, released on Sony’s Playstation 4 platform. A version for the Playstation Vita was also announced, though has yet to come to fruition.
However, Sony and software developer Versus Evil have partnered up to deliver a Vita port of The Banner Saga, meaning that it is coming to the Sony handheld after all. These two companies will support developer Stoic with the costs of porting the game. They will also have a hand in the game’s profits when it is released.
This news comes as a bit of surprise. Fans believed that Sony had given up on supporting the Playstation Vita from a first party perspective — meaning that they had given up on developing and funding games for the system themselves and rely exclusively on third party developers to populate the console’s list of game’s.
It was confirmed by Playstation Vita PR via Twitter that the Banner Saga will be released on the Playstation Vita in 2016.