The PlayStation Vita was a dead handheld walking for the last couple of years. It was given about as much attention from Sony in the last couple of years as Hollywood gives an over-the-hill actress or an out-of-shape actor, which is to say, no attention at all.

Niche Gamer picked up the news from Famitsu, where Sony Interactive Entertainment senior vice president Hiroyuki Oda was asked a few questions about the recently announced PlayStation Classic and whether there would be a successor to the PlayStation Vita.

Oda quickly got it out of the way that Japan and the West will have two different selections of games for the 20 titles included in the PlayStation Classic, and then later confirmed that as far as successors are concerned they have no plans for any follow-up to the PlayStation Vita…

“At the present time, we have no announcements or plans regarding a [new] portable device. The PlayStation Vita will continue its production in Japan up until 2019, after which point its shipments will have been completed.”

As pointed out by Niche Gamer, Oda doesn’t say whether or not this will affect Western territories as well, but if the system’s production run is coming to an end in Japan it’s very likely that the PS Vita’s production run will come to an end in the Americas and Europe as well.

The PlayStation Vita hasn’t been on Sony’s priority list for years and hasn’t even been receiving scraps from the company. Some third-party publishers have attempted to keep the Vita alive with a few visual novels and some Metroidvanias and rogue-likes here and there, but with Sony having thrown up their arms and given up the portable landscape to Nintendo, it means that Sony’s handheld dreams of dominance will come to an end in 2019.

(Thanks for the news tip GameZard)