Sony’s PlayStation Vita handheld will not be receiving a price cut this year, according to Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Yoshida says that Sony’s engineers are currently in the process of lowering the Vita’s manufacturing costs for a future price cut, but that it’s still “too early” for such a cut to take place this year.
“People like cheap or free,” Yoshida said. “Of course, cost reduction is one area our engineering team is working on. But we just launched the platform earlier this year. It takes time to do so.”
The fledging handheld has suffered what’s generally seen as subpar sales figures since its launch, which has caused many to call for a price cut sooner rather than later.
However, Yoshida says that the company’s plan in the meantime is to try and spark sales through special bundle packs and deals. He cites the LittleBigPlanet PS Vita bundle, which was announced at Gamescom earlier this week, as a potential boon.
“At a certain point in the future we would like to address the pricing issue for some of the people who are waiting. But this year we are trying to add value by creating different types of bundles. We announced we will provide LittleBigPlanet PS Vita bundle pack. That’s affordable for people who are looking for a good deal.”