2 Classic PlayStation Vita Games Almost Got Sequels

Summary

Soul Sacrifice 2 and Freedom Wars 2 were both in development for the PS Vita before being canceled.
The sequels were abandoned due to Sony's strategic decision to redirect more resources toward PS4 game development at the time.
The PS4 also got in the way of some other prospective PS Vita games, according to former SIE Shuhei Yoshida.

Sony was once working on the sequels to PlayStation Vita classics Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice, a senior company official has revealed. However, the gaming giant eventually canceled both projects, abandoning them alongside the PS Vita itself.

Originally released between December 2011 and February 2012, depending on the market, the PS Vita ended up being one of the shortest-lived consoles that a major manufacturer put out this century. Sony officially gave up on making first-party Vita games in 2015. One of its final major attempts at showcasing the device's capabilities was Freedom Wars, an action RPG by Tokyo-based studio Dimps that received widespread praise following its 2014 release.

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By Priye Rai

While Freedom Wars effectively marked the beginning of the end for the PS Vita's first-party library, Sony initially had different plans, which included greenlighting a sequel to the critically acclaimed ARPG. That's according to former Sony Interactive Entertainment President Shuhei Yoshida, who said as much during a recent episode of Last Stand Media's Sacred Symbols+ podcast. The SIE veteran also revealed that Sony was working on a follow-up to Soul Sacrifice, another Vita-exclusive ARPG, which debuted to an immense critical reception in 2013.

PS4 Got in the Way of Freedom Wars 2 and Soul Sacrifice 2

Sony eventually canceled both projects, with Yoshida citing the then-newly-started console generation as the chief reason for the decision. "We were actually working on Soul Sacrifice 2 and Freedom Wars 2, but because of budget limitations, we had to stop and move on to PS4," the veteran gaming executive recalled.

Yoshida didn't clarify exactly how long the Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice sequels were in the works at the time of their cancellation. He did, however, suggest that the PS4 accelerated the PS Vita's demise even beyond pulling resources from new Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice titles. Had Sony's focus not shifted to PS4 first parties at the time, the Vita would have received more spin-offs of flagship PlayStation IPs in the vein of Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Killzone: Mercenary, according to Yoshida.

We were actually working on Soul Sacrifice 2 and Freedom Wars 2, but because of budget limitations, we had to stop and move on to PS4.

While it shelved Freedom Wars 2, Sony later committed resources to making sure the original remains widely available. These efforts resulted in Freedom Wars Remastered, which debuted in January 2025. Despite being a PlayStation IP, the remaster received Nintendo Switch and PC ports, released alongside its PS4 and PS5 versions. In contrast, Soul Sacrifice is still officially confined to the PS Vita, with Sony offering no indication that the 2014 title will receive a remaster, despite persistent fan pleas.

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