‘Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’ Delayed, Vita Version Canceled
By Stefanie Fogel
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night,” the latest game from “Castlevania” series producer Koji Igarashi, will now launch sometime in 2019 — but not on the .
The Vita version is cancelled, Igarashi told Kickstarter backers on Monday. Sony is reportedly ending production of physical Vita game cartridges by the end of fiscal 2018. It’s also discontinuing the handheld console itself, Igarashi said, and halting certain online store support features.
“It is extremely unfortunate, but as a result, we won’t be releasing the game on Vita,” Igarashi said. “For the backers who have ordered the PS Vita version of the game, you will be able to choose another platform or request a refund.”
“Being a huge PlayStation and Sony fan myself, I also know cancelling the Vita version of the game may be disappointing to some of you, but with Sony’s plans to discontinue the console and physical production of games, removing Vita titles from PS+ lineups etc., it was an unfortunate but necessary decision to make,” said Roberto Piraino, global brand manager of “Bloodstained” publisher 505 Games.”We really hope you’ll continue to support us on one of the other platforms available.”
Meanwhile, Igarashi’s team is pushing back the release date of “Bloodstained” so it can “raise the quality level” following its Beta Backer Demo.
“We’re sorry to make you wait a little longer for ‘Bloodstained,’ but you can trust that this really is in the best interest of the game — and our players,” said Piraino. “We assure you we’re using the extra time to make ‘Bloodstained’ even better, based on your input.”
“Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” launched its Kickstarter campaign in 2015 and raised more than $5.5 million, making it the most-funded video game campaign on the crowdfunding website at the time. It was dethroned by “Shenmue 3” shortly after. The action-adventure threequel pulled in over $6.3 million in funding from nearly 70,000 backers.
