Global Vita sales edge to 1.8 million

Sony has sold about 1.8 million PlayStation Vita units during handheld’s three month launch window, the company’s new CEO Kaz Hirai has revealed.

The handheld was released on December 17th in Japan, and on February 22nd across North America and Europe.

Sales figures were disclosed for the period ending March 31st. Calculated against previous disclosures, it means that Sony sold about 600,000 units globally during March.

Following a relatively upbeat launch day in the UK and US, the hi-spec system appears to have quickly lost momentum.

Hirai suggested to investors that sales will need to pick up in order for the device to be a success for Sony.

"I think it was a good start," he said of Vita’s commercial performance so far, as quoted by Eurogamer.

Sony, which has about fifteen game development studios across the globe, has pledged to support the system with exclusive content.

"Software is the key to success, how good the software is. We have to reinforce the software area in order to improve the business, that is the basic line," Hirai said.

"And vis-a-vis Vita, at this moment, there is no decline or lack of motivation as a portable platform.

"This is a very important product indeed for us, and therefore we still have a very high motivation to develop this further. There is no change," he continued.

"And services and software must be strengthened. In other words, the collaborative approach is very important, so is third-party. And from first party studios, the titles will be presented one after the other, so please look at them and give your evaluation based on them."