Stoic has once again halted development of its Vita port of The Banner Saga , publisher Versus Evil confirmed this week, and it doesn’t sound like there’s any chance it’s ever going to resume.
A Vita version of the game was originally announced back in 2015. Stoic worked on that version of the game for months. It began life in development alongside the game’s PS4 and Xbox One ports and continued even after work began on The Banner Saga 2 . Eventually, the studio was forced to put the project on ice, only for it to be revived by Sony a few months later. The Vita manufacturer brought in a second developer, Code Mystics, to help put the finishing touches on The Banner Saga . But Versus Evil says developmental efforts are winding down again and it sounds like all four companies who’ve had a hand in development of the Banner Saga Vita port agree it’s time to throw in the towel.
The problem is that Sony’s portable gaming device just doesn’t quite offer the performance that Stoic and Code Mystics need to get the game running properly. Once they managed to get an extremely early build running, Stoic realized it would need to continue committing time and resources to the project for much longer than anyone had anticipated.
“The unique nature of the engine work needed to get the game running on Vita required the game being playable on Vita, making it virtually impossible to do normal testing throughout the process,” the publisher wrote . “Once we did get the game running, we ran into significant performance snags that eventually led to the final decision; we need to suspend development. This was a hard decision to make for all parties, but it was mutual across the board.”
The good news is that both The Banner Saga and its sequel are still available on PC and the current generation of consoles. And the last game in the trilogy was successfully crowdfunded in January. We may never get the ultra-portable Banner Saga port we’d hoped for. But the series will at least continue to thrive on other platforms.
The Banner Saga and its sequel are currently available on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The last game in the trilogy, The Banner Saga 3 , is expected to debut in late 2018.
