Tiny game studio finds Nintendo stardom through Sony’s obsolete device

A file photo of a visitor to the 2012 Tokyo Game Show looking at the PS Vita. The developers of ‘Gnosia’ reasoned that by sticking with the Vita, they were giving their game the best chance of being noticed. — TAN KIT HOONG/The Star

For Toru Kawakatsu, winning a 70-second spot on Nintendo Co’s popular Direct showcase last month was the culmination of an unusual strategy many dismissed as quixotic.

His four-person game studio, dubbed Petit Depotto, started work on an adventure game called Gnosia for the PlayStation Vita portable console back in 2015. The Vita was already ailing back then, and Sony Corp had stopped announcing sales numbers for it, but Kawakatsu and his friends didn’t waver. Last summer, three months after the Vita was officially discontinued, they released their finished work on a zombie platform. Warmly received by players and recognised by reviewers, the game got Nintendo’s attention, which may not have happened had they competed on more congested fronts. Gnosia’s Switch edition went on sale in Japan on April 30.