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Axiom Verge Is Making Its Way To PlayStation Vita Soon

by Joe Buchholz on Mar 31, 2016 at 11:55 AM

Developer Tom Happ has announced that the PlayStation Vita version of the sci-fi Metroidvania-style Axiom Verge will be coming on April 19. This news comes on the heels of Happ’s announcement of the Xbox One and Wii U versions of the game.

In Happ’s PlayStation Blog post announcing the release date, he looked back on the development process of the delayed Vita port. Happ discusses the difficulty of porting the game’s engine to Vita, and how a breakthrough in its functionality was only made recently due to Slickhead Games' Tom Spilman.

Happ also took the post as an opportunity to reminisce about Axiom Verge’s first-year anniversary (the original version was released one year ago today). Happ writes:

My life has changed quite a bit from that day, but not necessarily in the way that people might expect. The period leading up to and following Axiom Verge’s release was a challenge, starting with the loss of my longtime canine companion Max just days before launch. I had to sell my car to pay for his treatment, and losing him right before launch put a dark cloud over everything. My son Alastair was born after the game launched, but he was afflicted with a severe case of jaundice that may leave him permanently disabled.

Happ writes that the silver-lining of his situation comes with Axiom Verge’s success, and how fan support has given him the opportunity to support his family. You can read more about Happ’s dog Max here, and his son Alaister here.

Axiom Verge will be cross-buy for PlayStation 4 and Vita, so if you already own the game you can download it immediately upon release. It will be 10 percent off for the first week of the game’s release. Click here to read former editor Bryan Vore’s glowing praise of the Playstation 4 version.

 

Our Take
The fact that Tom Happ put Axiom Verge together mostly as a one-man project is an extremely impressive feat that's matched by only a few other titles. The tragedies that clouded Happ's life during the original release of Axiom Verge are sobering reminders that supporting indie developers can have a positive impact on their lives.