Good news, Digimon fans – Bandai Namco’s handheld RPG, Digimon World: Next Order is finally on its way to Western audiences next year, but not on the platform you’d have expected. Originally released in Japan back in March for the PlayStation Vita, it would logically follow that if a wider release were to ever go ahead, it would release on the same platform for which it first launched for.
Not quite. As reported by Kotaku, Bandai Namco made a slight blunder in their original press release announcement, naming both the PlayStation 4 and Vita as available platforms for the Western release of Next Order, but it turns out that the publisher mistakenly named the handheld in the original statement.
Mistakes were made in our initial announcement for Digimon World: Next Order and we regret any confusion this may have caused to our fans. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. looks forward to sharing more news and details pertaining to Digimon World: Next Order in the coming months leading to the game’s early 2017 launch.
Featuring a breeding system that allows the raising of your own companion creatures, Digimon: Next Order takes players to the Digital World to do battle with its inhabitants. You have no direct control over your Digimon during battle, instead issuing orders and strategic commands to them during each encounter.
How much success the niche title will find on Sony’s home console remains to be seen, but we suspect Bandai Namco may be alienating a sizeable portion of potential buyers by opting not to put out a Vita version outside of Japan.