UMD Passport program won’t be available for US Vita owners

Sony has confirmed that the UMD Passport program for PS Vita will not be available for players in North America.

“SCEA will not be offering the UMD Passport program. U.S. consumers who already own digital versions of select PSP titles will be able to seamlessly transfer those games to their PS Vita system. What’s great for PS Vita owners is that they can enjoy PSP games with upscaled video quality that’s ideal for the system’s 5-inch OLED screen, along with controls that are optimized for its features such as the dual analog sticks. More than 250 PSP titles (including minis) will be available at the launch of PS Vita, and hundreds of additional titles will be available post-launch,” said a Sony rep in a statement.

The UMD Passport program was introduced in Japan as a means for PSP owners to transfer their UMD-locked games to the Vita. The transfer involved a small fee, which quickly became a point of contention as publishers were given a free hand to decide on the pricing. As Giant Bomb points out, this brought inconsistency to the program where some games like Patapon 3 and Gran Turismo costing $12.89, while Hot Shots Golf 2 cost $6.44. Many games weren’t even part of the passport program.

We have contacted Sony to see if this applies to the Middle East as well. PS Vita launches on February 22 worldwide.