Soul Sacrifice™, Legendary Designer Keiji Inafune's Sprawling Action-Adventure and 4-Person Multiplayer Epic, Brings Its Larger-Than-Life Battles and Dramatic Player Choices to North America Exclusively for the PlayStation®Vita System

FOSTER CITY, Calif., April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) announced today the North American release of Soul Sacrifice™, available exclusively for the PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) system.

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From renowned game designer Keiji Inafune and his comcept studio comes Soul Sacrifice, a dark fantasy action-adventure built on a simple question: what would one sacrifice for ultimate power? Taking the role of a cruel mage's prisoner, players will encounter a magical tome, Librom, with the ability to transport them into its many chapters and entries. Through reliving these bygone adventures, many of which are fraught with horrendous monsters and massive bosses, players can strengthen their avatars and acquire new magical Offerings. Along the way, they will face constant tests of virtue. Is it better to save a lost soul, freeing them from their bondage and incurring a lesser benefit, or to sacrifice it and reap the rewards of a wellspring of dark power? These decisions will dramatically affect the adventure and shape the visage of the player's customized hero.

Developed by an all-star team of designers, Soul Sacrifice delivers an altogether new type of hardcore portable gaming experience. Via ad-hoc or infrastructure multiplayer, up to four adventurers can join together to experience the wealth of quests and challenges buried in Librom's worn pages. A variety of beautifully rendered environments are complemented by a deliciously twisted menagerie of ghastly beasts and monstrosities, meant by their uneasiness to mask the fact that each represents a lost soul ready to be saved or sacrificed.

The game's soundtrack, composed by legends Yasunori Mitsuda and Wataru Hokoyama, is of unprecedented scale for a portable title. Soaring, charged ballads and haunting melodies are the perfect accompaniment for Soul Sacrifice's grand set pieces. The soundtrack was recorded using full orchestras and choruses on the Scoring Stage at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, CA, a world-renowned studio with some of the best acoustic technology and audio engineers in the world.

"As one of the most aggressively pre-ordered PS Vita titles of all time, we're thrilled to finally deliver Soul Sacrifice and its deep portable hardcore experience to our eager fans," stated Asad Qizilbash, Senior Director, First Party Games Marketing, SCEA. "Its visual presentation and substantial online multiplayer functionality prove once again the unmatched capability of PS Vita as a portable entertainment system. With its impressive developer pedigree and a wealth of positive feedback following the game's overwhelming success in Japan, Soul Sacrifice promises to launch its unique handheld gaming vision in North America with equal aplomb."

Soul Sacrifice is now available exclusively for the PS Vita system with an MSRP of $39.99. Fans who play the Soul Sacrifice demo will be able to carry their save file over to the complete game, a process rewarded by an exclusive magic Offering.

Soul Sacrifice has been rated "M" for Mature with Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, and Violence by the ESRB.  For more information about the ESRB, visit http://www.esrb.org.

For more information about Soul Sacrifice, visit the PlayStation blog, the official game site (http://us.playstation.com/psvita/games-and-media/psv-soul-sacrifice.html), or contact:

Assets are available at ftp://filetrans.ketchum.com

About Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® systems, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system, the ground-breaking PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) portable entertainment system and its online and network services the PlayStation®Network and PlayStation®Store.  Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one, PlayStation 2, PSP, PSPgo, PS3 and PS Vita systems for the North American market.  Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC serves as headquarters for all North American operations.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com.

© 2013 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Soul Sacrifice is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. "PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

SOURCE Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC