Sony’s PlayStation Portable has had its ups and downs of late, but an executive from Atari has labelled the handheld console a “vibrant platform”.

Phil Harrison is a former Sony executive but now President of Atari. He said he’s “sure [Atari] will continue to publish on PSP”, at a recent London gaming event, according to a report by Eurogamer.

However, Harrison also made a few comments which suggest that Atari’s looking to abandon the PSP’s UMD format in favour of downloadable games.

“Sony has made some good moves into opening up online distribution for software on the PSP, so I’m looking to explore that,” he said.

Jack Tretton, head of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has admitted in the past that “UMD has struggled” as a format.

He’s also previously said that sales of films on UMD discs haven’t been handled very effectively in the past.

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