14 DAY TRIAL // A former video game developer has said that the Sony guidelines and requirements linked to third party developers were more complicated than those required by Microsoft.
A former employee at Vivendi that has worked with both companies told IndustryGamers that, “I’d say any comment by Sony that they have better developer relations or fewer insane hurdles is laughable. Things may have changed, but it still seems pretty funny to me that they could possibly try to call themselves always the better chance for small developers to get in, or some sort of indy safe-haven.”
The source, which wished to remain anonymous, stated that the checklists and the technical certifications that Sony required from third party developers were longer and more complex than those required by Microsoft for the Xbox 360.
He added, “I heard a lot of horror stories about the PS3 dev tools, and our launch-title devs got absolutely no support from Sony itself when they needed it – up to and including Sony calling one of our developers liars when we said their networking code wasn’t working for our game, and it was a problem with their system.”
His statements come after Sony suggested that it might be a better fit for those small developers who are put off by the impressive checklist required to get their game out on the Xbox Live Arcade.
Sony has not made its own requirements public.
As both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 enter the second half of their lifetimes Microsoft and Sony are finding that they need to expand the range of titles offered on their platform in order to attract a bigger number of players.
Microsoft has had great success with its Summer of Arcade initiative, which promotes indie games, while Sony has recently announced a similar Play concept.