14 DAY TRIAL // Shuhei Yoshida, who leads the Worldwide Studios division at Sony, has revealed that supporting indie developers is a priority for the company he is leading and that more titles will be launched on the PlayStation 3 in the coming year.
Speaking to Gamasutra, the executive stated, “I don't think we're promoting the need to create artistic games per se. But what we really are working hard is to help create the ecosystem for smaller developers to be able to bring their content to the market and be rewarded financially as well.”
He says Sony is working with indie developer “because it's really important for the industry to always give a chance to these up-and-coming, perhaps more free from conventions, type of developers, to try out something and really get things published and get feedback from consumers.”
Some studios that Sony has worked with ended up being bought by the publisher and have been integrated into its development structure, like Giant Sparrow and Thatgamecompany.
The development teams at indie game creators also benefit from working with veterans and learn a lot about how the industry is working.
Gamers also benefit from the collaboration between indie developers and Sony because the games that results are more interesting than the traditional products that come from owned studios.
As the console cycle is drawing to an end both Sony and Microsoft are trying to attract new buyers and putting an emphasis on indie games is a good way of getting interested players that would otherwise only focus on the PC.
Sony has announced that it has a long-term plan for the PlayStation 3 and that its launch schedule is set for the coming three-year period, with a lot of slots presumably reserved for indie titles.
Neither Sony nor Microsoft has yet announced plans for next-generation consoles.