One of the main ways that Sony has managed to differentiate itself from chief rival Microsoft in the next-gen console war has been paving an easy pathway for indie developers to make games for the PlayStation 4 rather than the Xbox One.
While the Xbox One requires all indie developers to also have a publisher in order to get their game on the Xbox One, Sony has no such requirement for the PlayStation 4. This was reiterated by Agostino Simonetta, Sony's senior account manager of publisher and developer relations at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. He spoke to Joystiq about Sony's open door policy when it came to publishers, and summed up the company's stance:
"Every single individual developer is a publisher as far as we're concerned...We don't separate, we don't segregate indies from traditional publishers...It boils down to the objective quality of your title,"
Simonetta also revealed how the approval process works for new games submitted to Sony consoles. He indicated that all indie publishers need to do is submit to a one-stage approval process in which indie developers do not even need to sit down with Sony to discuss the game:
"In the past we used to provide developers feedback on the gameplay of their game...We still do that today if you want. You need to a tick a box and say 'I'd be happy to listen to what Sony has to say.' If you like it you can implement it in your game, if you don't you can completely disregard it. We really believe that as a self-publishing company, the final quality of your product is with you. And no company is set up to deliver a bad game."
Hopefully this policy will help Sony's indie library grow with quality games when the PlayStation 4 comes out later this year.
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