Journey and Flower Dev Wants to Expand Past PSN

[Mike Kayatta]

Journey and Flower Dev Wants to Expand Past PSN

As Journey's development cycle ends, so does Thatgamecompany's contract to make its games exclusive to PlayStation platforms.

Indie developer Thatgamecompany, currently best known for its small, arty titles flOw and Flower, is set to launch its next project, Journey, on PSN March 13th. Like its predecessors, Journey will be a PlayStation exclusive, but if current negotiations go through, that restriction may just be limited to release.

When asked about his interest in developing a game for the Vita during a recent interview with pushsquare.com, Thatgamecompany co-founder Jenova Chen neglected to say yes or no, instead remarking, "Thatgamecompany had a three game contract with Sony, so the past three games had to be Sony exclusive. Right now we are very much exploring ways to bring our games to a bigger audience, beyond just PlayStation. We are still in the process of negotiating, but I hope that we can announce it [soon]. But right now it's still in the process."

While Chen's answer is somewhat evasive, I think it's safe to say that further Sony development is not at the top of his company's current agenda. What's more difficult to say is whether Thatgamecompany is planning to move its existing catalog of (soon to be) three titles to a platform such as Xbox Live, or simply ready to begin development on some yet-to-be-announced new IP that would enjoy a wider distribution at launch. Either way, if Chen is to be believed, we'll all know the answer soon enough.

Source: Pushsquare.com [http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2012/02/interview_thatgamecompany_journey?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter]

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[GonzoGamer]

When they signed the contract they were probably thinking that the ps3 might at least sell half as many units as the ps2.
This is probably a smart move on their part.
I've pretty much given up on the ps3 too.

 

[Baresark]

I hope they have more aspirations than just XBLA. I want some of that on the PC.

As I have always said, any company that signs an exclusive contract is just stupid. Limiting your potential buyers is not a good way to turn a profit. The more exclusive something is, the less it sells. And no one is buying a PS3 for a few indie games. The problem is that while devs tend to be smart, they are retarded at business. And while Sony can't make a game (the publisher end that is), they sure as hell are good at business... or at least manipulating companies into what they want.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Hello... PC gaming here... we love all that stuff... come on...
Just look at Dear Esther and how popular that is.
Come on, these games look interesting!

 

[Wil213]

Hello... PC gaming here... we love all that stuff... come on...
Just look at Dear Esther and how popular that is.
Come on, these games look interesting!

Agreed. I got a PS3/PSN and I'd think that best thing for them to move to would be something like Steam. They could do XBLA but 'cos of the massave riviraly between the XBLA and PSN I think Steam would be way easer.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Agreed. I got a PS3/PSN and I'd think that best thing for them to move to would be something like Steam. They could do XBLA but 'cos of the massave riviraly between the XBLA and PSN I think Steam would be way easer.

Yeah, also a lot more artistic freedom, plus you can work on projects without those restricting guidelines that PSN and XBLA enforce.
Reason 'Cthulhu saves the world' couldn't give an awesome first part.
Had little control over how the demo went.

 

[Wil213]

Agreed. I got a PS3/PSN and I'd think that best thing for them to move to would be something like Steam. They could do XBLA but 'cos of the massave riviraly between the XBLA and PSN I think Steam would be way easer.

Yeah, also a lot more artistic freedom, plus you can work on projects without those restricting guidelines that PSN and XBLA enforce.
Reason 'Cthulhu saves the world' couldn't give an awesome first part.
Had little control over how the demo went.

With 'Dear Ester' doing so well, any dev' wanting to make a game that even relativy 'arty' would be better off on Steam. PSN people are are nerds and think too highly of themselves [me included] and XPLA people are, as Yahtzee once put it, intrested in 'big tough manly games' [as everyone else I know is].