Sony Commits $20m To PSN Game Development

[Earnest Cavalli]

Sony Commits $20m To PSN Game Development

Sony has 20 million reasons why developers should consider creating exclusive games for the PlayStation Network.

An announcement on the official PlayStation blog reveals Sony's plan to reinvigorate its PlayStation Network downloadable gaming service. To wit:

We're thrilled to announce a three-year, $20 million dollar investment plan to develop PSN exclusive games. Our line of PSN exclusives has had great success with titles such as Joe Danger, Critter Crunch, Flower and the PixelJunk series, and we're excited to add new and different game experiences to this portfolio of games that can't be found on any other game console. This investment includes support across both our own network of first-party studios as well as for the Pub Fund, which was first introduced at GDC in 2009.

The announcement goes on to extol the virtues of Sony's decision, saying the fund "means more unique, fun, innovative, edgy and higher quality game experiences on PSN that you won't find anywhere else," and name dropping upcoming PlayStation Network critical favorites like Papa & Yo [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110793-E3-Papo-Yo] as examples of what fans can expect.

This announcement comes at a critical time for the PlayStation brand. Sony is its "Welcome Back" program [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110743-E3-PlayStation-Boss-Opens-Show-With-an-Apology] has been widely hailed as successful at its goal of winning back the support of fickle gamers, the company needs all the goodwill it can generate.

Sony has yet to announce any actual games connected with its nascent outpouring of monetary developer support, but the PlayStation blog claims that such news is coming shortly.

Assuming this venture pans out, it still raises the following question: Does Sony's downloadable gaming service have the potential to compete with Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade?

The last PlayStation Network exclusive I was actively excited about was 2009's Fat Princess [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88610-Fat-Princess-Still-Fat-Still-Awesome], while Xbox 360 downloadable titles consume the vast majority of my playing time.

Am I alone here? Do you prefer Sony's downloadable service to Microsoft's? If not, what would Sony have to do to change your mind?

Source: PlayStation.blog [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/07/13/psn-to-invest-20-million-in-exclusive-game-portfolio/]

Permalink

 

[SoopaSte123]

I loved Flower. And... that's about it. Magic Duels of the Planeswalkers, but thats on 360 and PC as well. Downloaded lots of demos, but Flower was the only one that convinced me to buy.

Then again, I'm not much for smaller games. I like my games beefy with plenty of replay value, so I'm probably not the one to ask.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Fat Princess is currently the only game I've downloaded involving a PSN only title. It's a damn awesome game though.

I've always been more towards Live for arcade titles though.

 

[lord.jeff]

I don't know what the 360 has to offer but I like the focus on PSN games hopefully we can see some new ideas explored in them.

 

[DigitalSushi]

The last PlayStation Network exclusive I was actively excited about was 2009's Fat Princess [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88610-Fat-Princess-Still-Fat-Still-Awesome], while Xbox 360 downloadable titles consume the vast majority of my playing time.

Am I alone here? Do you prefer Sony's downloadable service to Microsoft's? If not, what would Sony have to do to change your mind?

I've been excited about Wipeout and Dead Nation, which lo and behold, I get for free (YAAYYYYY!) once I get my PS3 fixed that is (BOOOOOO!)

I was also excited about Limbo but that was an Xbox exclusive (BOOOOO!), operative word being was (YAYYYYY!)

edit: But all in all, not that excited by Downloadable games, I'm not a big fan of Steam either purely because I like having a boxed copy of my games. But if download games really do take off then all those youtube people that dedicate entire channels to "un boxing of" video are going to be very unhappy bunnies.

"means more unique, fun, innovative, edgy and higher quality game experiences on PSN that you won't find anywhere else,"

Ohhh careful there Sony!

Spoiler

 

[xxBucdieselxx]

To tell you the truth Sony lost me on buying anything from them online. They lost me with their welcome back package, and the fact that Live is just a better experience as far as smoothness of operation goes. Sony just can't compete with Microsoft on this level. I own my PS3 for their exclusive disc titles God of War, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, to name a few. But as far as their arcade games go, I have only found 2 that I like and continue to play Super Star Dust HD (it was the first download game I got from PSN, long before the PSN hack debacle), and Pain. All the other ones I have downloaded have been pretty much mediocre. Opposed to Microsoft, who still has arcade games I am playing on their from my first Xbox 360 over 3 years ago. There isn't much Sony could say or do to change my mind at this point.

 

[King Toasty]

Hmmm. This could be good, if they manage it in the right way. They have big competition- Steam and XLive -but if they play their cards and $20 million right, they could have something.

Maybe. It's a long shot.

 

[Fensfield]

Mou... just gimme Journey already ><

 

[Tactical Fugitive]

Well first thing they should do is support small countries: I can't buy PSN titles because my country is not even on Sony's MAP! Due to this I registered as a UK user, so my bank refuses payments because it gets wrong country on transaction. How stupid is that, Sony?

 

[Kopikatsu]

Well first thing they should do is support small countries: I can't buy PSN titles because my country is not even on Sony's MAP! Due to this I registered as a UK user, so my bank refuses payments because it gets wrong country on transaction. How stupid is that, Sony?

Have you tried to talk to them about it? (The bank, that is.)

You'd be surprised by what you can accomplish by (politely!) talking to anyone in the service department of anything. The people in charge are human after all.

OT: I find the news to be 'meh'. I'll wait until Sony releases a list of games, because downloadable games aren't really my thing.

 

[Scrythe]

That's nice and all, and I really liked Flower, but...

When the the fuck are we going to get Legend of Dragoon on the PSN? It was made BY Sony, wasn't it?