We’ve had some great PS4 indie games since the launch of Sony’s latest console – Rime, Limbo, Axiom Verge to name just a few – but it seems like Sony’s focus has changed, and no longer are they flag-waving for the indie studios.
It’s not that Sony doesn’t care – after all some of its indie games have sold extremely well – but its focus has switched to selling PlayStation VR units and putting that at the forefront of its marketing efforts, alongside some of the upcoming PS4 exclusive games.
Sony’s E3 2016 was crammed full of indie titles that Sony was keen to show off. Yet at E3 2017, indie games were pushed aside, effectively replaced by upcoming PlayStation VR games. This was a deliberate choice by Sony, though it must be a hard pill to swallow for the smaller studios it embraced since the days of PlayStation’s indie-championing Shahid Ahmad.
Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, PlayStation marketing chief Jim Ryan has spoken about why indie games didn’t get coverage during its latest E3 showing.
“One of the things we have realised is that these video collages of ten indie games shown in a minute, is almost meaningless. Nobody can really learn anything about the games in that sort of time. It is almost viewed as wasted time.”
He continued: “There was a time and a place, in the early stages of the life of PS4, to make statements. It was more about making a statement that we are serious about the indies, and that we are doing this and that with the indies… It is less relevant now. We have VR to talk about now, for example.”
It’s a comment that is unlikely to go down well with the hard-working indie studios that Sony once put high on a pedestal since it allowed indies to self-publish games on the PS4 platform.
With support for PS4 indie games seemingly dwindling from Sony, it’s clear the indie studios are going to have to work harder than ever to get their work published and seen by the masses.