Sony's set to announce the next in its line of PlayStation home consoles tonight, and there's one big question on our minds: Will it be a viable platform for indies? According to a quick Twitter poll, that's on your minds too.
We've made no secret that one of our biggest concerns about this upcoming console transition is how platform makers will handle distribution for smaller game developers. Game machines are nothing without software support, and in an age where a lot of indies are making more on Steam than they are with the same games on consoles, a platform holder's strict guidelines and expensive certification processes are starting to feel a little antiquated. Ahead of tonight's imminent announcement of Sony's next home console, we took to Twitter to ask you, our audience of game developers, what you want from the next round of home consoles. And if the volume of responses requesting that Sony let indies into its walled garden are any indication, you share our concerns. But don't just take our word for it, here are a few select tweets from the community.
@gamasutra Easier and less terrible points of entry for smaller indie developers.
— Marigold Fleur ～✰ (@Xenobotanist) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra Freedom.
— Yannic Geurts (@xzbobzx) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra More open and robust online stores.
— Nicolas Barriere (@Soranomaru) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra better and friendly sdk/tools for indie developers
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra Ease of indie. Not having to buy into the entire ecosystem. Games first, other media second. Not having ads as a subscriber.
— Morac (@DoktorLoy) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra Accessibility for developers. Being able to build games to my 360 after 10 minutes or less of setup is really cool.
— Jimmy Albright (@JimmyAlbright1) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra zero-cost instantaneous app updates (like on steam), some way for indies to release games that can get noticed
— ben burbank (@bburbank) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra open environment to develop :/ or at least cheap
— Facundo Mounes (@facundomounes) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra FREEEEEEEEEEEEDDOOOOOOOOM! (rips out intestines)
— Lars Doucet (@larsiusprime) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra Accessibility for independent developers to develop games for the console and sell/promote their content in an online marketplace
— Chris Germano (@chris_germano) February 20, 2013
@larsiusprime @gamasutra I second this: freedom from arbitrary fees, and freedom to distribute without gatekeepers.
— Craig Stern (@sinisterdesign) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra As an inspiring indie developer, I’d love easy access to SDK’s and digital distribution through the consoles own store.
— Jacob Herold (@JacobHerold) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra Better promotion and discovery of digital games is definitely a big one from my perspective.
— Tara J. Brannigan (@kindofstrange) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra 1. Open for dev. at least until publishing. 2. Not too hard to build a game engine for. 3. Excellent network support.
— Klaim - Joel Lamotte (@MJKlaim) February 20, 2013
@gamasutra Definitely an easy way for indies to get their games on platform. XNA-like tools on all platforms. Low developer subscription.
— Mauro Almendariz (@IVIauricius) February 20, 2013
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