Apparently, big-name indies can get help from Sony when they run into trouble -- though it's tough to tell if it's a policy, or if it's a one-off deal for a game that would benefit the platform.
Sony's Director of Third Party Production & Developer Relations, Gio Corsi, has revealed on Twitter that Sony has stepped into help Austin-based developer Stoic complete its PlayStation Vita port of strategy game The Banner Saga.
The company's technical director, John Watson, recently took to the studio's forums to let everyone know that the Vita port had been back-burnered due to problems with the team initially contracted to complete the work of porting the game to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Vita. While the console ports are go, the Vita port was off.
Until Sony stepped in, that is.
Sony's third-party team works behind the scenes to get games onto its platforms; that's the team that oversaw the port of Ultra Street Fighter IV to the PlayStation 4, for example. Despite it being a Capcom title, it was published by Sony on PS4.
Corsi has, of late, made a big impression at Sony's PlayStation Experience keynotes -- generally announcing fan-favorite third-party games for PlayStation platforms, and helping keep hope alive for Sony's handheld console with Western and independent-developed games.
Time and time again, the company has spoken of decreasing first-party development for the platform; while the Vita continues to be well-supported in Japan, and many of those games are localized, Western games often need a little first-party help.
What's not clear, however, is how the team at Sony selects which projects to get behind. Our recommendation: If you're a PlayStation developer looking for help, talk to your Sony account rep.
You May Also Like
