A lot of vgcharterz asked me how Sony do that magic but I never kwen before... so I expect some questions answered with this new article.

"They come to you with a deal. They say, we’ll give you this much money if we can have the game for free, or exclusive, or money off, or a combination. There are a lot of different ways you can do it. The amount of money that they’ll suggest will be relevant to the package."

"They call it a guaranteed sales buyout. It’s like looking at guaranteed downloads – you discuss a deal up front and decide if it’s worth it. For us it was less about money and more about exposure, especially with a sequel coming."

"the Minis title [Ed. she is likely referencing when Velocity was free on PS+ a ways back] was over 120,000 downloads. We don’t know if all those people played it, or if they’d have bought it otherwise, but we do at least know that they all know it exists, which is amazing. I’m not sure what figures we would have done without it. We get a chunk of cash, that’s nice, thank you, but so many people get to know about us and play our games. It’s the ultimate demo, really. We’re very much looking at things long term, not just looking to make a quick buck on sales." 

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/08/28/futurlab-explains-how-sony-approaches-companies-to-put-their-game-free-on-playstation-plus-instant-game-collection/

Sounds exactly like I am sure everyone thought it worked.

I wonder how successful Sony will be with this early in the gen for PS4. My guess is we will see no big free games for years the likes of which we see on PS3. Instead it will be demo trial versions like Drive Club.

Well they can do whatever they want with their first party games so those could be the occasional big release with indies to fill in the gaps (they already announced 3 indie games coming to Plus on PS4 at E3).  I think we'll see Knack on Plus before too long.

ResoGun is big.

The launch Plus have DriveClub Plus Edition, ResoGun, Don't Starve, Outlast Secret and Ponchos.

"For us it was less about money and more about exposure, especially with a sequel coming."

That, I think, is the important bit. That's why we see most of these games on PS+ probably more than the money--though upfront money is certain great for a developer. It's kind of like "the first hit is free" method many drug dealers favor.

SR3 a month before SR4 came out, Borderlands 1 right before BL2, BF3 months before 4 comes out, and there was at least one more game that came out on Plus right before its sequel.  I think this is a great strategy.  Hell I wasn't really considering SR4 until I played 3 on Plus free.  I'm still waiting till BF on it but I will get it at $30 or so.

Need for Speed Most Wanted right before Rivals and AC 3 right before AC 4

Yeah PS+ is great for ads and getting your name out there. I can't wait to see what specific numbers they pay devs.

LOL. Please. It looks great and has a good developer behind it, but please do not compare it to the titles you know I am referring to.

Why would you think that? Vita got some big games a couple of months after launching with PS Plus. Mostly launch titles like Uncharted and Gravity Rush. We will most likely see the same for PS4. Knack is almost a guaranteed game to be on PS Plus and possibly some third party game. Maybe Assassin's Creed will be there in order to push the next Assassin's Creed game next November (or whenever it releases). Possibly even NFS Rivals. Who knows, all I know is that it won't take them "years" to give out big games on PS4 for PS Plus. Not to mention that the install base for PS Plus will increase because you now need it to play online.