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Forums - Sony Discussion - Theory: The reason why Sony focuses on indies so much.

TheGoldenBoy on 16 August 2014

I think it's to fill in gaps of drought. Better to have some games than no games at all.



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cusman on 16 August 2014

Or Indie games make good money without having massive risk. They also keep gamers interested in gaming by doing innovative new game designs. If it was all just AAA games, I know that I would probably lose interest in all gaming.



KingdomHeartsFan on 16 August 2014
Teeqoz said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:
Teeqoz said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:

I can't think of one Indie developer that went on to be a AAA developer.  Which ones are they?


Activision, valve (you know, the guys that eventually made steam), Insomniac, Sucker Punch, Bungie, Retro Studios, etc.

I meant actual recent examples, when the term indie actually existed.  


How recent?

Idk from last gen.



Mystro-Sama on 16 August 2014
KingdomHeartsFan said:
Teeqoz said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:
Teeqoz said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:

I can't think of one Indie developer that went on to be a AAA developer.  Which ones are they?


Activision, valve (you know, the guys that eventually made steam), Insomniac, Sucker Punch, Bungie, Retro Studios, etc.

I meant actual recent examples, when the term indie actually existed.  


How recent?

Idk from last gen.


Yea, the term indie is relatively new. I remember seeing it online once and thought it meant Indian lol



jacks81x on 17 August 2014
KingdomHeartsFan said:
Teeqoz said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:

I can't think of one Indie developer that went on to be a AAA developer.  Which ones are they?


Activision, valve (you know, the guys that eventually made steam), Insomniac, Sucker Punch, Bungie, Retro Studios, etc.

I meant actual recent examples, when the term indie actually existed.  

Most current AAA developers started out independently until they were either bought by a Publisher or got big enough to fund their own AAA projects.  Personally, AAA doesn't really mean anything to me.  A big budget game does not equal a good game.  I much rather play a good Indie game than a bad AAA game.  



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Mystro-Sama on 17 August 2014
jacks81x said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:
Teeqoz said:
KingdomHeartsFan said:

I can't think of one Indie developer that went on to be a AAA developer.  Which ones are they?


Activision, valve (you know, the guys that eventually made steam), Insomniac, Sucker Punch, Bungie, Retro Studios, etc.

I meant actual recent examples, when the term indie actually existed.  

Most current AAA developers started out independently until they were either bought by a Publisher or got big enough to fund their own AAA projects.  Personally, AAA doesn't really mean anything to me.  A big budget game does not equal a good game.  I much rather play a good Indie game than a bad AAA game.  

Though games with bigger budgets tend to be longer which is always nice.



kupomogli on 17 August 2014
Dallinor said:
kupomogli said:

Not true. Look at thatgamecompany. They're now making a game exclusively for the Xbox One despite Sony funding three of their games. Or what about Insomniac Games? Sony has funded all of their games starting with what was released on the PS2. They broke off from Sony to try and create a game all on their own. It bombed, and instead of going back to Sony, they're now developing Sunset Overdrive exclusively for Xbox One.

Just because Sony is doing this for all these indie devs, it doesn't mean that they're required to have any future loyalty. All Microsoft has to do is drop a bag of cash on their front door step and that dev is making a game for them. Look at Titanfall, Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and many timed exclusives on the 360.

Wow, I didn't hear that. Link?

It would be funny because it would go against their entire reason for going multiplatform. To reach the largest possible audience.

Mistake on my part then.  I must have seen an article that said they'd be making a game for Xbox One and took it that it'd be exclusive. 

Regardless, the same thing rings true.  Sony is the one that funded three of their  titles and they break away and develop multiconsole.  The OP is saying that these people will be like Insomniac on the PS2 or Quantic Dream where these devs stayed working with Sony without the need for Sony to purchase them.  This just goes to show that these developers that Sony pours money and making them into well known devs aren't necessarily going to stay loyal.  There are companies like Quantic Dream that does stay loyal to Sony because of how Sony helps fund their titles and made them as big of a company as they are today, but that doesn't mean all companies are going to. 

While thatgamecompany indeed may want to bring their games to as many people possible, the translation may be closer to "we won't get as much money if we stay exclusive to one console" and bringing their games to more people just fits in there.



Machiavellian on 17 August 2014
TheGoldenBoy said:
I think it's to fill in gaps of drought. Better to have some games than no games at all.

Well thats could be a good reason as well.  If Sony did not have a lot of indie exclusives to their console, then they would actually be pretty short compared to the competition.  Either way its smart business so more power to Sony no matter their intentions.



outlawauron on 17 August 2014
Slade6alpha said:
VanceIX said:
Many of those studios will never pan out. Maybe a couple studios with big hits, but not all of them.

And it's not like Sony is giving financial support to all the indie devs. They cherry-pick a few promising ones and go from there. Sony's sponsorship of indies is pretty overblown.

This is something I can definitely agree with. Nintendo does just as well with Indies, but they barely get the recognition as Sony. 




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MDX on 17 August 2014

The real reason why is:  They have no choice.

If they dont support indies, this gen will have major game droughts on all platforms.