Microsoft has swung open the gates to indie developers by making the Xbox One a development kit in its own right. But how much does it cost to start creating indie games for Sony's rival PlayStation 4?
Polygon spoke to various development sources, who say that the PlayStation 4 dev kit costs about $2,500, which is $2,000 more than an Xbox One. Indie Xbox One developers will also pay a fee to Microsoft, which a source said is a few hundred dollars. Microsoft declined to talk publicly about the fee.
Although this $2,500 price is being cited in development circles, the game-makers we spoke to all said that Sony had lent them dev-kits for a limited period of one year, for free. As of right now, there are no dev-kits being sold. Sony is sending whatever it has available to favored developers. "All the indies I know got them for free," said one developer. "Sony has been amazing about kits and development thus far."
Another developer said that Sony is focused on loaners, rather than collecting fees. "They are handing them out like candy," he said.
"Self-publishing has been available on PlayStation platforms for over five years, so it's nothing new," said a spokesperson for Sony. "The process of devs bringing their games to market has continued to evolve, and PlayStation has led the charge in adapting and embracing new publishing rules to allow for more creative freedom for developers."
http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/24/4553842/so-how-much-does-it-cost-to-develop-for-playstation-4
