Posted November 4, 2011 by Simon Williams in News.

“I can’t believe sometimes how amazing and diverse the portfolio is for PlayStation Network,” say thatgamecompany’s Robin Hunicke, and the developer behind Journey and Flower thinks that without Sony’s support for experimental titles “I’m not sure those games would exist.”

While still fiercely proud of their indie status, thatgamecompany’s Robin Hunicke admits that their close working relationship with Sony has allowed them to pursue their innovative artistic vision on the PS3 in ways that might not have been possible otherwise.

“Our relationship with Sony is a little bit like a fairytale,” Hunicke says. “You know, Kellee [Santiago] and Jenova [Chen] graduated from college and they had this crazy idea that they were going to make games about emotions and create this new genre of art game… and Sony went for it! Not only did they go for it but they supported them through three really experimental projects.”

“If it weren’t for very important people at Sony believing very strongly in our mission I’m not sure those games would exist.”

And the Journey developer agrees with the notion that Sony are “more fertile ground for new ideas”: “Absolutely. I can’t believe sometimes how amazing and diverse the portfolio is for PlayStation Network,” Hunicke told Bit-Gamer. “If you look at the games… The last event that I did, there were so many amazing games in the room with us that it was hard for me to stand around and watch Journey because I wanted to go play PixelJunk 4am… I wanted to go play Papo & Yo and Closure and Retrograde.”

“I mean, there are all these games coming out and they’re all people that I know and really appreciate. It was actually kind of shocking.”