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Forums - Sony Discussion - Sony To Provide Up To $10 Million To Struggling Indie Studios

Jabba89 on 14 April 2020
Nautilus said:
VAMatt said:
This is just a PR play. Gaming has benefited from the virus fallout. So, this would have made more sense, from an actual help perspective, before the virus had everyone parked in from of their consoles and PCs all day.

People are going to lose their jobs, this is going to be the worst economic crisis since 29'.So people in general will start saving money, and gaming is not an essecial product.It may not hit them now, but it will soon enough.

That is what I was thinking also.  A lot of indie studios don’t have the money to keep going if they don’t get good sales, so if people don’t spend quite as much down the track it will start to hit them.



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VAMatt on 14 April 2020
Jabba89 said:
Nautilus said:

People are going to lose their jobs, this is going to be the worst economic crisis since 29'.So people in general will start saving money, and gaming is not an essecial product.It may not hit them now, but it will soon enough.

That is what I was thinking also.  A lot of indie studios don’t have the money to keep going if they don’t get good sales, so if people don’t spend quite as much down the track it will start to hit them.

Yes.  There definitely is some general economic risk.  But, it appears as though the environment will be favorable for gaming for at least the next several months.  We're a long way away from everyone going on about their normal lives.  There will be a lot more time spent at home, which means a lot more time available for gaming.  



Ljink96 on 14 April 2020

That's insanely generous and thoughtful. I think the other of the big 3 should do the same. Good on Sony for doing this.



d21lewis on 14 April 2020

Hats off to Sony for this one. I respect this.



Pemalite on 14 April 2020

Good on you Sony! - Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, EA, Epic, Ubisoft etc' all need to do the same and support the little guy.

Last edited by Pemalite - on 16 April 2020

--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--

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DonFerrari on 14 April 2020

That is another token of virtue for Sony that cost them very little money and brings a very good PR with it.



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

aikohualda on 14 April 2020
VAMatt said:
Jabba89 said:

That is what I was thinking also.  A lot of indie studios don’t have the money to keep going if they don’t get good sales, so if people don’t spend quite as much down the track it will start to hit them.

Yes.  There definitely is some general economic risk.  But, it appears as though the environment will be favorable for gaming for at least the next several months.  We're a long way away from everyone going on about their normal lives.  There will be a lot more time spent at home, which means a lot more time available for gaming.  

several months.... yeah a lot of people already claiming unemployment... if it continues several months, the most people would be playing are their backlogs and people wouldn't be purchasing a lot of games.  I can see it on some LA gaming groups in my area.... people actually choosing what to buy because a lot of people already got furloughed.... now if it continues to several months... people wouldn't be buying games if they have barely enough money to cover for food and rent.  Gaming is still a hobby to most people, hence it will be cut off when the budget is low



 

Jabba89 on 14 April 2020
VAMatt said:
Jabba89 said:

That is what I was thinking also.  A lot of indie studios don’t have the money to keep going if they don’t get good sales, so if people don’t spend quite as much down the track it will start to hit them.

Yes.  There definitely is some general economic risk.  But, it appears as though the environment will be favorable for gaming for at least the next several months.  We're a long way away from everyone going on about their normal lives.  There will be a lot more time spent at home, which means a lot more time available for gaming.  

I agree that the environment will be favourable for gaming and a lot of people will have more time for it, I’m not sure if that translates to indie game sales though.  If people have more time for gaming it may be because they lost their job, and if times are going to be tough then I would expect game sales to drop.

I imagine people would play existing games they have or free to play games as there is no financial burden.



Zoombael on 14 April 2020

"Independent developers are vital to the heart and soul of the gaming community"

Not really. No one would notice if half of them would vanish over night.



Hunting Season is done...

VAMatt on 14 April 2020
twintail said:
VAMatt said:
This is just a PR play. Gaming has benefited from the virus fallout. So, this would have made more sense, from an actual help perspective, before the virus had everyone parked in from of their consoles and PCs all day.

Most things companies do that are beneficial to others could be filed under a PR play. This is weak criticism of an ultimately consumer supporting move.

When it comes to Covid19, Sony has easily been one of the more proactive companies. 

They reacted quickly from withdrawing from conventions that could've been hot zones for infection.

They let their staff work from home fairly early, additionally giving them additional funds to make the work at home process viable for them.

They opened up a fund to help covid 19, victims. 

They have opened up this indie fund for Indies. And they are giving out some free  games to all their customers.

You can't say this of many others.

Okay.  That's all good stuff. But, how does that apply to my point?  

The gaming industry is having a great time right now.  Devs need less help now than they did before this started.  With that in mind, the program only makes sense for the optics.