https://www.unpause.asia/2021/02/9-ps5-exclusive-indie-games-from-playstation-talents/

Not that exclusive Indies really affect system sales at all.

The URL here appears to suggest that this article was posted February 2021?  In any case, I'm not sure what relevance your link has, especially if it's as old as the URL suggests.

The point isn't that there are no indies on PS.  The point is that indie sales are reportedly in decline on PS, and that the prevalence of indies on that platform may be in decline amongst cross-platform indies (especially amongst cross-platform indies).

Case in point, the news that Hatsune Mike Logic Paint S, after a successful Switch launch, is now coming to Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC.  No suggestion of a PS release.  Go back several years, and this probably would have come to Xbox last, if at all. Now the trend is for many indies to come to PS last, if it all.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S Headed to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on January 19 (vgchartz.com)

The point was you saying a handful of exclusive indies on Xbox show they are getting away from PS, so less than a year ago 9 PS exclusives should also serve as evidence.

For Hatsune Miku I remember being plentiful on PS. And not sure since I don`t check Xbox store, but I would guess a lot of visual novel games on PS don`t get released on Xbox.

In the end games release where they sell.

Right.  But...

   Exclusive indies are a bad example, as they're often incentivized by the platform holder in some way (the incentive may, in fact, be inclusion in the marketing materials you linked to).

   The trend seems to be fewer cross-platform indies are coming to PS.  Not long ago, the PS3 and the PSP/Vita were indie darlings, when Sony was a scrappy underdog trying to catch up to the Xbox 360 and the DS, and was courting indies.

   Now, coming off the success of the PS4, and the strong early popularity of the PS5, it seems Sony thinks of themselves as the top dog again, and doesn't seem to be putting much of their muscle behind indies anymore.  And being one of a chosen few indies in a Sony indie showcase doesn't change that fact.  In fact, that might be the exception that proves the rule.  Because indies NOT selected for such a marketing push are increasingly launching later on PS than PC/Switch/Xbox, or not coming to PS at all.

   Your link may not only not disprove my point, it may actually further PROVE my point, in other words.

PS3 wasn't ever an underdog against X360. Launch aligned it was always ahead of Xbox, and in fact PS4 was the console Sony had given more space to Indies not PS3, and on PS4 they were leagues apart.

So for you evidence and lack of evidence are both evidence if you twist it enough?

If you were just keeping the point of Xbox marketplace giving more visibility to Indies and perhaps sales (which can't really be proven across the board as MS doesn't give numbers of sales of nothing at all) that could be very likely true and some Indies would certainly prefer to use their limited resources to start on the platforms that give them the buckle of sales, but you are more like reaching for a conclusion from the begining and looking for evidence to prove that and evidence to the contrary you change to also be something to prove your point.

Fair enough that it was actually the PS4 that was stronger on indies, though seemingly only early in its lifetime (as many indie developers have gone from being vocally enthusiastic about indies on PS, to vocally critical of their sales, especially the one that pointed out they sold thousands of units of DLC on Xbox and only 7 units (yes, 7, as in the number up from 6) on PS4.

I don't think I'm reaching or twisting at all, I'm trying to do simple trend analysis.  But I appreciate the caution, as there's always a risk of that.  But I maintain that indies have gone from seemingly favouring PS platforms over Xbox, to increasingly the other way around (with both of them behind the PC, and occasionally also the Switch, in the priority queue).

Speaking of data points, another interesting one today.  An indie title named "Infernax" is coming to PS4, but only coming to PS5 via back-compat.  Whereas the VGChartz article lists bespoke Xbox One and Xbox Series versions.  https://www.vgchartz.com/article/452207/infernax-arrives-february-14-for-xbox-series-xs-xbox-one-ps4-switch-and-pc/  I list some thoughts/observations in a comment on the article.

Yes Sony gave more attention to Indies in the beginning of PS4 than later, and many say that was just because they needed to cover the usual slow start. But we also need to remember that Shuhei Yoshida was transferred to specifically take care of Indies and foster then on Playstation, and he is always promoting it on social media and reaching to the devs. We will always find vocal people, let`s remind that if we were to believe the words of people that are fired from companies, all companies are the worst place in the universe, same with people that had a bad experience and try to make that something more than was (like if their experience is the same for everyone).

About the trend, it is quite possible right and we will now in the future, Sony have take some steps to improve their indie space (not sure how much impact that will cause though).

For Infernax it is quite possible just either being easier to make the two versions for Xbox, or it benefits more with having two, and as I said before, Indies have limited budget so they will have to prioritize versions according to what they expect to sell and where.

Well xbox has the ID@xbox initiative that seems to be a positive experience for Indie Devs. The only thing that seems troublesome is when you look to the last ten week digital only week releases in Japan....It is like 80% switch games exclusive/10% PS games/8+ xbox games that mostly don't have a physical version and 2% multiplatform games.

There will always be people who are a vocal minority, but that cuts both ways.  There appears to be a trend of articles about indie developers being vocally favourable towards their PS experience, to them being vocally unfavourable.

Here's a particularly interesting data point:  "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc" was released on almost every system you could care to name (PSP, Android, iOS, Vita, Linux, MacOS, Windows, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One).  Its "Anniversary Edition" came out first on Android and iOS, second on the Switch, and is now coming out third on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.

I get it not being a high priority for PSP, Vita, Linux, and MacOS.  But PS4/PS5 being lumped in that group is more of a surprise.   Fair enough that the "Game Pass" piece suggests that there may have been a financial incentive there, but they nonetheless concluded that it was worth at least postponing a PS version.  So like I say, on its own it doesn't prove much.  But if proves to be the furtherance of a trend, then it's more interesting.

Now that's an interesting data point out of Japan.  I'm surprised that 8+ Xbox games made it onto the list!  Xbox likely outperforms on digital though, so perhaps that's why there's as much representation as there is.

No question that Switch is an indie games beast!  I think developers are favouring Switch over either PS or Xbox, and PC probably more than any of the three.