Less About Indies, More About Big Names
Slowly but surely Sony is drip-feeding us more information about the PS5. A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed a couple of small but significant new facts about the upcoming console. For one thing, Sony is putting an even bigger focus on big publishers this time around.
Rather than selling the most consoles, Sony wants to be the company that profits the most from big budget, blockbuster titles. To that end, they don’t even see Nintendo as a competitor. Nintendo is cornering a very different market, whereas Sony and Microsoft are sharing a similar space. Consumers see both companies as potential arbiters of massive exclusive releases.
This kind of focus leaves less room for indie developers, on the other hand. Some indie devs have reported feeling snubbed by Sony and their ‘big publishers’ mindset. Where Nintendo and Microsoft have been flinging open their doors to indie developers, Sony has been less receptive. This makes a certain kind of sense, but it’s still a risky position to take. I mean, it’s not so risky as to damage console sales. The Playstation 4 is well on the way to moving 100 million units, after all. Regardless, it will be fascinating to see what happens when Sony moves even farther in this big name direction.