WSJ Report: Smaller Game Developers Feel “Snubbed” By Sony, In Contrast To Nintendo

The Wall Street Journal has published a report on Sony’s plans for their Playstation consoles, specifically the upcoming Playstation 5.

According to the report, Sony aims to market the Playstation 5 to “serious players”. To achieve this, the company intends to focus more on the big-name publishers and blockbuster titles such as Red Dead Redemption and Fallout, with less emphasis on smaller independent games. The reasoning provided was that “resources are limited” and that people mainly buy consoles to play more “graphic intensive” and “high quality games” .

Naturally, this has caused some smaller game developers to feel snubbed by Sony, especially compared to Nintendo. One example cited was Nintendo’s intention to support events showcasing indie developers at the Tokyo Game Show this year, while Sony won’t be making an appearance. Nintendo’s handling of the Switch as an “indie-friendly” console has also received praise from smaller developers in the past.

That said, one Sony official said they still expected indie games to release for Playstation even without Sony’s support, since its popularity makes it “hard for smaller game developers to ignore”. While this may not be entirely untrue, its still a rather bold statement to make, especially considering some of their recent actions may make working with them less attractive for some of these smaller developers.

While the PS5 is still under the development however, we can’t know for sure how well Sony’s strategy will pan out in the long term. Will their focus on big-budget titles net in large crowds as intended? Or will neglecting indie developers lead to a lack of variety that drives consumers away? Only time will tell.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.