Dev Criticises Sony’s Handing Of Indie Games, Says He’d Love To Get His Titles On Xbox Game Pass

Oh here we go! Getting the popcorn ready

"Platform P" might've been a little more on the nose

I believe it's smart for Game Pass to do some curation like they do. I think it allows them to maximize profit sharing for good developers (which encourages them to continue to put their games on Game Pass), as well as help the consumer know that the games coming are at least, tolerable and not flooded with shovelware crap. I hope they are able to really seek out the indie gems and get them their deserved spotlight however. Keep curating, but make sure you aren't missing good games from small devs.

And now we know the main reason why most indie games launch on either PC, Xbox and Nintendo platforms but not PlayStation

“Gamepass must be a dream come true for these devs. Makes you think how many applications they must receive for the service. I think game-pass service is what are making these indie devs come forward and call Sony out in their BS, they know game-pass will provide better exposure and sales, they are not afraid anymore.“

Atlesst it's not like the switches eshop which is 99% shovelware

So not only is Sony Anti Consumer its also Anti Indie Games. Interesting.

@Chaudy meanwhile, Microsoft, Nintendo and PC are pro indie

Yeah but these indies that are moaning are most likely shovel ware and not worth the attention they are trying to get, the big and better indie games playstation does give attention to though.

But from previous articles and interviews I've read before from developers seem to indicate they sell more on nintendo than anywhere else.

@Senua looking at it from a purely gamers perspective. I always found it difficult to find these games on the PS store, even when they were brand new releases and even the search feature defaults to the most popular games. On Xbox and more so Switch they are easy to find as new releases plus Gamepass let's me play (and buy) many games I may never have tried or even come across

Let's not jump to conclusions. He might be talking about Amico.

I never thought I'd see the day when Nintendo is now the indie friendly one of the bunch. They're the guys that vetted your office lease before even sending a devkit. Now they're the indie's last stand.

I'm not much of an indies person, and I do remember when it was Xbox that was the infamous nightmare, just behind Nintendo, and Playstation was good for indies. I have to say, the only true gaming leader left at Playstation is Shu Yoshida, who was banished to the indies program, so I'm surprised it's as troublesome as it's sounding. Unless he has no power. Which is infinitely plausible.

Without getting platform territorial let’s consider a few things.

One, PlayStation is really too large to get noticed. They are packed week to week. Switch doesn’t get Madden or CoD etc so an Indie dev can get in a week where is less crowded. Xbox gets those games but not things like Y’s, Persona, etc. This also gives breathing room. This one reason why indie devs liked the Vita; no competition.

Second both MS and Nintendo have established indie programs. Sony just restarted theirs. Because it’s now the new kid on the block, Sony is playing catch up to an Indie Machine (Switch) and an indie platform (Gamepass).

Third both MS and Nintendo have ways of marketing indie devs either through ID@Xbox YouTube blurs or Indie World. Plus GP makes a pretty loud sound. Also, let’s not forget the four hour Twitch showcase hmm? Either way it got the games out there. (Still hate Twitch that).

This is all without the extra hula hoops the companies may have. That said I’ll keep my personal opinion to myself for this thread, but there is other factors to consider in the equation.

Lol the push square article didn't have any mention of gamepass.

@mousieone I cant say the fanboys really want to hear it but you are spot on with that.

Sony is reestablishing their indie side and some of the devs complaints were a bit OTT. Any of the big 3 would expect a platform specific trailer for example. Common sense.

Microsoft only really heavily promotes indies actually on Game Pass. Again understandable to a degree GP is their baby right now.

Nintendo if anything promotes them too much. Eshop is full of indie coverage and a lot of it is shovelware.

None of their strategies are perfect really.

@Cherip-the-Ripper why would it? Only relevant to their article to discuss Playstation.

Similarly if Game Pass wasnt mentioned then this article wouldnt be on here.

@Jaxx420 ah yes nintnedo shovelware just like the calculator game costing £8 🤣

Literally i waste a lot of my time going through the switch sales as there's just so much shovelware until I find an actual decent game. Nintnedo also have the most lenient store in terms of what games it allows on hence why it's indie heaven at the moment.

Xbox on the other hand really only promote indies that are coming to gamepass and they promote them really well hence why those indie developers love them as they get more gamepass owners playing their games than they actually get by selling the game.

Then theres playstation who really only care about the big indie games such as Kena, no man's sky, bugsnax, fall guys, worms rumble, Oddworld, disco elysium etc. Basically the bigger budget indies that are close to being A/AA. And Sony also keep the shovelware away so atleast I know when there's a sale its going to be mostly good games.

@Would_you_kindly did you see the guys pie chart? Because seems he sold more on Switch than Xbox. Xbox was still great, especially if you consider the install base size. Steam seems to be ridiculously low for such an indie friendly platform. Then at the bottom of the barrel: PS4.

@UltimateOtaku91 Sony does not keep shovel ware away. Their store is as full of shovel ware as any, or do I have to point at garbage like Life of Black Tiger? What they do is prevent developers from most thing their prices and participating in sales unless invited. THAT is why you don’t see shovel ware on sales, because they treat all but the already successful indies as shovel ware, and hide them all under the rug.

@Tharsman ah that's why I don't see shovelware then, it's a good tactic and can see why it would upset some smaller indie developers not being able to sell well or do discounts on a platform with potentially 100 million users.

Also that guy with the pie chart in the above comment works for whitethorngames, one look at their games explains everything and why they aren't selling on playstation especially now that you've pointed out shovelware doesn't get to go on sales.

@Tharsman actually they have one decent looking game "the lake"

@UltimateOtaku91 it’s not just shovel ware, it’s all indies, again, unless they prove themselves already successful (hard to do if you are an indie and can’t pay for marketing and the platform holder intentionally hides your titles.)

@Tharsman yeah I didn't mean it's better for indie developers I meant it's better for me because it's easier to find games I'm actually interested in

Gamepass is an industry changer, it's gotten me to play games I would have never played otherwise.