Sony's Devotion To Independent Game Developers Shines Through At PlayStation Experience

I have a confession to make. I spent the entirety of my time during Sony's PlayStation Experience on the indie side of the floor. Sure, there were attractive E3-caliber booths showcasing unreleased big budget exclusives like The Order: 1886 and Bloodborne. Yes, there were what seemed like excellent community panels scheduled, featuring high-profile developers from Blizzard, Q-Games, Media Molecule, and Naughty Dog. Yet as the weekend progressed I couldn't pull myself away from the dozens of independent developers passionately showcasing their creations for the Vita and PlayStation 4.

This is a story about how the spirit of independent video games stole my heart and my time away from the obligatory blockbusters, and how Sony's "Devotion" initiative isn't just a clever buzzword.

I walked from the keynote stage to the expo floor, which next month will be packed wall to wall with exhibitors hawking all manner of gadgets and technology during CES. Right now, however, it resembles "PlayStation E3." The Hobbits of Middle Earth might call it "2nd E3." Parappa The Rapper points his microphone at me with a smile, Helghast troops pose for photos with Killzone fans, Sly Cooper and Knack wave enthusiastically at passers-by. Shining appropriately bright given their temporary Las Vegas residency is the holy grail: Unreleased Games. The Order: 1886 is here, joined by Bloodborne and a pre-alpha version of David Jaffe's wildly imaginative arena shooter Drawn To Death. There's even multiplatform staples like Battlefield: Hardline. Gamers lounge around on couches and play Lara Croft's newest outing. That's just the tip of the PlayStation iceberg.

At some point I was snapped out of my "big unreleased game" trance by numerous colorful, unfamiliar logos and gameplay. There were at least 10 rows, all boasting multiple games (a guestimate would be a total of 70+ games), and presented under commanding banners sporting the PlayStation logo and the word "Devotion" stylized to emphasize "dev" (for developer). I'd seen this term before, and I'd casually taken notice of the "PlayStation Loves Devs" marketing campaign, but largely ignored it.

Android Assault Cactus

Some unknown force guided my feet over and I found myself shaking hands with Sanatana Mishra, one of the developers of a twin-stick shooter called Android Assault Cactus. I waited in line for a few minutes and then proceeded to play one of the most tightly designed arcade experiences to grace my thumbs since Pac Man Championship Edition or Resogun. Each playable character had a limited but distinct arsenal, appealing to various skill levels. The difficulty seemed perfectly tuned, the controls intuitive, and the gameplay addictive, with one simple hook that makes this twin-stick shooter different enough to stand out and demand your attention.

At one point a fellow PSX attendee sat down and we tackled one of the five bosses together, at one point so amped up that we high-fived each other and then doubled down with concentration.

It turns out this game has been created by 3 people out of Brisbane, Australia. The substance and polish of Android Assault Cactus certainly belies its tiny team. How did they get here?

"Sony have been immensely supportive of Cactus by providing all of the hardware and software we needed to develop for PS4 & PS Vita," Mishra tells me. "They've also really helped us promote the game with multiple features on the PlayStation Blog and by including it in their lineups for E3, Gamescom, EGX, Fantastic Arcade, Indiecade, Gamercamp and now the PlayStation Experience. We're continually blown away by how much Sony believe in Cactus and are helping us promote it, we could never have attended those events without their support."

It doesn't sound like they're headed to the Xbox marketplace (an understandably common scenario here at PSX), but the team just launched on Steam Early Access. Certainly that must have ruffled Sony's feather's following their multiple threads of support?

Not remotely, says Mishra. "One of the first things we talked about with Sony was exclusivity and how logistically we needed to release first on PC and they were totally fine with that. It has never come up again and they've supported us at every opportunity."

When it came to praising Sony, Mishra was verbose and effusive. I thought perhaps I'd stumbled onto the exception and not the rule, but five interviews later my suspicion was proven dead wrong.

Driving The Distance

After grudgingly giving up my chair to a patient attendee behind me, I wandered around and got sucked in by a "survival racer" with a color palette that reminded me of a mashup between Wipeout and Blur. It turned out to be insane. Distance tasks you with racing down increasingly challenging roads adorned with futuristic curves and neon lights, avoiding an increasingly challenging number of static and moving obstacles. The premise is simple, but it's the best kind of simple: "Easy to learn, impossible to master."

And you'll never guess how many people are working full time on Distance: Yep, 3.

"One of the things I appreciate most about Sony's approach is that even at a high level, innovative and unique games is a major part of their content strategy," says developer Jordan Hemenway, whose studio Refract is also behind Nitronic Rush. (Distance is a spiritual sequel to that title.) "Instead of putting a small amount of resources and manpower toward supporting small teams, they seem to be taking a risk in putting a relatively large effort towards finding and encouraging cutting edge teams on their platform."

Part of that "large effort" on Sony's behalf involves having taken the game to several expos in Europe which Refract was unable to attend. According to Hemenway, Sony has championed Distance since literally the first day of the studio's Kickstarter campaign, and says Sony is constantly willing to share their expertise with the developers even though they're not directly publishing the game.

Hemenway also echoes Mishra's comments about Sony's exclusivity mindset: "They've been very supportive of our Steam Early Access release on PC this week. They understand that it's a logical extension of our development and the best way to make Distance even better in preparation for the console release."

The Shuhei Yoshida Influence

Let's stop for a moment to transition from unknown indie to Big Boss.

According to Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony's Worldwide Studios, only 3 or 4 out of every 10 indie titles on PlayStation will ever make the company any money. "It's a hit driven business," said Yoshida in an interview with Gamereactor. That being said, Yoshida believes the most important work he can do is to "find out and support and help grow the talent." This sentiment comes from a man who fought ferociously -- and often in secret against his then-superior's wishes -- to bring the original PlayStation to market against established behemoths like Nintendo and Sega. He has a penchant for endorsing and supporting the underdog, for putting his weight behind quirky original projects like Ape Escape and Jak & Daxter.

Yoshida knows that the most unassuming indie game can be the next hit, and he also understands the importance of cultivating a library designed for gamers of all stripes -- something the PC platform is exceedingly known for.

A Bowl of Dragon Fin Soup

I think Yoshida's attitude is reflected in Sony's third party relations and their frequent partnerships with indie studios. The message seems to be that Sony wants to create a win/win scenario for everyone involved in the loop -- developer, publisher, platform holder, and player. The sentiment echoed over and over was gratitude for Sony's repeated inclusion of independent games in their keynotes, on the PS Blog, and at events like PlayStation Experience.

"Sony makes indie developers feel as if we are a priority and an important part of the Sony family." That's Ash Monif, co-founder of Grimm Bros., the 5-person team creating their debut title Dragon Fin Soup, a humorous action RPG with roguelike elements and an alcoholic protagonist. "To us it feels like Sony is asking, 'How can we help you?' rather than, 'How can you help us?' It's a very welcoming and refreshing relationship."

These devs didn't go through a PR filter for these responses, and I never approached Sony about my concept for this story.

Again, it's just that respectful relationship dynamic that spills out onto the show floor. There's an unparalleled level of excitement amongst the developers and the players, and it shines through even though Monif and his colleagues have already lost their voices.

We spoke after the show, and Monif added that Sony makes indie developers feel like a priority, an important part of the Sony family, noting that communicating and collaborating with other AAA publishers can often feel like "a bit of a black hole."

StarWhal: Just The Tip

One of the quirkiest and undeniably adorable indie titles on display at PSX was StarWhal, a...well, the easiest way to sum it up is "Narwhal cage match in the 80s." I played several matches against an attendee who was unnaturally gifted at this game, as we jostled for position in an effort to stab out each other's heart. The mechanics were simple but executed perfectly, and every second was frantic fun.

You're probably sensing a theme at this point, so let's roll that quote.

"Perhaps the best way of encompassing [Sony's] presence in the game industry is 'proactive,'" says StarWhal programmer Jason Nuyens. "They continually ask us to be involved in whatever is happening. Something like Playstation Experience is a perfect example of them taking initiative to set up fun public facing events and then arrange for us small indies to be front and center. To date, Sony has set up indie specific events, game parties, public blog posts, press releases, conventions, and currently we're working on a retail kiosk version that should hopefully be in stores around the country. It's incredible just how much they want to support small teams like ours. It makes us want to work that much harder to reward them for constantly sticking their neck out."

The song remains the same...

Mech (don't call it an endless) Runner

My adventure then led me to John O'Neill, President of SparkPlug Games. His studio is simultaneously developing Firefly Online and this little gem, Mech Runner. Think of it as an endless runner with teeth, more of an "endless arcade action game." You control a transforming mech with a delicious arsenal at your disposal. In my short session I noticed branching paths, sophisticated graphics, an interesting storyline, and destructible environments.

"Sony is actively investing time, money, and internal resources to include developers of all sizes in their platform strategy," O'Neill tells me. "They include small studios in marketing, conferences, and campaigns that promote games without discriminating to the design or target audience, and leave the creative direction in the hands of the developers. They are also more than willing to give recommendations to help make the game a better experience for players on the Sony platforms, however they don't dictate what needs to be done in order to publish on the Sony platform. I think that makes a tremendous difference to developers, in basically saying "we respect you are the creators of your vision" and providing resources to these teams if they ask for it."

#Devotion

Like all the rest who fell victim to my impromptu interviews, O'Neill is just dripping with enthusiasm, his voice tinged with infectious excitement. And I understand why. Hundreds of independent games are released yearly to little fanfare, primarily because the size of these teams means that all resources are targeted on development, refinement, bug hunting, and release. There's no dedicated PR team to increase visibility to the media and to gamers. No marketing budget to devote to online advertisements or commercials. Focus groups are, well, you and me and the other attendees at places like PAX and PlayStation Experience. They normally live and die on word of mouth.

Now a 20-year veteran in the console space notices you, shares their expertise with you, and recognizes that you're a crucial component of their ecosystem. More than that, their support manifests in the form of exposure, physical space at an event designed exclusively for discovery. Digital space via company blog posts, etc. They invest in you, and you create for them. They market you and lift you up.

I'm not naïve enough to believe that this is a common scenario for every indie developer under the sun with their eyes on PlayStation. However, I challenge anyone to convince me that Microsoft could pull off this kind of independent showing at an equivalent "Xbox Experience."

Anyway, there's a common thread that runs throughout all these booths and is expressed in pixels and in voice: Indie games matter, and Sony has wholeheartedly embraced them. I've been blind to the movement but PlayStation Experience and the talented indie developers residing within have opened my eyes.

If you've read this far, I want to promise you something. Beginning today, you'll be seeing a significant increase in the coverage of indie games here at my Forbes column. Because they matter, and they're just as important as the multi-million selling blockbusters. Sony's devotion to them reflects their devotion to every gamer who spends countless hours on their platform.

So, the next time you're at an expo like PlayStation Experience or browsing through the PSN store, take a chance on an unknown indie game. As for me, I'll expand my radar and put more effort into the discovery and reporting of these games. Everyone in the loop deserves that.

Epilogue: One Night Under A No Man's Sky

Nowhere was Sony's appreciation and endorsement of independent games more obvious than the No Man's Sky concert at PlayStation Experience. Doubly so because not only did they further propel No Man's Sky, but they also catapulted an indie band into the spotlight. That band, 65daysofstatic, is currently composing the soundtrack for Hello Games' exploration epic. After the expo shut down for the day, a sizable audience migrated back to the massive keynote hall unsure what to expect.

What they got was a heartfelt introduction by Hello Games Managing Director Sean Murray of his favorite band, 65daysofstatic, who then proceeded to play an hour-long set enhanced by the visuals of No Man's Sky. What a perfect marriage. Their music was experimental, progressive, and powerful, with time signatures that would make math rock fans weep and melodic passages that were downright beautiful, aggressive, and emotional. Based on chatter as the audience exited, I'm certain they gained a ton of new fans.

The point here is that Sony gave Hello Games creative control for this event. They could have just as easily hired a more popular band to draw an exponentially larger crowd (and resulting press), and loosely tied it to one or several of their game franchises, but they gave the stage to an indie developer they've championed, and to the band that indie developer has in turn championed.

It was a magical night, an amazing inaugural event for Sony, and further proof that Sony's focus is truly on the development and cultivation of games to appeal to any gamer.