Sony Pushing For Exclusivity

Want to create PSN games but don’t have the cash?  Well, it looks like Sony are now willing to stump up the monies as long as  you promise to not port your game to the 360.  The first game to take advantage of the new scheme, called the Pub Fund, in which Sony will match the development budget of self-publishing games is Burn Zombie Burn!, which released yesterday, and Sony is looking to offer the neat service to “a great many more titles”.

“It’s all very well for us as platform holders to say put all your money into PlayStation Network, it’s a fantastic idea, but are we prepared to put or money where our mouth is? The answer is yes,” said Chris Eden, Sony’s development relations manager, at GDC yesterday. “We’re looking for a number of great games, and in return for exclusivity we’ll match your development budget with guaranteed royalties.”

“A really important thing to point out is that this is not first-party publishing, this is not Sony buying your product,” he said.  “You’ll be the publisher, you’ll own the IP and you’ll control your product. This is assisting you to make your next step from developer to publisher.”  Whether Sony will still charge you per download or not isn’t clear.   We jest, this is a great move.