PlayStation Indies provides development-side support and funding to studios that Sony takes an interest in — but obviously, such backing requires some kind of deal to be struck.
For Giant Squid, the agreement (or at least part of it) was to add Sword of the Sea to PS Plus Extra on day one, bolstering August’s lineup of downloadable games.
Nava clearly had to weigh things up before accepting the deal: “On the one hand, you’re giving away the game for free to all these people who are already subscribed. But at the same time, way more people are playing it – you’re getting more eyes on the game. And that’s tremendously valuable as well.”
Over the last couple of years or so, there’s been a lot of discussion over whether subscription services like PS Plus and Game Pass actually benefit the industry and the development teams that commit their games them.
Indeed, Game Pass in particular has been accused of pushing an unsustainable model, but according to Nava, Sword of the Sea simply wouldn’t have come together without Sony and the PS Plus deal that it tabled.
“It was really wonderful for us because that extra control helped us in the final moments of getting this game out the door,” he explains. “We were able to do some crazy tricks and get some fixes at the last second. And, man, it saved the game.”
Are you glad that Giant Squid took Sony’s deal? What are your thoughts on Sword of the Sea? Pull off some sick surfsword flips in the comments section below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
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Robert (or Rob if you’re lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan of PlayStation since the 90s, when Tekken 2 introduced him to the incredible world of video games. He still takes his fighting games seriously, but RPGs are his true passion. The Witcher, Persona, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, Trails, Tales — he’s played ’em all. A little too much, some might say.