For many, gaming has gotten us through lockdown and kept us all a little bit sane - although, toxic lobbies don’t get that gratitude.
But while some love playing the games, there are also those talented individuals that create them.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is often the go-to for unique and creative games. Many developers know it is a struggle to get the game published so how do you get your game published on PlayStation? Sony Interactive Entertainment shares some tips.
The first step is to become a PlayStation partner. You can do this by going to partners.playstation.net and register.
An important thing to note is that you will need a Project plan. Besides the basic information about the studio, a project plan will help SIE better understand your needs. It’s like an elevator pitch - but for your game.
Your project plan is where you detail your style description, targeted release timing, platform plans, and potentially one or two key features of the game to outline the initial review process.
Once a partner registration is approved and you sign a Global Developer and Publisher Agreement (GDPA), you’ll have access to the backend tools which will allow you to learn much more about developing and publishing on the platform.
“We have also put many new programs in place to better support Indie partners on our platform through the PlayStation Indies initiative and look forward to continuing to build new opportunities to support indie developers and their games,” said SIE in a statement.
This is what SIE is looking for in a great pitch:
– A brief description of your game as well as what makes your game stand out. Why is it a great fit for PlayStation?
– Provide some information on the team of creatives building the game. A little bit of background wouldn’t hurt.
– Seeing as it is a game, visuals are everything. A picture, video or anything interactive will give a better understanding around what you’re making.
SIE detailed what is good, better and best.
“Good: Concept art, in-engine art targets, music, or whatever else can set the tone of the game.
Better: Video capture of gameplay, B-roll footage or moving in-engine capture is great. Gifs work nicely on slides as well.
Best: A prototype or build. Sharing a build is the quickest and easiest way for us to understand your vision. Showing your project this early may seem terrifying, but don’t worry! We are completely used to seeing games very early in development. We promise to put our ’dev goggles’ on.“
Other questions to tackle are: What are the target platforms besides PlayStation? What are your marketing timeline and plans? Are you handling the marketing yourself? Or will you be getting external support?
It will also help to provide a detailed description of your project schedule and costs as well as details on the business model. Is it Premium, Premium + DLC F2P, GaaS, etc?
What target countries/markets & languages does your game support? Are there plans for live ops and/or post-launch support? Is there a need for specific support?
Once you got all this down, you’re pretty much sorted with the starting process! Good luck and keep gaming (and making them.)
IOL TECH