
Sony recently announced that it would be removing barriers to publishing for independent developers by doing away with their licensing fees. This move was made in an effort to counter a trend that’s seen its portable devices struggling against competitors such as Apple’s iPhone.
As of May 7th, the Publisher License Fee for PlayStation Mobile has been waived according to the PlayStation blog. Developers of all stripes no longer have to pay the $99 fee in order to get their games onto Sony’s PlayStation Vita or any other PlayStation-certified device. PS Vita owners will see developers’ games available in the PlayStation Mobile section of the PlayStation Store, as will owners of PlayStation-certified devices (Sony’s tablets and Xperia handsets, as well as a number of devices from Fujitsu, HTC, and Sharp). The move is likely aimed at halting or at least slowing down the momentum that has seen developers increasingly interested in mobile platforms at the expense of traditional home and portable gaming consoles.
Sony’s gaming rival, Nintendo, is also looking to court mobile gaming developers as the gaming giant recently began offering kits to make it easier to port smartphone games to the Wii U in light of the console’s low initial sales. Sony previously dropped prices on its PS Vita in Japan in an effort to compete as well as the portable console saw disappointing sales as devices like the iPhone have proved a more attractive platform to consumers.
We’ll have to see if Sony’s move makes a difference going forward though by being patient and awaiting the results.
Source: PlayStation (blog) via Kotaku
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