pete-smith
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How to pitch your indie game to Sony
"I'm sick of sitting through crap development pitches," Pete Smith, Sony XDev director of product development, told an audience of developers at GDC Europe last week. Smith handles all of the European studios looking to snag a publishing deal on Sony systems, and he helped games such as Heavy Rain and the Motorstorm series race into the public eye.Smith knows what he wants in a pitch, but just as importantly, he knows precisely what he doesn't want. He gave an overview of his approach to independent pitches, and then broke down a quick and dirty list of "do's" and "do not's." Read through Smith's pet peeves and praises below.
Sony missed Limbo exclusivity by asking for IP rights
Sony Computer Entertainment Executive Producer Pete Smith said the company had issues signing Limbo "because of the IP," during a recent talk at the Develop Conference. Talks with Limbo developer Playdead Studios broke down as Sony wanted to retain intellectual property rights."There are obvious benefits to keeping it, but also to giving it up: you're way more likely to get the deal," Smith said of retaining IP rights during the talk. "A publisher is much more likely to commit to marketing and merchandising if they own the IP." After Sony failed to reach a deal with Playdead Studios, the Danish developer went on to launch Limbo on Xbox Live Arcade in July 2010, one year before it landed on PSN.Smith added, "Sometimes all we want is protection so [developers] don't make a game, finish it then go to one of our rivals. We look at IP on a case by case basis. With a bit of common sense, you can find common ground."
