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Sony Europe says the indie revolution is over, and it helped change Sony
Indies have won their revolution, and Sony is now an active part of the new world that emerged in its aftermath, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's head of strategic content Shahid Ahmad said during his keynote speech at London Games Conference this week. "People say the indie revolution is only just beginning," Ahmad said. "It's not. It's over. When the power structure shifts to the content creators, the old buildings might still be standing but there's new people in there. New content creators, with new ways of doing things. That's what's happened to PlayStation." Ahmad added: "It's through the experience of the last few years that PlayStation is emerging. We realize we have to be focused and passionate about embracing that new space." Ahmad explains that the indie movement helped define the PlayStation Vita in particular, establishing its current developer-focused approach to content curation after a rocky start. "I found myself asking: 'was PlayStation even relevant any more?'" Ahmad stated. "There was a whole generation of developers that didn't even know what Vita was. And it wasn't just indies we had trouble getting behind Vita - even our favorite partners like Sega and Sports Interactive." "You don't change the course of supertanker by saying you want to go another way," Ahmad explained. "You have to take radical action. [...] In an era of massive fragmentation, the old rulebook doesn't work. Operating in an environment of trust was the only way to work. We've forged open and friendly relationships with developers - in fact our relationship with developers are better than they have ever been."
