As a big PlayStation supporter, FuturLab has already brought some games to PlayStation Minis, PlayStation Mobile, PlayStation Vita, and they’ll be doing a dual release when Velocity 2X comes to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
Back when Velocitu Ultra and Coconut Dodge: Revitalised launched on the Vita in Europe, they were both offered for free as part of the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection. Explaining to GI.Biz how Sony approaches developers and publishers to put their games free in the PS+ Instant Game Collection (which was partially explained to PSLS by Red Barrels Games) is Kirsty Rigden, Lead Game Designer at FuturLab:
They come to you with a deal. They say, we’ll give you this much money if we can have the game for free, or exclusive, or money off, or a combination. There are a lot of different ways you can do it. The amount of money that they’ll suggest will be relevant to the package.
James Marsden, Managing Director at FuturLab, added:
They call it a guaranteed sales buyout. It’s like looking at guaranteed downloads – you discuss a deal up front and decide if it’s worth it. For us it was less about money and more about exposure, especially with a sequel coming.
Rigden then mentioned how “the Minis title [Ed. she is likely referencing when Velocity was free on PS+ a ways back] was over 120,000 downloads. We don’t know if all those people played it, or if they’d have bought it otherwise, but we do at least know that they all know it exists, which is amazing. I’m not sure what figures we would have done without it. We get a chunk of cash, that’s nice, thank you, but so many people get to know about us and play our games. It’s the ultimate demo, really. We’re very much looking at things long term, not just looking to make a quick buck on sales.”
How much do you think Sony pays the average company to put their game on PlayStation Plus, knowing how much they’re estimated to earn from the service in the next few years? Let us know in the comments below.
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