“We have to get the business model right.” Playstation India on indies, Vita, and PSN

In the second part of our interview with Playstation India chief Atindriya Bose, we touch upon Sony‘s handheld conundrums, the country’s potential on digital, and the company’s plans for local indie developers.

(See: “It’s been a fantastic start”: an interview with Playstation India)

Advice for Indian indie developers

Considering that Sony is seen as something of a champion of indie developers, it was only natural to ask Bose what plans the company has for India. Though it would take a while before local development programs are announced, he suggests that budding indie developers should register with Sony.

In the past we have worked pretty successfully with developers from India. Even in the global indie fraternity we’ve seen Indians present. We look at India as a hotbed for development. We have to get the business model right. The PS4 is pretty open but they have to take the initiative and register. That is something that we haven’t seen yet.

In his opinion, the reason for the lack of Indian indies on Playstation platforms is entirely down to business reasons.

From my analysis sitting here, the first thing everyone looks at is the domestic market. And if you look at it you look at mobile platform. That’s the easier one. If someone is ready to jump into the world market which I think is a huge opportunity for many developers here to come up with world quality games and make world quality sales.

(See: ‘It’s harder to make an original casual game than to make a hardcore game’: an interview with Yellow Monkey Studios)

The Vita could be doing better (but it’s not)