Indie creators will now be able to receive free PlayStation 5 dev kits through a new program. This is part of Sony’s strategy to improve the publishing process on its gaming platform.
PlayStation made an announcement in a blog post, describing the terms of the Development Hardware Loan Program.
“We are always striving to lower the barrier of entry and improve the process for publishing on PlayStation,” PlayStation Creators head Greg Rice said. “We’re pleased to announce a new initiative that will make it easier for new partners to hop in and get started with developing for PlayStation.”
To be eligible for the program, a developer or a publisher must become a PlayStation partner by signing up on the official website. After the registration, they will be able to get one PS5 dev kit and one PS5 testing kit for free.
The company will also inform developers about the loan period, security guidelines, as well as shipping and returns terms.
Sony introduced the PlayStation Indies program in 2020 to support new voices who want to take risks and invest in new concepts. The platform’s relationship with indie developers, however, has received a lot of criticism over the years like allegedly charging smaller devs $25,000 for promotion.
Last year, Sony announced its intent to fix some of its most notorious issues, including poor discoverability and bad communication