Sony Announces Simpler Approval, Lower Pricing For Some Downloadable Content

Sony has started to court developers to its PSP platform aggressively through simplifying its content pipeline and approval process for PSP games, in anticipation of taking on Apple’s rapid advance into the handheld gaming market.

According to UK website Develop, not only has Sony cut the price of the PSP developer kits, but it also no longer requires concept approval, has shortened its quality assurance process, and allows low starting price points for some new titles.

50 studios, including iPhone developer Subatomic Studios and casual game company CandyStand, have signed on with Sony to work on upper-level game experiences for the PSP, as well as “new initiatives for the PSP which take it beyond traditional gaming, but still include elements from gaming."

The list of creators currently making PSP games for this particular area of the Playstation Store includes India’s Gameshastra and Creat Studios, a US company with an office in St. Petersburg, Russia.

With the unveiling of the PSP Go, introduced at E3 and launching this fall, Sony will offer a wide diversity of gaming content digitally.

Sony plans to have the online game library for PSP downloads work in a similar fashion to Apple’s iTunes service, and Sony has often hinted at non-gaming applications for the PSP. Sony does not plan to make its developer kit publicly available, but the moves of reducing costs and simplifying the approval process is clearly aimed towards attracting a broad slate of developers to its new platform, while maintaining their quality standards.