SCEA Pledging Millions for PSN Exclusive Titles, Including Indies

PLAYSTATION®NETWORK ANNOUNCES MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT IN EXCLUSIVE GAME DEVELOPMENT

July 13, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) announced today a three-year, $20million dollar investment plan to support the development of PlayStation®Network exclusive games across our network of first-party studios as well as financial support for the Pub Fund, a unique program for independent developers. Thisannouncement further demonstrates PlayStation Network’s commitment to provide quality game experiences that cannot be found on any other video game console. PlayStation Network has had great success with their line of exclusive titles, with several among the highest rated on the platform, including Joe Danger, Critter Crunch, Flower and the PixelJunk series.

Originally announced at the Game Developers Conference in 2009, the Pub Fund program provides additional development budget for developers who create innovative, exclusive titles for PlayStation Network. SCEA helps with game design and marketing plans but allows the developer to own the game’s intellectual property, publish the title and set the price. The first game developed and released under this model was Burn, Zombie, Burn!, and the program continues to gain traction with the independent developers behind the upcoming Eufloria and Okabu as well as the highly anticipated Papo & Yo, which garnered several accolades at the recent E3 Expo.

“PlayStation Network is poised to deliver an enviable line-up of exclusive and imaginative games this year, with highly anticipated first-party titles like thatgamecompany’s Journey and PixelJunk Sidescroller,” said Brandon Stander, director of PlayStation Network marketing, SCEA. “We’re doubling down on PlayStation Network software, and under this additional investment over the next three years, we anticipate a steady flow of high-quality titles that can’t be found anywhere else.”

Upcoming PlayStation Network exclusive titles that are a part of this innovative portfolio include:

• Eufloria is an addictive ambient game of space exploration and conquest, plant growth and bio mechanical evolution, where players can conquer asteroids in deep space and use their resources to literally grow and nurture semi-organic plants and creatures to do your bidding.
• Okabu is a brand-new action-puzzler from the creators of Rolando, where players will guide Kumulo, Nimbe and four cloud-flying heroes as they battle to save their people and their world from the industrialized threat of the Doza. Gamers will dive into a hyper-tactile toybox world filled with a huge number of puzzles, playthings, adorable creatures and devious machines spread across an epic co-op campaign.
• PAYDAY: The Heist is an action-filled first-person shooter game that lets players take on the role of a hardened career criminal executing intense, dynamic heists in constant pursuit of the next “big score”. Players will navigate diverse urban settings with three partners in crime—controlled by either AI or in co-op multiplayer—and will load out with an array of weaponry and equipment as they embark on a spectacular crime spree through six high-stake heists, including banks robberies, prisoner extractions and armored car hijackings.
• Papo & Yo is a vibrant, 3D Puzzle-Platforming Adventure coming to PlayStation Network in 2012. As a young boy named Quico, players will travel through a magical, surrealist world, solving puzzles with the help of a huge creature named Monster who has a dangerous problem: he’s addicted to poisonous frogs. The minute he spies one, he’ll scarf it down and fly into a violent, frog-induced rage where no one, including his best friend Quico, is safe. Players will have to learn to use Monster’s varying emotions to their advantage if they want to find a cure and save their pal.

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