Following its success in China, PlayStation detailed its new India Hero Project, which it hopes can lead to uncovering the next Genshin Impact-sized hit.
What is PlayStation's aim in supporting game development in India? Sony talks about the facts learned from the launch of the "India Hero Project" and its future prospects
India is now the world's most populous country
BY DANIEL ROBSON
Posted November 5, 2023 11:08
PlayStation has revealed more information about the India Hero Project. The program supports Indian developers who want to launch games for PS5 and was launched in May this year as a sister initiative to the successful China Hero Project.
In early November, the Indian game developer conference ``India Game Developer Conference'' was held in Hyderabad. Hector Fernandes, head of third party division at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), and Sujith Sukumaran, program manager for India Hero Project, spoke to IGN JAPAN ahead of the event to provide further details about the project. Ta.
ADVERTISING
PlayStation's Hector Fernandes (left) and Sujith Sukumaran (right) introduce the India Hero Project at the India Game Developer Conference. Shuhei Yoshida, head of indie games at PlayStation, also participated.
The India Hero Project is a program that allows developers based in India to submit games they would like to release on PlayStation. Games that pass the selection process by a committee made up of nine Sony employees will be eligible for support from Sony. Sony plans to provide funding, technology, and marketing support to selected titles, and in some cases, Sony may be in charge of game sales itself.
The China Hero Project, currently in its third phase, began in China in 2016. Highly acclaimed titles such as ``Fist: Darkness of the Crimson Castle'' supported here have achieved global success, and highly anticipated titles such as ``Awaken - Astral Blade'' and ``Daba: Land of Waterscar'' are in the future. being sold. India, home to 1.4 billion people, is the world's most populous country, surpassing China, and has a population of 500 million gamers as of 2021. Fernandes says that India is a country with favorable conditions, and that the country will be able to achieve similar successes like the China Hero Project.
"India is a very prominent market because of its favorable demographics," Fernandes said, noting that India has a larger population of young gamers than Europe, America or Japan. "If you broaden your horizons a little, you'll see that a wide variety of works are coming out of India. Not only in movies, TV dramas, and music, but also in video games, you can see a high level of creativity."
According to analyst firm Niko Partners , India's video game market will be worth US$868 million in 2023, and is estimated to nearly double this size by 2027. Although mobile games account for an overwhelmingly large percentage of sales, PC games are also very popular, and sales of consoles are also increasing. Therefore, the India Hero Project has two objectives that are two sides of the same coin. The first step is to release games that are culturally familiar to Indian people and increase PlayStation's share of the Indian console market. The goal is to release Indian-originated games around the world and provide new experiences to PS5 users everywhere.
To achieve this goal, PlayStation will provide support beyond financial support. Mentoring and training are planned so that developers can apply the skills they have acquired through mobile and PC game development to PS5 game development. Developers selected to be supported by the India Hero Project will be able to learn how to utilize the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, as well as the PS5's ultra-high-speed SSD, with exclusive support from Sony. On the marketing side, we will provide developers with knowledge to make games easier to play for PS5 users around the world.
Mr. Sukumaran explained: “With this project, we want to showcase the talent of Indian developers to the world.We want to appeal to people in India to fully support their development and showcase their games to the world. We also want to offer developers the skills and know-how that Sony has cultivated around the world and the experience of developing commercially successful games for consoles."
"Talented people are everywhere, all over the world," Fernandez says. "But we need to do a better job of helping developers understand how to succeed on PlayStation. We need to help developers understand and be part of the PlayStation ecosystem. "So that creators and developers in India have the same opportunities to succeed as developers around the world."
Through the China Hero Project, Fernandes and his team refined the way they collaborate with developers within emerging markets. "It's all about the program, from how to commercialize and raise funds, to how to support and train game developers. What we have understood and learned is what we carried over from the China Hero Project."
“We make the project possible by providing local and international support,” Sukumaran said. “Furthermore, we have formed a technical team to support the developers, and our India Hero Project is also collaborating with the China Hero Project. We are learning from each other’s projects and collaborating with each other. It is.”
It used to be common knowledge that large-scale AAA games meant games made in Europe, America, or Japan. However, recently Chinese-made titles such as ``Genshin'' are being played all over the world, and titles such as ``Black Myth: Wukong'', ``Showa U.S. Story'', and ``Where Winds Meet'', which are also made in China, have become popular around the world. There are also high expectations for the titles currently under development. For companies that want to sell a lot of game consoles and games and develop a new customer base, the domestic market in a rapidly growing region cannot be overlooked. Sony understands the importance of promoting the PlayStation ecosystem to developers in regions such as China and India.
"Cultural connections are important," Fernandez said. ``People in all countries around the world want to tell their own stories, and that attitude is important.'' Chinese titles like ``Genshin'' are incredibly popular in Europe, the United States, and Japan. That is clear from this.”
The India Hero Project was announced in May 2023, but Fernandes' team has already begun reviewing the work of developers who have applied for the project. The team plays game demos and reviews financial documents, all the while accepting new applications. The first batch of titles selected for this project will be announced between February and April 2024, Fernandes said.
It seems that some unexpected trends were observed in the submitted titles. The game genre with the most applications was adventure games (25%). Next were FPS and TPS games (18%), followed by RPGs, casual games, and horror games, albeit at a much smaller percentage.
"We expected a lot of applications for MOBA and multiplayer games, but we found that adventure games received the most entries," Fernandez said. ``And there were a lot of FPS games, and I saw some pretty cool concepts.What kind of content are Indian FPS games?What kind of games are single-player games made in India that focus on stories? What are the stories and perspectives hidden within these games that people outside Japan will also get to see? This is the part I'm most excited about."
Fernandez's team also found that for the majority of applicants, approximately 78%, it was their first time developing a game directly for PlayStation. The India Hero Project will likely bring a breath of fresh air to the PlayStation ecosystem.
Sukumaran explained that only a small number of developers (19%) who applied had experience developing games for consoles. Most developers were focused on developing games for mobile or PC. "And among the 19% of people who were developing for consoles, we found that most were people who created artwork or worked as engineers. This is a part that is far removed from actual game development," Sukumaran said. continues. “There are very few partner developers in India who have extensive experience developing games for consoles.”
Certainly, the main purpose of this program is to release Indian games for PS5. Still, Fernandez explains that Sony may consider releasing the applicant's game on PC or mobile. PlayStation has been able to grow on platforms other than its own, porting Marvel's Spider-Man and The Last of Us to PC, and investing in mobile game development. Even in regions where consoles are less popular than in other countries, PlayStation could expand its customer base through the India Hero Project and similar programs. Like Xbox, which recently acquired King, which offers the PC Game Pass service to PC users and is famous for the Candy Crush series.
"Our desire is to grow the overall PlayStation market through mobile and PC expansion," Fernandez said. “We cannot ignore the fact that there are not only a number of mobile game development studios but also a considerable number of PC game development studios in India. Our focus is, of course, on the ``game console in the living room,'' and that is our top priority. But you never know what's going to come out. I don't think you want to give up playing just because it's a great game but it's not released for consoles."
Games such as ``Razy'', ``Sojourn Past'', and ``Asura'' are played all over the world. It's only a matter of time before an Indian studio releases a blockbuster work on the level of Genshin. Xbox was also present at the India Game Developer Conference, giving a big presentation to attract Indian developers. India Hero Project will be an important milestone in the evolution of this gaming industry.
Mr. Sukumaran also said: "Phil Rosenberg (SIE's Global Partner Relations Leader) has a favorite saying: 'The best time to plant a seed was 30 years ago, but the second best time is now.' In the same way, the best time for us to support these developers was 30 years ago, but the second best time
DualSense type clocks be sold? A limited-time PS goods store will open at Tokyo Solamachi from November 1st.
India's (country with the biggest population in the world) video game market is the fastest growing by gamers and revenue in the world. They're expected to have >20% growth YoY in revenue.
Total gamers in India are forecasted to have surged a remarkable 343% in the 10 years between 2017 and 2027, climbing to 641.2 million in 2027
India and China (top 1 country in gaming revenue and amount of gamers) traditionally hosted most of the support and outsourcing studios for most -if not all- top AAA and mobile publishers. So both have gamedev talent there.
But as happens in China, Indian gamers play mostly on mobile and PC. So by supporting local gamedev scene to make, Sony wants to make their console more popular in these countries to grow Sony's gaming presence there.
Sony wants to grow their gaming presence in Asia (specially China and India) and Latin America, another fastest growing emerging gaming market region where consoles aren't as popular as in EU, NA or JP.
Part of the reasoning on expanding Sony's gaming business to PC and mobile (way bigger markets than PS) is to grow in these regions in the long term.
????
There are some good games from the China Hero Project, like FIST.
This is a very good initiative that can raise ps gaming adoption on a country and allows new takes on genres and games that goes beyond American, Japanese and European game design and stories.
India's (country with the biggest population in the world) video game market is the fastest growing by gamers and revenue in the world. They're expected to have >20% growth YoY in revenue.
Total gamers in India are forecasted to have surged a remarkable 343% in the 10 years between 2017 and 2027, climbing to 641.2 million in 2027
India and China (top 1 country in gaming revenue and amount of gamers) traditionally hosted most of the support and outsourcing studios for most -if not all- top AAA and mobile publishers. So both have gamedev talent there.
But as happens in China, Indian gamers play mostly on mobile and PC. So by supporting local gamedev scene to make, Sony wants to make their console more popular in these countries to grow Sony's gaming presence there.
Sony wants to grow their gaming presence in Asia (specially China and India) and Latin America, another fastest growing emerging gaming market region where consoles aren't as popular as in EU, NA or JP.
Part of the reasoning on expanding Sony's gaming business to PC and mobile (way bigger markets than PS) is to grow in these regions in the long term.
A new IP created by some small studio with no experience working on AAA games, which most of these are, won't have the same pull as an established IP you lost access to.
People won't drop IP "A" to play a new IP that's trying to be IP "A". This is all fine in an industry from 10 years ago, where you use smaller teams like this to bolster your business. The industry now is one where you have huge companies gobbling up IPs and making them inaccessible on hardware that played them for decades and it's only going to get worse.
Hand-waving Sony's reluctance to secure IPs isn't doing anyone any favors.
We never know when the next big new IP will arise, it is pretty small minded to just dismiss games from regions outside of North America, Europe / UK and Japan.
Look at 'Lies of P' a fantastic game whose devs would probably be discarded by many in this thread going by certain reactions.
????
There are some good games from the China Hero Project, like FIST.
This is a very good initiative that can raise ps gaming adoption on a country and allows new takes on genres and games that goes beyond American, Japanese and European game design and stories.
A new IP created by some small studio with no experience working on AAA games, which most of these are, won't have the same pull as an established IP you lost access to.
People won't drop IP "A" to play a new IP that's trying to be IP "A". This is all fine in an industry from 10 years ago, where you use smaller teams like this to bolster your business. The industry now is one where you have huge companies gobbling up IPs and making them inaccessible on hardware that played them for decades and it's only going to get worse.
Hand-waving Sony's reluctance to secure IPs isn't doing anyone any favors.
Most big console AAA and mobile publishers have studios in China and India and if not, or in addition to this (like the ones from Sony, MS, ABK, Capcom or Ubi) use outsourcing studios from China or India. They have a ton of people with AAA experience there, people who often -at least in the case of India- later moves to work on big studios from NA, EU or JP.
Sony's idea is to expand their catalog in the mid term (adding on top, not replacing previous stuff) with local Indian and Chinese games to make their PlayStation brand and console more popular in China and India, and also to publish as 2nd party worldwide some interesting enough games they may find there.
I assume their idea -with less priority and thinking in the long term- is also to detect the potential next Genshin Impact/Minecraft/Rocket League/Fall Guys/PUBG/etc. made in China or India and make sure they get it as console exclusive and are the ones who publish it and get its IP.
It's a great idea to support development from outside US and western Europe/Japan. But it's asnine to expect them to buy consoles and console games en masse. Those are luxury products on India, China and Latin America for the most part. Specially Sony ones.
Zelda
Spiderman
Hogwarts
RE4
SF6
FF16
Alan Wake 2
Baldurs Gate 3
Yeah new IPS break through, but it requires more work and alot of the time from established studios.
A good mix is needed, but losing already established IP’s is never good. Its rarely happened in PS history actually
Sony backed 17 games for the first two editions combined, seven of them released as of November. The other ones continue under development.
They also released other games not as good or successful, but ok for newbie indies as like Harcore Mecha (77 MC) or Anno Mutationem (>100K sales on Steam). Or some weak indies (In Nightmare, the VR game Immortal Legacy: The Jade Cipher).
But these were from the first edition, the ones of the 2nd or 3rd look way better, they seem more AA (in some cases even look like AAA even if won't) than indie. In the 2nd they had games like Lost Soul Aside or Convallaria, for the 3rd had games like these:
The quality seems to improve in every edition, but it's too early because as of now they only released barely a bit above half a dozen of the first edition games.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
