Sony has outlined its self-publishing philosophy for PlayStation 4.

Senior account manager of developer relations in Europe Agostino Simonetta outlined four pillars for the service, starting with 'Every Developer Is a Publisher'.

PlayStation

"This is fundamental, and sets the basis for our relationship with our self-publishing partners," he explained at a Develop conference session attended by Digital Spy.

"Every single developer is a publisher, as far as we're concerned. We don't separate, we don't segregate indies from traditional publishers."

It means that developers can control the release date of a product and work directly with Sony on promotion across its digital channels.

The second pillar is 'Equality of Opportunity', where the business support that Sony offers is available to all partners, and isn't dictated by the number of games published or revenue earned, offering a "level playing field".

The third, something that Simonetta said it is passionate about, is offering a 'Personal Relationship', where developers don't go through a "faceless portal", but instead offer an "open door policy", with direct access to those making promotional and marketing decisions to a game.

Young Horses

Sony's support team is available to contact at no cost, with no limits on the number or size of requests, and operates through remote checking, phone conferences and studio visits.

"For us, it's key that each and every one of the companies working on PlayStation can come and talk to us at any point they want," he said.

The fourth and final pillar that Simonetta outlined was 'No Hurdles, Just Games'.

"We are working very hard to make sure PlayStation is as perfect as it can be for all independent developers that want to come and work for us," he explained.

"Our promise and commitment to the development community at PlayStation, from the very top of the organisation, is committed to this journey together."

Sony also outlined the submission and approval process, where there is just a single stage process for application, with a template and simple list of criteria.

A response will be supplied within one week, and from there, studios can then officially announce their game is coming to PS4.

Simonetta added that it is currently working on certain aspects - from the publishing process and business model to quality assurance - but wants to "make sure they're the best they can be".

It was added that more than 500 games from more than 160 partners have been self-published on PSN to date.

Sony's Mark Cerny also revealed how indies were "hindered" by the PS3 previously, and how it designed a "giant" controller to test accessibility for PS4 launch title Knack.

Upcoming self-published titles on PS4 include The Witness, Octodad: Dadliest Catch and Don't Starve.

Watch a trailer for The Witness below:

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