The PlayStation 2 just passed its 8th birthday here in North America, and the console is still going strong. With 131.3 million units sold worldwide, Sony is looking to continue to tap into that market. To that end, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's developer relations manager George Bain has revealed that the company will be removing the content approval process in an attempt to attract smaller developers.

"You no longer have to submit a game for content approval," Bain explained at the Casual Connect conference in Kyiv. Citing Russia and India as examples, Bain said that independent developers in all countries can now "create low-development cost titles and release them in their market."

Since there are no licensing fees, the only cost to the developer would be the PS2 dev kit. In order to help alleviate some of that financial burden, Bain said that in some cases Sony will lend out dev kits. Another option for developers making small, casual titles is to purchase PS2 debug dev kits, which cost about 1/10 of a full version.

Bain went on to explain another possible option for smaller local developers: the PlayStation Network. "One thing that a lot of developers seem to forget is that PlayStation Network is free," he explained. "Consumers do not have to pay a monthly fee... game developers should create games for local markets."

To make this an easier process, Sony is implementing several new policies. One is the new global approval system. Instead of sending a game to each Sony territory—Europe, Japan, and America—games now go through just one worldwide website. Sony will also be eliminating the need for a third-party publisher for PSN games. "This is something we're actively promoting," Bain said. "Without the need of a licensed publisher, it's a direct relationship between a developer and Sony."

Given the recent boom in independent game development, this seems like a very smart move on Sony's part. Fostering the creativity of smaller developers can only lead to good things, and who knows, maybe we'll see another Braid or Everyday Shooter, thanks to this initiative.