E for Expensive – ESRB rating costs concern Fieldrunners developer
Despite the Minis name, development for Sony‘s new PSP program is by no means a small task, particularly for smaller developers. Gamasutra got in touch with a few developers supporting PSP Minis, and one of the things they got out of the interviews is a big concern for making smaller, cheaper games for the PSP. Who would’ve thought that the cost to get ESRB ratings could be so steep?
Despite the Minis name, development for Sony‘s new PSP program is by no means a small task, particularly for smaller developers. Gamasutra got in touch with a few developers supporting PSP Minis, and one of the things they got out of the interviews is a big concern for making smaller, cheaper games for the PSP. Who would’ve thought that the cost to get ESRB ratings could be so steep?
“Developing for the PSP is definitely more serious business and not for casual non-developers,” said Sergei Gourski, co-founder of Subatomic Studios. “Having game development experience is a must. You have to invest some money into dev kits and into getting ratings for your game. The costs of ratings such us ESRB is significantly more then we had realized.”
Fieldrunners, an App Store favorite developed by Subatomic, is at US$ 6.99 on the PlayStation Store. On the App Store, where there are still no ESRB ratings, Fieldrunners is just at US$ 2.99. While developing for different platforms will have their own measure of costs, the cost of the ESRB rating will definitely influence game pricing, especially when the aim is to go as low as you can. Joystiq reports that a post at GameDev.net has the rating price at US$ 2,500.
You can check out the source for more info.
ESRB wants to rate the App Store:
Via Gamasutra
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