Gamers rejoice: PS4 is a self-publishing platform for indie studios

Where would we be without Braid, Minecraft, Castle Crashers and the thousands of indie titles that compel the gaming industry to think outside of the blueprint? We’d be up shit creek without a paddle, that’s where we’d be — indie titles like the ones we mentioned above are the touchstone of gaming culture and the PS4 is going to allow indie studios to self-publish games says : it’s a huge advantage over the Xbox One which won’t allow self-published titles according to a report by Kotaku.com. Microsoft and Nintendo, shame on you. Give the underdogs a chance.

At the PS4 conference at E3 earlier this week, Sony announced the happy news and the fans lost their fuzzy minds. Indigames.com has squirreled up a list of 9 titles that’ll be self-published on the PS4 later this year:

• Transistor by SuperGiant (the same company who made Bastion)
• Don’t Starve by Klei
• Galak-Z by 17-bit
• Mercenary Kings by Tribute Games
• Octodad: Dadliest Catch by Young Horses
• Oddworld: Abe’s Oddyssey New ‘n’ Tasty by Oddworld Inhabitants
• Outlast by Red Barrels
• Ray’s the Dead by Ragtag Studio
• Secret Ponchos by Switchblade Monkeys

The games are a decent collection of old and new, with Oddworld being a particularly tasty game from the late nineties. Remember Abe the singing green Smurf? The first Oddworld came out on PS1 and was a pleasant change from the paint-by-numbers games of our reckless youth. Don’t Starve originates from the PC and is a brutally difficult survival title that has more in common with Dark Souls than its cartoonish exterior lets on. And then there’s Transistor. Based on the screenshots alone, it’s going to be one hell of an RPG.

What is highly interesting to note is that not only were these titles announced onstage at the PS4 press conference, but Sony dedicated a video reel to each one.