Opinion: Microsoft took back the indie crown from Sony at E3

With all the noise about Xbox Scorpio, PS VR, God of War 4 and Gears of War 4, you may have missed Microsoft taking the indie game crown at E3. We didn't.

[BigGamersSmallTalk]

I said this myself! Sony showed 0 indies on stage, when in all previous years they trotted them out like show and tell. The media ate it up, everyone talked about how great Sony was to indie devs. Now, they had a show 15 mins shorter than last year, and fit in no indies and no Vita....

[_-EDMIX-_]

sooooo do you just think anything shown on stage is based on ONLY games that will release?

I mean...you do know that games by independent developers are still coming to PS4 right? They don't need to be on stage to release on PS4, I'm not entirely sure the point you are trying to make.

[Khaotic]

I think he's stating that Sony was not promoting them like they were in the past. At least not in this E3. Years ago I would say that's bad and indie developers need help with marketing but these days with all the social media and you tube it's not hard to get your name out there if you have a great product. Sony wanted to focus on AAA exclusives because they felt that's what served there message best and MS did a mix cause they are trying to re-brand. I enjoyed both shows

[DragonDDark]

Sony already said PSX will be for smaller titles. An entire conference for indies. How is that not caring for them?

[vegasgamerdawg]

Look at all the fanBOY's jumping off topic to prove their love for Sony. Pretty sure this article and the OP "Sony showed 0 indies on stage" is also talking about E3. Not sure if you can read or have a point. But, we now know your love for a corporation.

[nX]

If you came to E3, the biggest gaming trade show on this planet, to get excited about indie developers at press conferences... you probably came to the wrong place.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@NX- "If you came to E3, the biggest gaming trade show on this planet, to get excited about indie developers at press conferences... you probably came to the wrong place"

???

So If I went to E3 to see No Man Sky or Witcher 3, I was in the wrong place?

Did you know those games are independent as the developer owns the IP? I think maybe you've put a bit too much importance to a developer and game IP being owned bud lol

If Naughty Dog wasn't part of Sony and bankrolled Uncharted series by themselves though something like Kickstarter and it was EXACTLY 100% the same.....

You would not like it? I mean.....do you seriously not get that a "indie developer" is merely a developer that isn't owned and retails the intellectual property of their work?

Are you basically just buying games based on if the team owns the work or not? lol

Relax bud, who owns what or who is owned or not is irrelevant to MOST gamers. MOST gamers don't even know who owns the IP to games they play.

Most on here didn't even know CDPR was a independent developer and owned the IP to the Witcher series. thus...indie.

[Doabarrelroll]

So when Sony shows indies you complain "not enough AAA games" now when Sony shows no indies you STILL complain. God you Xbox fanboys really are such hypocrites.

[Relientk77]

The amount of hypocrites.. ITS OVER 9000!!!

[demonddel]

I honestly don't understand how playstation fans talk as if they are in a world by themselves or its us vs them mentality I hope and pray they are not men over 28yrs old

[game4funz]

It's actually the other way around.... Indies were "important" it seems while. Sony was showing them. This year Sony doesn't show them and it's suddenly not. Importnt anymore. I never thought they were but it's fun to see the flopping

[badz149]

When Sony showed Indies, these fanboys call them Indiestation 4 but when MS does it, it's all good!

the thing is, MS showed Indies with 0, yeah, ZERO exclusive for the xbone to match! the MS conference minus the S and Scorpio reveals was basically Indies + multiplats! let that sinks in for you fanboys!

when Sony brought the Indies on stage, they have multiple TRUE exclusives shown too plus some multiplats with exclusive contents. Sony has NEVER made an E3 presentation with only Indies and multiplats like MS did this year.

Sony this year was all about the EXCLUSIVES and what the current PS4 owners can play on their current PS4 in the near future, unlike MS, which were showing PC footage of all upcoming games the Xbone will only be able to run at lower settings!

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol 😂

Now I can't say that in general if anything I would only say that to somebody who specifically contradicted themselves as I don't really think it's fair to generalize the entire install base that way.

If anything you would have to do some searching on some users that were trash-talking when Sony showed independent titles at their E3s.

I personally don't think it matters who is really helping who Market their titles but I really think matters is the policies that helped bring those titles to consumers in the first place, we could forget about all the E3 hype and marketing at the end of the day what's going to show real support and real tangible change is when Microsoft actually changes their policies to fully allow independent Developers a fair Shake.

There is a very real logical reason why independent developers are seeking to work with Sony as opposed to Microsoft. And no folks I do not believe Sony has just been sending dump trucks of money to not release games on Xbox one as literally if people go on the Wikipedia list for PlayStation 4 vs XBox One the difference is in the very large hundreds!

@gamez4- hardly bud, one of the most anticipated games this year coming to Playstation 4 and PC is an independent game called No Man's sky.

You know how we'll really judge importance bud? Sales numbers.

If they were not important to Consumers the most of those titles would not be coming to Playstation 4.

all you have to do is look at an official wiki list of all the games that are released and you'll see the Gap is extremely wide clearly they feel the market is much more healthier for their content on PlayStation 4.

Nevermind what you're hearing people say on the web bud , they're going to say whatever they feel like it , but at the end of the day the wallet will show what consumers really want and the numbers do not lie.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Now you see what its like to see hypocrisy every 5 secs from Sony fanboys, Its annoying isn't it? The funny thing is ID @Xbox through out the years have been secretly and slowly back tracking dropping their policies to make it easier for devs but yet in 2013 and 14 MS swore these policies were needed for parity and other none sense. Yet another back track from MS but they'll never admit it.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Past presentations, Sony have given everyone and their mom a share of their stage at E3. This time, they decided that in order to come off of last year with an even better presentation this year, they went with mostly first party games. And they have that right.

EA,ubisoft,Square, Bethesda etc presented their games. Sony mostly presented their games. They could have easily spent another hour presenting first, third party and indie games. But gamers told Sony they don't want long winded conferences, don't want long winded talk, don't want to see graphs and figures, don't want to see vr presentations that may or may not have technical difficulties.

Sony didn't have sucker Punch onstage. Does that mean Sony doesn't care about them? Naught dog wasn't onstage. Does that mean Sony doesn't care about them? Sony showed polyphony 's GT sport in a highlight real. Does that mean Sony doesn't care about its BIGGEST selling franchise on PlayStation?

Being that Sony goes to all the game shows, wouldn't that give them a change to show vita content as well as Indy games? Tokyo game show, gamescom,PSX. They have plenty of time to display the rest. This time , Sony just want to switch up and show some of their big guns. And there's nothing wrong with that. While having an orchestra that did a bang up job.

And , how does Microsoft take back a crown when Sony had has more games across the board released on their console than their closest competitor?

[_-EDMIX-_]

Completely Agreed 100% I actually believe the only reason was Sony didn't have a big showcase on Independent games was simply because of the cost of their conference, I believe it's why Electronic Arts opted out and decided to have something a bit different elsewhere as they have no time limit like Sony might I actually think because of the cost of marketing at E3.

I think it's very possible that Sony has other events lined up to show other titles and spread out their announcements so they're not only left with E3 to show all their titles. Especially with the cost and time limit they have.

We got no talk about Services, no talk about sales , no developer demo in regards to commentary etc

I don't think Sony doesn't care about that I merely think they cannot afford to spend time talking about such things in which they could do later on at other events and smaller briefings.

I expect to see more of their independent support in other events that are probably less costly to them.

[objdadon]

Lol, some people always try to give Microsoft some type of win. Oh well, should we start calling it the "indibox" now? Lol

[Xavy]

Haha, damn these xbots are desperate now indies are fine? lol

The Xbone camp are flip flopping left and right.

Regarding the "Win" PS have more indies anyway so what win are they talking about?

[lipton101]

I'm fine with it. Microsoft can have the indies.

[Haru]

That's all xbox has left now only indies xD

enjoy playing your IndieBox!

[Errorist76]

Sony showed many many games during their stream the whole week in detail. Just because they didn't show them on stage doesn't mean anything. This so called opinion is just lack of knowledge.

[gamerswin24]

Lol i love ignorant ppl. You do know tht for several days on the floor Sony showed tons of games including indies tht werent presented on stage right? Hell even some AAA games like Gravity Rush 2, GT Sport, etc didnt get stage time at E3 but were there :) Sony just has too many guns man and not enough time.

Sony changed their presentation to fit what gamers asked for and wanted. Ppl complained about i dies taking up too much time previously and also didn't want psvr to take up most of the Show Sony listened and slayed it giving one of the best E3 presentations of all time in many ppls opinions.

[blacktiger]

0 on E3 stage but millions behind stage and bunch of interviews

[N1GHT_W0LF_X]

I saw a lot more indies on the PS side of the showroom than on the Xbox side at E3.

[Cohagen420]

They were showing indie game previews before the press conference, they had too much for the main conference as we all witnessed. FYI PS4 already has had more indie gms released this year starting with The Witness.

[Silly gameAr]

People whined and moaned sooo much about indie games on the PS4. The way people flip flop is freaking amazing.

[Sharky231]

I think that's one of the greatest things about ps plus. They spotlight indie studios each month. They really put indie studios front and center on the ps store. That was one show! Just because they didn't show anything this year means nothing! Sony will still push the indie studios! They always have.

[BG11579]

At this point, are indies relevant now? Because, until this last E3, I don't remember some people even considering them as valuable games...
Sony didn't present indies at the stage because they focused in the spectacle itself... I don't see many indies that could couple with a simphonic orchestra... Sony had more indies than must think. Between the games to the VRgames, indies were very present at Sony stand...

[IamTylerDurden1]

Do u realize games like Gravity Rush 2, No Man's Sky, Dreams, Nioh, Nier Automata, Wild, GT Sport ect didn't make the conference? Yet, u expect a rung of indie games to make it? Sony showed new AAA megatons 1 after another at e3.

[FITgamer]

Did you watch their pre-show? There were plenty of indie titles showcased. Also they always show indies at PS experience.

[NotAFanboyyy]

Funny coming from the biggest Xbox fanboy podcast going. You guys do not represent the Xbox community whatsoever.

[sammarshall102]

Microsoft is picking up steam against Sony

The AAA lineup for the rest of this year

Xbox One: Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Dead Rising 4, Recore

PS4: GT sport, The Last Guardian

[Doabarrelroll]

Not exclusives on PC, PS where the games the first 9 months of the year. Oh yeah I forgot Xbox fanboys only play games the last three months on the year

[sammarshall102]

You can't play them on the PS4 or WII U

You have to support Microsoft to play these games

And OK so AAA
Xbox One: Quantum Break, Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Dead Rising 4, Recore
PS4: Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted 4, Gt Sport, the Last Guardian

Microsoft still wins

[ShadowKnight]

@sammarshal102 Did you just say Quantum Break?? 😅😅 😂

[Trez1234]

Street fighter, the show, gravity rush 2?. Oh I forgot, they're not games

[Roronoa0411]

Recore is not AAA considering its a 40$ game and if your going to do a comparison you have to include all the PS4 games...You're missing Gravity Rush 2, Nioh, Dreams, and its not AAA but No Mans Sky is now a physical release. All these games look amazing and are full budget titles.

[generic-user-name]

Honestly, I would consider NMS a AAA title at this point. It's huge, it's fully priced, it's super hyped (so hyped that a delay led to death threats) and has been featured heavily by Sony in past conferences as if it were their own first party title.

[Sharky231]

You can't really count dead rising 4 either because it's coming to PlayStation next year.

[sho0ok]

@Sharky231 same as Tomb raider will come to PS right? Oh wait....

[Doabarrelroll]

WRONG seeing is how you guys are content on this whole PC and Xbox thing here's the real list
Xbox: QB, recore, GOW4, FH3, DR4
P.S dead rising 4 is confirmed TIMED exclusive so it isn't even exclusives for REAL, coming to PS4.

Now PS4: SF5, MLB16, UC4, R&C, GT sport, TLG, Nioh,

You were saying? I didn't even include any JRPGS cause I don't want to embarrass you further. Now I wait for your bias to pick apart each game. And no, MS is not picking up steam, that's just your delusion at work

[littlezizu]

You forgot many ps4 exclusives still to come 2016 like

Star ocean
No mans Sky
Dragon Quest Builder
Gravity Rush 2
Nioh
Tales of bestria
Recently released Odin Sphere

along with GT S and TLG ; PS4 is gonna be beast as always

[Antnee534]

You also forgot I am setsuna, world of finalfantasy and dragon quest hero's two. Even though dqh is coming in Japan this year not na lol

[Majin-vegeta]

KOF XIV.

[Sunny_D]

He didn't forget. His fanboyism didn't wouldn't allow him to remember.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

This is a reply to your comment just below but its Funny you forgot sf 5, MLB the show 16, tales of bersia, no man sky, gravity rush 2, gravity rush remastered , valkryria chronicles, odin sphere remake and nioh. Seriously i own both systems and it's not even a contest truthfully

[gravv]

if you can afford a PS4 you will know this year SONY has much more exclusives, and those xbone games you mentioned most of them will bomb in sales and scores. You excludes so many ps4 games on your list, it makes you look desperate insecure bots!

[CernaML]

I like how you left out Street Fighter V and MLB 16 The Show. Then theres the fact that there are loads of PS4 exclusive JRPGs and KH 2.8 scheduled for this year. Face it, Sony destroys Microsoft in exclusives.

[CaptainObvious878]

So many ms fanboys going full retard after E3.

Sam, did you really think we wouldn't notice you left out 70% of ps4 games?

Besides, if you really want to get technical the xbone has ZERO exclusives for the rest of the year until the end of the generation. You have none. Just stop starting an exclusive debate because you will be roundly trounced every singly time.

[Sharky231]

Your talking about a few months! Sony released games all year! Your also forgetting No Mans Sky. To this point I can think of at least 6 exclusives. How many has Xbox had to this point?

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol you mean the same games we've known about for the longest time?

[agame914]

Lolololololololol

[arkard]

I thought indies were terrible and not even worth mentioning? Or is that only when Sony was showing them off.

[Majin-vegeta]

Only when Sony shows them ¬_¬

[sammarshall102]

I think the criticism for Sony came because they had a ton of indies (not a lot of standouts either) and not many good AAA games

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Oh so that's the new Goal post spot now lol. Considering they were releasing more triple aaa that were reviewed better as well as plenty of big well known indies that excuse of yours makes no sense

[Pongwater]

So you're saying the criticism of Sony was based on fanboy myth, much like the premise of this article.

Noted.

[gravv]

okay see metacritics, compare all exclusives exclude all the indie games to make you feel better and see the result. Sony has more AAA exclusives and far better scores retard. Only delusional xbots thinks that xbone has better and more exclusive games, most gamers choose ps4 because its obvious.

[RDF]

Huh?

[Big_Game_Hunters]

its when the X360 was showing them off actually.

[DragonbornZ]

Is this something the author brought up?

[shuvam09]

Seriously dude...
Shuhei even said at PSX last year that PSX was THE event for Indie devs during the Kinda Funny show....
What's the point of showcasing Indies at E3 where gamers don't get to play the games and provide the necessary feedback???
Sony know how to plan their priorities...

[Doabarrelroll]

OKAY THIS IS STRAIGHT HYPOCRISY! For the LONGEST time, we've had ALOT of people complain that Sony showed too many indies and wasted too much time on them in their shows. Have people forgotten the term "indiestation" or how about when PS gamers on their list of games to be excited about we hear "those are all no name indies". -_-

Last year PSX was torn a new one because it was mostly indies and PSVR and not big AAA games. Now Sony shows nothing but BIG AAA, and people are complaining and saying that MS took back the crown, are you serious. And people say that MS can't catch a break from haters.

[Imalwaysright]

Just as it was hypocritical when the 360 had much more indie games than the PS3 and PS fanboys around here were constantly dismissing them. Seeing PS fanboys acting as some sort of victims when they STARTED this kind of flip flopping towards indies is hilarious.

[Doabarrelroll]

And Xbox fanboys last gen touted sales and resolution what's your point. I can go all day on hypocrisy buddy. What happened last gen doesn't block how many people have looked at indies on PS4.

You should change your name from imalwaysright to imalwaysprovenafool

Funny you mention PS fanboys playing victim when that's all Xbox fanboys and gamers alike have done this gen. I don't see PS gamers going " if MS did that they get hated on and criticized" or "wahh wahh, you can't say anything about Xbox or you'll get downvoted". Oh the horror what shall I do wilth all these downvotes that do nothing to my comment but showcase someone disagreeing with my opinion.

[Imalwaysright]

Just like performance didn't matter when the 360 was constantly outperforming the PS3 or now we're starting to see PS fanboys saying that what matters are games because the Scorpio will have 6 teraflops and the leaks for the Neo say that it will have 4 teraflops... buddy?

Fanboys on both sides live in houses of glass and shouldn't throw stones. You're all hypocrites.so you keep acting as some sort of victim and I'll keep laughing at your hypocrisy.

[CaptainObvious878]

I'll agree with you there's hypocrisy on both sides, but ms fanboys are on a whole other level.

The amount of flip flopping, crying victim and using delusional deliberately stupid arguments is beyond a joke at this point.

Just look at Sam up above giving an exclusive list and deliberately missing out a lot of Sony games. And he's not on the fringe, I see that behavior every single day on this site by multiple people.

[iceman06]

Actually, logical people weren't saying that "performance didn't matter". They were upset that 3rd party devs wouldn't or couldn't take he time to leverage the power of the PS3 to bring games on par with the 360. Remember, they were called lazy? That was the rallying cry. (though I understood from a pure business perspective that it didn't make fiscal sense for 3rd parties) The fact was, the PS3 was just tougher to develop for. No one group of fanboys is better than others.
I DO agree about fanboys. They say dumb, hypocritical stuff constantly that can and will come back to bits them in the ass.

[Realms]

Only problem with you're power argument is that the PS3 proved to have more power tell me what game look remotely as good as the last of us on the 360. Fanboys on both sides are hypocrites tell me how did the power argument worked out for the original xbox vs the PS2. Having a complete library is better than having power and if raw power is what you want PC is the clear winner.

By the way the reason games looked better on 360 was because developers chose to focus on the 360 during the development process and proof of this is that Sony's first party studio games looked better than most games during this time period.

[DragonbornZ]

Man its sad. It always comes to this here on N4G.

The article and its point can't be discussed. Nope, instead we have to talk about how hypocritical xbox fan boys and Playstation fan boys are, as if that has any relevancy to the author and his/her point.

[Sevir]

Meanwhile Xbo fanboys called PS4 the "indiestation". Lol can't win, They wanted games They delivered AAA games, They showed no Indies, now it's Sony dumped indies... meanwhile they have more indie coming to the platform everyday than any other current console.

That's great MS is talking indies, they need to after their original indie policies for XBO when Don Mattrick was head of that division.

[Sunny_D]

Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.

[Destiny1080]

LMAO can xboners be more desperate

[uth11]

They showed a ton of Indies back at PSX in Dec, so it isn't like they abandoned them

[ONESHOTV2]

i cant wait for state of decay that was one on the games i enjoyed the most on steam played even better for mods

[URNightmare]

But I thought the Xbox fans didn't like Indies?

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Its just sony fanboy ammo, sales, free online, indies. all things They used used or dismissed for their fanboy agenda last gen. Of all the fanboy groups sony fanboys are the biggest hypocrites

[DarXyde]

This is such a crazy industry. Xbox and PlayStation gamers really do bring out the worst in each other.

When Sony shows Indies, it's a problem because they are not real games and it must be AAA to be taken seriously...now it's an issue when Sony didn't show them. PlayStation Experience 2015 was chastised for not really showing AAA games.

And then we've got the "power does/doesn't matter" argument with PS4 vs. Xbox One and how things have changed with Neo vs. Scorpio.

Good grief. I really hope this type of behavior is just from the vocal minority on the internet and most gamers aren't like this. Everyone is so quick to call on the hypocrisy of "the other side" and they can't even see that they themselves cast stones while living in glass houses.

Do yourselves a favor and stop the madness.

[SCW1982]

Dumbest article I have read in a while.

[SquidBuck]

So does this mean we can call it the indiebone lmao

[SynestheticRoar]

Fanboys choke themselves to sleep every night.

[Gecksta]

They can keep it

[Hoffmann]

Wrng opinions are wrong.

[Relientk77]

LMAO so when Sony shows off Indie games, the Xbox fans are like wow theres no AAA games on PS4 its just the IndieStation 4, but now all of a sudden Indies matter.

This is so pathetic lol

[JasonKCK]

Most indie games are terrible. Most are just clones with only a handful worth playing.

[showtimefolks]

but but but according to xbox fanboys indies don't matter oh wait so ms showed some so all of the sudden we need to give credit

double standard of n4g

[tay8701]

Did anyone not see the preshow? They showed off several indies before they even kicked off their e3 conference

[acemonkey]

lol bias is showing

[tay8701]

https://www.youtube.com/wat... -Bound

https://www.youtube.com/wat... -Abzu

[Saito]

I thought indies were bad

[King_Lothric]

So... Just because you don't saw an indie on E3 you come to that conclusion? Totally forgetting bow many indi games Sony has and most of them exclusives and how all of then sell more in PSN? What kind of retarded logic is that?

Logic:
Sony present indies = indie station is all indies
Sony doesn't present indies : Xbox took the crown.

For real?

[ASBO-5]

Oh lord, you gave me a good lol there man!! The only thing M$ took from Sony at E3 was a sound ass whooping.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Microsoft did nothing at E3 except over promise and under deliver. They are the conmen of the industry, an absolute cancer of a company. The sooner they release their Steambox the better, the target for it is already building their own rigs.

[Trekster_Gamer]

So what no Indies... They showed some awesome AAA titles.

[Aenea]

Yay! Good news for the IndieBox Scorpio!

:p

[FPS_D3TH]

Oh man the hypocrisy. Sony showed a lot of indies last year as it wasn't an exclusive heavy year, kinda like how this year Microsoft had next to nothing in exclusives to show for this year (I can count them on one hand)

[Chocoburger]

Sony made the right call. In past years they didn't have enough big budgets games to show off since they were still in a very unfinished state. But now that years have passed since PS4's release, its time for a multitude of the big games to go on display. While I like smaller games, these games can not compete in terms of hype, excitement, or cheers at an E3 press conference.

MS took back the indie crown? Good for them, I didn't cheer a single time during their press conference, it was pretty bland for my tastes. Only Recore looked interesting to me, Scalebound has gotten me less hyped each time they show it off, too bad. Sony lost the indie crown this year? Yet I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, the only let down for me was Days Gone (tired of zombie games).

So in the end, letting MS take back the indie crown was a good thing for Sony and a bad thing for MS. A crown of thrones, wear it well, Phil.

[agame914]

Wait I thought indies don't count as real games to Microsoft fans?

[IamTylerDurden1]

U actually have to release games in order to take back the crown.

Death's Gambit, Eitr, Abzu, Hob, Rainworld, HeadLander, Edith Finch, Boundless, The Tomorrow Children, Mother Russia Bleeds, Crossing Souls, Shu, Ray's the Dead, WiLD. Sony has a nice list of indies on the way.

[BlaqMagiq1]

But I thought Xbox fanboys didn't care about indies but since MS showed off indies it gets a pass? Xbox fanboys are the biggest hypocrites in gaming bar none.

[Tross]

And...just for the sake of pointing it out, most of these games are multiplats that will be available on the PS4. All MS dud was provide a stage to show these games. In all fairness, yeah, I'm glad they did. I guess there is merit to watching the Xbox press conference even though I have no intention of owning an Xbox. I've been waiting for Stardew Valley to hit consoles for a while now and I'm looking forward to playing it on my PS4. Or Vita if it comes to that, but I don't think a Vita version was announced. Oh well, either way I'll be enjoying it.

[Miacosa]

Not really since they had plenty on the show floor it just wasn't at the conference since its a known quantity.

[KingofGambling]

Sony and thatgamingcompany's Journey alone destroyed any of Microsoft's exclusive indie games.