A LIMERICK-based start-up has won a potentially lucrative contract to develop software for Sony’s latest games device.
The licensing agreement gives Open Motion the rights to develop games for the PlayStation Vita, which has sold more than one million units since it launched in Japan in December. It went on sale in Ireland last month.
Open Motion said it has plans for at least two Vita titles, but it will be taking its time to make sure the titles are right for the market.
The company is no stranger to Sony’s consoles. Founded in 2010, it has previously developed mini games for Sony’s PlayStation Portable format, including Mad Blocker Alpha, Ninjamurai and Revoltin’ Youth, which sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide last year and won a number of awards, globally and in Ireland.
The company has also developed a number of web and mobile games.
The vita development is a “huge step forward”, said executive director of Open Motion Studios Paddy Murphy.
“Although it’s a bigger platform, which is challenging in itself, it is not too much more difficult to develop for,” he said. “With the older consoles, the internal hardware was harder to use.”
The PlayStation Vita is Sony’s follow-up to the PSP and brings in a number of new features, including a 5in touch-enabled screen and rear touch panel, six-axis motion sensing and social networking.
Open Motion employs six full-time developers and eight part-time staff. It plans to add two more to develop for PlayStation Vita later this year.
The development team is being headed up by Mike Naughton at the company, who Mr Murphy said was instrumental in landing the Sony contract.
Niall O’Hanrahan, Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland managing director, said the platform was more accessible to smaller developers following Sony’s decision to drop the cost of its software developing kit.
“It’s going back to the roots of gaming, which started from a garage industry,” he said.
He hopes that this will encourage more Irish games developers to get involved with Sony’s platform. The kit allows developers to create games for a range of Sony devices.
