Introversion claims PSN has "a much weaker negotiating position" than XBL

Independent developer Introversion Software has claimed that Sony's PlayStation Network has "a much weaker negotiating position" in place for small developers, when compared to Xbox Live Arcade.

"I think there are different challenges with Sony," Introversion MD, Mark Morris told CVG. "With Microsoft your approval is given at the start, as long as you deliver what you said you'd deliver, you're going to launch, where as it's not like that with Sony.

"Sony's clearance for launch comes quite later and you have to invest quite a lot of time before you get it. That's a problem because it means you have to invest a lot of time and effort and then you're in a much weaker negotiating position because they could turn around and say 'we don't want it'.

'However, to be fair, I'm sure if Microsoft wasn't happy with what you'd delivered they'd say 'you need to fix this'.

"When you're a small developer you kind of have to go with whatever you're offered. I would prefer a world where we could put our content out on 360 and PSN, because I think that being able to do that is really going to enable small developers to take risks."

Introversion's next game, Darwinia+, is slated for release on Xbox Live Arcade next month, and the developer provided the world with an example of the XBL approval process last April.