Oddworld New ‘n’ Tasty Dev: “Why Do We Need a Publisher When We Self-Finance Our Games?”

Oddworld Inhabitants’ Lorne Lanning hasn’t had the best history dealing with Microsoft’s indie developer requirements. Now, with Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty on the way for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Lanning states that the reason they’re not on the Xbox One is simply because they don’t have a publisher in a conversation with Eurogamer.

“We don’t have a publisher so we’re not officially on the platform, even though we’re compatible, even though we’ll be ready to do it. Period.

“Why do we need a publisher when we self-finance our games, we build our own IP, we manage our own IP and we’ve turned nearly two million units online as indie publishers sold – not free downloads? Why? What’s wrong with us?”

He went on to praise Sony’s openness when it comes to self-publishing games. Without directly referencing Microsoft, Lanning stated that, “There are those who are looking at next quarter’s profits, and maybe one of these big guys looks like that’s all they’re doing right now. If they’re looking at the world that way, you’ve got the obvious, enormous titles.

“They’re going to be the big revenue generators. If the company’s purely about profit, profit and profit, they’re looking at those, and then they’re looking at the little guys saying, ‘oh, they only make this much.’ They’re not interested. There’s one party that’s making it very clear they’re not interested.”