PS4 dev Jon Blow: ‘Profit is not the number one priority’

One of the most anticipated "features" of the PlayStation 4, for me, is Sony's willingness to work with independent publishers. Why, you ask? Simply put, it's not always about the money with them. Yes, a profit is nice, but as you can see from the attitude of current PS4 developer Jonathan Blow, the gameplay experience comes first. As it should.

In a Sony blog "Conversations with Creators" post, Jonathan Blow, who is currently developing The Witness for the PlayStation 4, explains a point-of-view that I think many of the larger publishers seem to forget — it shouldn't always be about the money.

"With that independence that we have the ability to be free in what project we choose, we also have the freedom not have to make a huge profit if we don't need to. I would definitely like to make our money back on this game and I would like to make a profit on it, but it's not actually the number one priority," said Jonathan Blow.

"The number one priority is to make the best possible game that we can make that brings the most beneificial experience to the players. That's absolutely number one."

I get that publicly traded companies like EA and Activision have to think about the money, but the important takeaway from Blow's comments are that you must focus on the gameplay experience first. If you create a good experience, that gamers actually enjoy playing, the money will come.