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Sony has announced a brand-new games publishing label that’s set to bring indie games to a number of different platforms – including the Nintendo Switch.
Rather than come under the expertise of Sony Interactive Entertainment, however, the new Unties label will be operated by Sony Music Entertainment and will largely focus on bringing titles to PC rather than PS4. The name apparently comes from the idea of freeing creators from various publishing ties that often bind creative freedom.
The first title to be published by Unties is Tiny Metal, a military-style turn-based strategy game not unlike Advance Wars. It will release worldwide on November 21st for Switch, PS4 and PC, and will be developed by Hiroaki Yura’s new studio Area35.
Unties’ publishing slate won’t be limited to titles made in Japan, either, as it also has Taiwanese studio Rayak’s new PS VR title, Deemo-Reborn, on its books, as well WinterCrownWorks’ robot action game Merkava Avalanche, and I From Japan’s 3D action game Last Standard, both of which are destined for PC.
"Sony Music Entertainment has created a new game publishing label called Unties, in order to penetrate the ever-expanding video game market with indie games, which are continuing to draw attention even within Japan," said the official press statement (via a translation from PlayStation Lifestyle).
"Recent progress in the game development world has made it possible for even small-scale production teams to create high-quality games. The evolution of digital publishing has also made it possible for creators to deliver their own titles to consumers all around the world, which spawned an indie game movement centred around North America.
"Conversely, this has created an unfortunate side effect where certain creative, unique titles end up getting buried in the market without getting the proper exposure they deserve. Unties hopes to unearth high-quality titles like these and utilize SME’s vast entertainment business wisdom in order to expose them to as many consumers as possible. Unties will also handle PR and sales on multiple platforms."
