Thomas Was Alone most successful on PS Plus
Mike Bithell says more people played his game from Sony's subscription service than any other platform
Thomas Was Alone developer Mike Bithell seems pleased with the decision to include his game as a complimentary offering for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Speaking with Joystiq, the developer said more players picked up his PC, PS3, and PS Vita game through the annual subscription service than through any other channel, including Steam or standard PlayStation Store purchases.
"And that's exciting," Bithell said, "Because that's a whole bunch of cool players who are really into their games - that's why they have PS Plus - who know who the hell I am now...As someone who's making the difficult second album, I need as many people onside, and knowing what Thomas Was Alone is, and maybe even knowing who I am, so it means something when the trailer comes out and it says 'From the creator of Thomas Was Alone.' And that's what PS Plus was awesome for. It just massively inflated my audience beyond what a normal esoteric indie platformer would have, which is great."
Bithell has been working on his follow-up to Thomas Was Alone, and plans to announce the game in the coming months.
Annual PlayStation Plus subscriptions are $50, and give players a handful of features, including automatic updates, cloud-based game saves, and early access to some betas and demos. However, the biggest selling point is a rotating selection of free games for PS3 and PS Vita. Sony is also expanding Plus to include the PS4, where the subscription will be required for online multiplayer games.