Why Blow chose PlayStation 4

Indie developer Jonathan Blow has revealed why he's decided to make his next game, The Witness, a timed exclusive for the new Sony PlayStation 4 console, citing technical and personal reasons.

"I've had a bad time working with Microsoft in the past," he explained to Edge.

"Maybe not super bad, but a moderately bad time in terms of business relationships. Other developers who are friends of mine have had a horrible time, so the idea of signing up again with Microsoft isn't something I'd have ruled out, but there's a certain amount of dread I have about doing that again. I don't have that with Sony. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be just as bad at the end! But I don't think so. The people we're talking to on a daily basis there are just really good people, and we're happy to work with them. We'll see how it goes."

Blow also said that the technical specs of the next Microsoft console, which were leaked last year, were a factor in the decision.

"To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It's trying to be the centre of the living room device, which is fine and maybe it's the right thing for Microsoft to do, business-wise. I don't know; I actually don't think it is, but they've certainly thought about it more than me! As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn't seem as good a choice."

He also cited Sony's attitude towards digital content and developers as important, praising it for realising the growing popularity of downloadable games.

Blow was just one of the developers who appeared at Sony's PlayStation 4 announcement, and The Witness is due for release this year.