Sony "risk-taking" and "open" says Invizimals dev

Novarama boss Daniel Sanchez-Crespo has described the company's close relationship with Sony as "a very blurry frontier", as the two companies continue to integrate.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, Sanchez-Crespo discussed the company's key Invizimals franchise for the PSP. The series has a sequel due in Europe this Christmas, while the original version of the innovative camera-based title prepares for its U.S. launch this autumn.

"To me it's very straightforward - there is no 'developer' and 'publisher' in the classical sense", said Sanchez-Crespo of the company's relationship with Sony. "It's very open, very flowing. I can only praise Sony, both for the risk-taking with Invizimals, but also the production skills to manage that relationship."

Sanchez-Crespo refused to rule out a possible future acquisition by Sony, while celebrating the fact that the close relationship enabled the developer to continue to create original games and intellectual properties.

"We're suffering a lack of really creative titles out there right now, especially in the bigger budget ranges - but I love the idea that we might open the doors for other studios to keep on doing creative stuff, in the same way that Patapon did on the PSP some years ago," he said.

The current state of the Spanish market, which is now the sixth largest in the world, is also discussed, with Sanchez-Crespo suggesting that Spain's attitudes to gaming - traditionally considering it childish and violent - have undergone a recent sea change.

Referring to the regular Gamelab developer event Sanchez-Crespo was upbeat about the future. "I think Gamelab is slowly becoming visible, not only in the international arena, but also more importantly to the Spanish government."

"Somebody put together a directory of the Spanish games industry and there are more than 50 developers - that's something that you can take to the government," he said.