No PSP2 dev kits available ‘for now’

Sony is yet to establish a formal licensing scheme for PSP2 development kits, the company has confirmed.

A representative for SCEE told Develop that a ‘PSP2’ dev kit would be made available “in the near future”.

No date has been set for such a licensing scheme, which would allow external studios to buy the new platform’s SDK and begin building content with it.

‘PSP2’ development kits are already in the hands of numerous game developers; at Capcom, Konami, Activision and across Sony’s Worldwide Studios network. Those that already have the kit had met with Sony in secret to arrange deals for launch games – a typical industry procedure.

External studios out of the loop will have to wait a little longer, and final details on how much the kit will cost have not been arranged.

The PSP2, known in other quarters as Next Generation Portable (NGP), was yesterday demonstrated by Sony at a well-publicised event in Tokyo.

In the sunset of the original PSP’s lifespan, Sony lowered the dev kit licensing costs to $1,000 – as part of a plan to lower barriers to entry.

Sony in 2009 said it was considering offering PSP software development kits completely free of charge, though if this transpired is unknown.

In November last year, Sony ceased selling original PSP dev kits – two months before Develop uncovered that the platform holder had been sending PSP2 dev kits to selected partners.

The ‘PSP2’ is expected to be released this year in at least one of the three main global game markets.