Microids Slams Sony In Syberia 3 Press Release

Microids president, Emmanuel Olivier has levelled criticism at Sony in a press release for Syberia 3 and pleaded with fans to help him change the publisher’s “rules.”The game was announced on 1 April, prompting cries of “April Fool” across the internet, and now Olivier has stressed that the game is genuine.“Syberia 3 is not an April Fool’s joke. The game is highly expected by the community of fans of adventure games and fans of Kate Walker and it will be launched, it is one of our most strategic projects at Microïds and we have been anticipating it for a long time,” said Olivier.He also goes on to discuss the possibility of a PS3 version of the game and pulls no punches when it comes to Sony.“It will be released on PC for sure, however, on PS3, this could actually turn into an April Fool’s joke because SONY is the only decision-maker on this point, as strange as it may seem to some people,” he adds.“[E]veryone knows that to amortize the development costs of a major video game with that level of quality, it is essential to develop it for multiple platforms, PC and consoles. However Sony Computer Entertainment has already censured Microïds in 2003 by denying that Syberia was released on PS2 in the United States though it had previously been released in Europe on that console. The same refusal happened for a dozen other Microïds titles for the U.S.”He goes on to say that the “exorbitant royalties” demanded by the publisher are a huge obstacle for independent producers.“Microïds has paid more than 15 million Euros of royalties to SONY for its entire catalog, which represents 55% of the Microïds turnover for this platform. April Fools? Well no! It is unfortunately the “rule of the game” imposed by SONY,” Olivier continues.He states the financial problems caused by Sony’s refusal to sell PS2 Microids titles in the US are responsible for the delay in producing another Syberia game.“So today we launch an SOS to all fans of the Syberia series: let us rally to support the independent creation and convince Sony to change its rules,” he said.All messages of support for Olivier’s position should be sent to:  [email protected].