Prepare for havoc, Sony fans - your games are about to start coming with a “made in Bangalore” tag. According to sources Sony is attempting to make India its new hub for game development in an effort to further improve the quality of the games… oh, wait, no, they are just trying to save on development costs. Sorry, mistook this for a move that was actually thinking of the consumer for a change. Don’t know what’s gotten into me.

Anyway, as someone intimately familiar with the concept of outsourcing work to India, I can’t help but shudder at hearing this. Development in India has its uses - web site design, HTML, e-commerce - well-understood, “done this a million times before” kinds of things. But game development is as far from being a repeatable, standard process as it gets - unless, of course, you are trying to make yet another Madden clone. It requires creative thinking, extremely hardcore development skills, and most of all, long-term commitment and dedication - none of them things that Indian development houses are known for. So expect Sony to fumble, stumble, and come back with a bloody nose and a little less cash in the bank.

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