Develop
reports that a PlayStation Vita development kit will cost right around $2,700 to $3,000. This is good news for smaller developers that want to create titles for the platform and a substantial cost reduction from what other Sony platforms costs at launch: around $21,472 for PSP, and $28,629 for PS2 and PS3 dev kits.
The numbers come from SCEE Developer Support Manager George Bain, who discussed costs at GDC Europe.
"The PS Vita development kit is going to be very affordable. And when I say affordable I mean €1,900 plus VAT,” said Bain, putting the price around $2,700 to $3,000.
"There is no cost to join the PS Vita Develop Program," Bain added. "There's just that cost of the dev kit. If you're a small developer, we happy to talk to you about this. It will help if you have a games portfolio. There's no reason we won't speak with smaller studios about joining up."
Developers can also pitch to Sony’s PubFund, which is accepting 15 pitches a week, to help cover the budget of creating their title. Prototype dev kits can end up being free if your pitch is good. The PubFund is only accepting game-related pitches at this time, so app developers need not apply.