PlayStation Suite open beta launching next month

Sony announced today that the open beta for its PlayStation Suite SDK tools will be released next month, allowing content developers to bring PlayStation-branded content to Android mobile devices and the PS Vita. The company outlined its PlayStation Suite initiative last year, marking the first time that PlayStation content will be made available on an open operating system, and suggesting that Sony is acknowledging that it has to address a growing threat to its handheld gaming business posed by smartphones. The SDK tools have been available to a limited number of developers since November as part of a closed beta. Next month's open beta will be free of charge, and will allow developers to conduct performance verification of their games for PlayStation Vita. The official full version of the SDK will be released later this year in the U.S., granting developers the ability to distribute their content through the PlayStation Store. The full tools will cost $99. Sony also plans to build additional content on top of the current SDK over the course of the year, with the idea being to improve the PlayStation Suite presence in the PlayStation Store.