Sony's free PhyreEngine expands to PSP

In what's becoming a GDC tradition, Sony today announced an update concerning the PhyreEngine, a free, cross-platform middleware tool offered to developers interested in creating PS3 games. First introduced in 2008, the PhyreEngine has since been utilized in games like Critter Crunch, Shatter and Flower. Today, SCEA has announced the expansion of PhyreEngine compatibility to the PSP.

"We're very happy to see the continued popularity of PhyreEngine with the global game developer community," SCEI senior VP of technology Teiji Yutaka said. "PhyreEngine for PSP was developed in response to requests from the game developer community, and we hope that the release of the PSP version demonstrates our commitment and support for game developers on all our platforms." The engine will be demoed at GDC this week.

The PS3 version of PhyreEngine has been praised by studios like Capybara and Sidhe. Perhaps the PSP iteration will be met with an equal amount of enthusiasm and help bolster the portable development community.