The difference between Sony and Microsoft, says Free Radical's Derek Littlewood, is a philosophical one. According to the Haze developer, Microsoft provides developers with a great deal of structure and support, while Sony takes a step back and lets devs do as they will.
Though both approaches have their merits, Free Radical enjoys the freedom Sony provides:
[B]ecause it's not as strongly defined, you have the freedom to do it in the way that you want to - in a way that may be more suitable to your game. You see some games with the Live interface, [where] they might have been able to innovate and alter things round and make things work better than Live, but they can't because they have to conform with Microsoft's standards on that, whereas on the PlayStation Network you have the freedom to do things in the way you want to.
Haze Developer: PSN Offers More Freedom Than Xbox Live [Spong]
