How does a developer benefit when giving away a game for free on PlayStation Plus? Indie developer Mike Bithell, creator of Thomas Was Alone, says that one of the unexpected benefits of PlayStation Plus is recognition.

The PS3 and Vita title was available for free as part of Europe's Instant Game Collection (the game was only discounted in the US). And now "a whole bunch of cool players who are really into their games... know who the hell I am now," Bithell said.

With a second game in the works, Bithell is confident that the clout gained from the Plus promotion will benefit. "As someone who's making the difficult second album, I need as many people onside, and knowing what Thomas Was Alone is, and maybe even knowing who I am, so it means something when the trailer comes out and it says 'From the creator of Thomas Was Alone.' And that's what PS Plus was awesome for," he told Joystiq. "It just massively inflated my audience beyond what a normal esoteric indie platformer would have, which is great."