Secret Ponchos now running on Sony's PhyreEngine, coming to PS Plus in April

Secret Ponchos, indie developer Switchblade Monkeys' spaghetti western, is being completely re-rendered from Unity with Sony's PhyreEngine, creative director Yousuf Mapara told Polygon.

During a hands-on demo with Secret Ponchos during a PlayStation 4 launch event in New York City, Mapara said that Sony approached the developer to bring the game to PS4 after its showing at PAX East earlier this year. Mapara said the game had been build on Unity "with no particular platform in mind" at the time.

"We just decided to take our last $20,000 and go to PAX," he said. "And Sony came up to us and asked if we could make the game for PS4. It was exciting."

Games rendered on PhyreEngine include thatgamecompany's Flower, Flow and Journey, as well as Sony Japan's Gravity Rush.

The game doesn't use any specific DualShock 4 features, as Switchblade Monkeys didn't want to just "tack it on" because they could. However, Mapara said the studio is banking on players using the share and spectator features with gusto.

"Those are the features we really want," he said. "As a competitive multiplayer game, it will be awesome to spectate and watch other players' fights. We're going to build the feature into our lobby and let players view who's fighting — it'll definitely be integrated into part of the game.

"For competitive titles, so many people go through great lengths to watch things like this on YouTube and whatnot, and we just want to make it easy for them," he added.

Secret Ponchos will also be available for free through PlayStation Plus when the title launches in April.