Sony has committed to offering its PlayStation franchises on third-party mobile devices, it has now been announced.
Like VideoGamesChronicle reported, Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said today during an investor session that the company plans to offer its major franchises on non-console platforms such as mobile, encouraged by its "very successful" first steps into the PC gaming market. Ryan presented a study that said mobile gaming generated $121 billion worldwide in 2020, compared to $62 billion generated by the console market and $42 billion generated by the PC gaming market, which makes a strong case for the company to enter the mobile gaming space.
PlayStation: Most popular franchises to appear on mobile devices
We are beginning our journey to bring PlayStation first-party IP away from console. We started releasing two of our games on PC last year, Horizon Zero Dawn and Predator. Both were profitable and had a really successful publishing debut. In FY21, we will start releasing some of our iconic PlayStation IP on mobile.
PlayStation intendedto release an increasing number of titles on mobile devices, hoping that they will "become more important over time" compared to console games. Sony had previously claimed that it would enter mobile gaming with at least five titles by March 2018, but that never came to fruition. According to VideoGamesChronicle, PlayStation opened a new business unit earlier this year to adapt its "most popular franchises" for mobile devices and hired developers to achieve a mobile product roadmap within a three- to five-year timeframe.
First titles could debut on iOS & iPadOS this year
PlayStation has a huge catalog of diverse first-party IPs that can be ported to smartphone games to complement our AAA games or live service games. We're in the process of exploring the mobile market with some wonderful PlayStation franchises, so please stay tuned. Sony Interactive Entertainment owns a large number of popular video game franchises, including God of War, Gran Turismo, Killzone, The Last of Us, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, Until Dawn, Uncharted, and many more. The company's intention to enter the mobile gaming space will likely result in some of these titles appearing on iOS and iPadOS. Sony's PlayStation 5 DualSense controller now works with iOS and iPadOS, which could ease the gaming experience with Sony's new mobile games. Six years ago, rival Nintendo announced its foray into mobile gaming on iOS and other platforms. Although the company experienced some successes and some failures with this move, there have since been signs that Nintendo is "backing away" from its mobile gaming plans.
The arrival of Sony's "iconic IP" on mobile platforms will take place by the end of the fiscal year in March 2022. According to this, the first titles could debut as early as this year - so it remains exciting. Have you already seen the new PS5 DualSense in red and black? Pre-order now on Amazon. (Photo by romankosolapov / Bigstockphoto)
