PlayStation is considering a move into mobile gaming and applications. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan mentions prospective expansions into the "services, mobile, and social domains" in the whitepaper, which might involve current Sony first-party IP. "We've been thinking about how players interact with our equipment, and we've had some early success experimenting with mobile games and applications to give gamers additional options," Ryan says. He goes on to say that PlayStation's first-party IP "can transfer to smartphone gaming and compliment our AAA titles or live service games," among other things.
"We're looking into the mobile industry with some fantastic PlayStation franchises," Ryan explains. It's unclear which franchises will be included in these mobile trials or how they'll be implemented, but it seems reasonable to expect more mobile experiences from PlayStation in the future as part of a drive to "welcome millions of new gamers to the PlayStation family."
The recent investment has been a big turner
Ryan also cites PlayStation's recent investment in Discord as an example of "social and entertainment convergence." Of course, this isn't the first time one of the big three platform owners has ventured into mobile territory. Nintendo has announced a new cooperation with Niantic, which will begin with a Pikmin augmented reality game.
Sony Corporation highlighted its ambitions to focus on the socializing side of the entertainment sector, utilizing video games to bring people together and "reach millions of gamers outside our platforms" during its corporate strategy conference today.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan revealed the company's push into the mobile recreation area as one of those efforts, stating that SIE is already working the business with "some terrific PlayStation properties."Ryan said in his speech:
PlayStation Studios' content has generated a plethora of IP and given PlayStation immersive experiences that stir emotions and take gamers on a trip throughout the last 25 years. We've been considering how players interact with our equipment, and we've had some early success experimenting with mobile games and applications to give gamers more options. We're looking for ways to reach millions of players outside of our platforms, and mobile is one of them.
The new AAA live are getting service titles
PlayStation has a large library of different first-party IPs that can be adapted to smartphone gaming and used to supplement our AAA and live service titles. Please stay tuned as we explore the mobile industry with some fantastic PlayStation franchises. We are pleased about the chance to continue to grow our community and welcome millions of new gamers to the PlayStation family through investments in IP, group cooperation inside Sony, and investments in Social and Mobile.
Another example of the "convergence" of play and socializing, according to Ryan, is Sony's recent cooperation with Discord. Sony's collaboration with Discord was apparently well-received, demonstrating that more and more gamers want to socialize while playing. And Ryan said that We would begin publishing some of our iconic PlayStation IP on mobile in FY21, and while we do not expect this to generate significant profit in 2021, we do expect that as we learn from this experience and expand the number of titles we publish on mobile, the contribution from both PC and mobile will gradually become more important as time goes on.
