Sony has launched a PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, which will operate independently of console game production, as part of its push into mobile gaming. The new team will build mobile games using “new and current PlayStation IP,” according to a press statement.
Sony’s decision to establish a mobile gaming branch is consistent with the company’s general objective of expanding its IP to include PC and mobile games, as well as TV shows and movies. Sony declared earlier this year that it wants 50% of its games to be available on PC and mobile by 2025, with Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan predicting a “substantial increase in the number of individuals that play our games.” With its $3.6 billion purchase of Bungie, the business is also trying to grow into live service games – titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, or Destiny 2 that are constantly updated to keep players engaged.
Sony has also bought Savage Game Studios, whose co-founders previously worked at Zynga, Insomniac, and Wargaming, to help flesh out its new mobile business. It doesn’t seem that the company has released any games yet, although it did acquire $4.4 million in financing for a mobile shooting game last year. The press statement elaborates somewhat, stating that the company is presently working on “an unnamed new AAA live service action game,” but provides no more insights on what to anticipate.
More large game developers are aiming to bring their games to smartphones, a strategy that has proven beneficial for certain studios in the past. According to Sensor Tower statistics from June, the mobile edition of Genshin Impact earned $154 million in gross revenue, trailed only by PUBG Mobile and Pokémon Go. Take-Two entered the mobile industry in January with the purchase of Zynga, and Activision intends to bring Call of Duty Warzone to mobile as well.
