While PlayStation is certain to make its voice heard throughout E3 2021 and the Summer Game Fest, it's not an active participant. PlayStation, along with Electronic Arts, has chosen a different path for many years now. Yet PlayStation could have one announcement coming up sooner than expected. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan recently confirmed that PlayStation has some exciting mobile game announcements coming up, even going so far as saying that an announcement could come "sooner than you might think."
Ryan recently put together a question and response session with Axios in which he addressed a variety of PlayStation hot topics. One of those topics was PlayStation's ongoing efforts to expand into the mobile gaming market. As part of his response, Ryan says that the fruition of PlayStation's ongoing mobile efforts could start being shown to the public soon. He doesn't clarify how soon or what kind of mobile effort he's referring to, but it's more than many likely expected.
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Speaking about mobile game development is just part of a larger conversation that Ryan addressed, not just in this interview but often in recent months. That conversation is PlayStation expanding beyond just PlayStation hardware to release games. PC is a big part of that conversation, too, but mobile gaming is also extremely lucrative. As for why PlayStation is expanding beyond consoles, Ryan says that the company's IP portfolio is in such a good place right now that it would be "perverse" limiting it to just PlayStation platforms.
PlayStation's PC efforts are widely publicized in gaming communities, with both Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone being ported relatively recently. PlayStation's mobile efforts are still developing, however. Sony Studios recruited for a head of mobile development in early 2021, but has kept largely quiet since. That's understandable since these things take time, but confusion also breeds a lot of speculation.
Many PlayStation fans are wary of PlayStation's mobile efforts. The mobile gaming market is very different from the console gaming market, or even the PC gaming market. The type of games that succeed on mobile could, if released by Sony, potentially create a controversy. That could be why PlayStation is taking things slowly.
According to Ryan, PlayStation is currently working on "a number of models to open up mobile" for the company. That could mean creating PlayStation originals for mobile, porting certain PlayStation games to mobile, or acquiring popular mobile studios and making their IP part of PlayStation. Knowing PlayStation, if it's taking an expansion into mobile seriously, it'll be all of the above. Fans may even find out what PlayStation's first step will be soon.
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Source: Axios