Sony is forging forward into the smartphone space, and it’s quietly signed a big name to lead the initiative: ex-Apple Arcade bigwig Nicola Sebastiani has switched allegiances to take the Head of Mobile role at PlayStation Studios. You may recall the Japanese giant advertising for this position earlier in the year.
That job listing included the mandate to “own and develop the mobile games strategy for PlayStation Studios and help build a foundation for future growth opportunities”, which sounds like a pretty compelling project to us. Sebastiani previously worked to curate content on the surprisingly strong subscription service Apple Arcade, so he certainly knows his way around good smartphone games.
While not necessarily part of this fledgling initiative, WipEout Rush was announced recently, and we’re sure many more will follow. Sony is looking to grow the appeal of its biggest brands, and it sees mobile as a huge opportunity to do that. Don’t be surprised if there ends up being a The Last of Us app, for example, to coincide with the upcoming television show.
[source linkedin.com, via resetera.com]
Comments 28
This is not the direction I would have hoped Playstation would go.
Factions is actually just a mobile battle royale made by Tencent.
Just a small reminder of what's truly important to Jim Ryan, and it sure as s*** ain't PlayStation.
I had high hopes for a Vita 2/PSP 2, regarding Nintendo's success with the Switch/mobile devices in general. Sony diving into Smartphone games is better than nothing, I guess. :/
I wonder if Sony turns smartphone gaming into the successor to the PSP and Vita. I can see them making Golden Abyss type games available for everyone to download.
Inevitable comments from the people here but growing PlayStation's flagship franchises is not a bad idea.
If anything, done successfully it will make the series even more popular, justifying bigger budgets and continued investment into them.
Here come the comments
Some hilarious comments - Sony aren't doing this INSTEAD of their usual offerings, they are doing it AS WELL AS... leave Uncle Jim alone.
@get2sammyb @Marquez my thoughts exactly.
I’d love to see some of Sonys abandoned franchises getting love on Mobile with smaller budgets etc.
As much as people hate mobile gaming. It has its place and can help bring new fans to the fold.
PlayStation poaches Apple and makes a lovely tart
Makes sense. Mobile gaming in Japan is much bigger than console. Who cares if PS games come to mobiles? What's the point of being snobby about it? If it makes more money for Sony to keep making these great games for consoles then I'm all for it.
They would not have started another console generation if they didn't want to continue having console-type games. I don't like mobile gaming but they need as much revenue as possible to compete with Microsoft.
I don’t play much a lot of mobile games but Apple Arcade is actually an example of mobile gaming done right. Just saying.
Some decent games there and none of the microtransaction 🐂💩
I've played a lot of Apple Arcade, there's some good games on it. If they do a PlayStation Arcade service, or maybe grow PS+ by including it AND if it has similar quality or better games than Apple's I'll be fine with it. Just keep console games coming and also design the mobile games to allow the player to use a controller and this doesn't have to be a bad thing.
No one should really have a problem with Sony doing mobile games and online multiplayer focused ones. Where it does become a problem is if it ends up being all they make. You look at Ubisoft, I mean what is the last game they did that wasn't a live service title? Minus the Mario + Rabbids games.
@Marquez Maybe right now yes but in the end it could only be just this.
Sony mobile initiative are just weird, like making their racing franchise (wipeout) a card game for mobile rather than racing game like their competitor (nintendo with mario kart mobile).
Apple Arcade - the home of Everybody's Golf <sigh>
Fighty God Season 3: Leviathan Axe Paxe (100 throws $.99, 300 throws $1.99) incoming!
@get2sammyb It worked for Animal Crossing I guess.....?
Just ensure the games have trophies and are not designed around micro transaction. You’ll have a customer here.
I don't play games on my phone but as long as this doesn't effect the console game development then I don't mind.
I’m actually looking forward to playing some PlayStation Studios mobile games. I don’t have an issue with this as long as the console output is unaffected.
I’m not one to spend money on in-app purchases though.
I think mobile games are less then worthless and find their existence offensive, however! if these crappy little games can generate more income for the big budget stuff then go crazy Sony ✌️
Anyone remember Sony made a PS phone aka Xperia Play? Also released a software framework called PS Mobile for Vita and Android with games like Tokyo Jungle Mobile, then kill it after 3 years?
Also while people talking Nintendo's NSO companion app on smartphone is bad, anyone know Sony released a s**ttier companion app years ago exclusively in Japan called "Kyoutou Guild" for co-op games like Soul Sacrifice and Gundam Breaker etc., and they killed it only after 7 months.
PS Vita having PSN sign-in and download issues recently and still not fixed, and Sony doesn't give a s**t. (Turn on 2-step verification may temporally fix sign-in problem but people still having download errors like NP-9978-3)
judging by their attitude, they will fail again.
Sony should just keep letting its subsidiary like Aniplex making F2P gacha games like Fate/Grand Order and milk people's money.
We all know how the Xperia psx gaming ended up on android years ago…mistakes will be made…mark my words
For once there's a hope that the former Apple Arcade lead will help Sony to enter premium mobile gaming, not f2p.
Considering how successful Apple storefront is, if he even helps a little, Sony should see pretty good returns. I'm not a fan of the smartphone games market, but good luck to Sony!
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