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We all knew this was coming, but PlayStation’s efforts in the mobile space are beginning to show at last.
The platform holder has been building up a mobile division of PS Studios, and it’s taken several years to really get off the ground, but following this week’s announcements, we’re finally starting to see the investment bearing fruit.
It all fits into the company’s strategy of IP expansion beyond the PlayStation platform itself.
We’ve already had several films and TV shows based on first-party IPs such as Uncharted, The Last of Us, and even Gran Turismo, helping those already beloved series to reach even more people.
Ports to PC are also a big part of the plan, putting many of its titles on Steam and Epic Games Store in an effort to grow audiences.
Importantly, it all ties back to PlayStation, and it’s probably contributed heavily towards the PS5 becoming Sony’s second fastest-selling console in the US, only behind the PS2.
Releasing mobile games is another piece of the puzzle, and it’s an important one of which Sony has yet to take full advantage.
That’s all about to change, though, as not one but two major first-party mobile games have been announced — Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble and Horizon Steel Frontiers.
The former is a multiplayer action game, with players competing across various modes, levelling up weaponry, and unlocking rewards.
The latter is an MMO in which players gather to hunt down machines across a new part of the Horizon world.
Both offer something a little different from the core series from which they stem, but they make complete sense and appear to be executed well.
The proof is in the playing, of course, but hopefully they both find an audience.
Anyway, the whole point is exposing these franchises to a wider range of players, and mobile is an enormous untapped opportunity for Sony to do just that.
Not only are smartphones in the pockets of billions of people around the world, dwarfing sales of consoles, but the mobile platform is the biggest driver of revenue in gaming. It would be incredibly shortsighted of Sony to not explore mobile.
The company has dabbled in the space before with the likes of Ultimate Sackboy and WipEout Merge, but this new push seems to be much more confident.
Presumably, the hope is that players will get a taste for Ratchet & Clank and Horizon, and seek out more games within those series, leading them towards PS5 or PC, where Sony’s premium games are waiting.
Horizon Steel Frontiers in particular has ruffled some feathers, though; the game is being released on mobile and PC, but what about PS5 itself?
Pushing PlayStation franchises to other areas of the gaming market makes sense, but some fans are confused as to why these titles would skip PS5 entirely.
It’s possible that the long-term plan is to bring its most successful mobile titles to console, but we’re still in the early days of all this. Hopefully the full scope of PlayStation’s plans comes into sharper focus as these games release.
So, this all makes business sense and is something the company has been planning for a long time, but how are you feeling about it?
We want to know your thoughts on PlayStation’s mobile push as we know it today, with a pair of fan favourite franchises leaping to smartphones in a bid for bigger audiences.
Vote in our polls, and tell us what you think in the comments section below.
