Sony has published a job offer that clearly points in one direction: soon you will be able to enjoy PlayStation games on your smartphone, and also on any compatible tablet, since after all they use the same operating systems (Android and iOS) . Specifically, that job offer looks for a Head of the Mobile Devices group at PlayStation Studios, located in San Mateo (State of California), and says:
Want to lead mobile gaming development and strategy and help shape the future of gaming for a world-class studio? As director of mobile devices, you will be the brain in charge of creating and developing the mobile gaming strategy for PlayStation Studios and help lay the foundation for future growth opportunities.
He will lead all aspects of our game development expansion, from consoles and PCs to mobile and live services, with a focus on successfully adapting the most popular PlayStation franchises for mobile devices. You will be responsible for building and scaling a team of mobile leaders and will act as the head of this new business unit within PlayStation Studios.
There is no doubt that the job description speaks for itself, and I must admit that Sony’s proposal to take its main franchises to other platforms is a success . We have already seen it on PC, for example, and it is clear that the company has already set the goal on mobile devices, a huge ecosystem that includes smartphones and tablets , and that adds billions of users around the world.
I understand that some of our readers may wonder why Sony has chosen this route, and not to launch a portable console, as Nintendo has done with the Switch. The reason is very simple, the PS Vita , Sony’s latest notebook, did not meet expectations and performed so poorly that the company decided not to work on a successor.
To put a bit of context, I remind you that this console sold, between 2011 and 2019, 16 million units , while Nintendo Switch has sold from 2017 to today more than 81 million units . Looking at these numbers, it is easy to understand that Sony and Nintendo have followed different paths.
Price could be a major obstacle to the arrival of PlayStation games to the smartphone sector
Adapting PlayStation games to the smartphone sector is a challenge, mainly due to the differences that these types of devices present in terms of control. You already know that the touch interface complicates things a lot in some games, but that is not the only important obstacle that Sony must face in this new adventure.
Users who use a mobile device to play, be it a tablet or a smartphone, are used to downloading, for the most part, titles that work under the “free to play” model . These games are free, and are monetized through micropayments that can affect, to a greater or lesser extent, the gameplay and the player’s chances of victory. Others combine advertising with less aggressive micropayments, and a minority use only advertising.
Bringing PlayStation games to the mobile sector is very good, but Sony must be clear that it will not be able to sell them for 40, 50 or 60 euros , in fact you may have serious problems if you try to sell those games for more than 15 or 20 euros , since the public to whom they are directed is accustomed to a reality totally alien to the one that console players have faced, for years.
How much should Sony charge for PlayStation games adapted for mobile devices? That’s a good question. Personally, I think the answer should depend on three things: the quality of the game, its duration and the added value (multiplayer, game modes, support, new content, etc.). In my case, I hardly use my smartphone to play games due to lack of time, but I understand that, for many users, this is something very interesting.
Before finishing I ask you a question, how much would you be willing to pay to enjoy the main PlayStation games on your mobile device? The comments are yours, we read each other.