14 DAY TRIAL // Following Nintendo’s decision to enter the mobile gaming market, Sony announced it would launch Android and iOS games in Japan and other Asian countries.
A new company called ForwardWorks will be created on April 1, which will focus on bringing some of the most beloved PlayStation IPs to mobile platforms. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the games will only be available in Japan and Asia, at least at launch.
“ForwardWorks will leverage the intellectual property of the numerous PlayStation dedicated software titles and its gaming characters as well as the knowledge and know-how of gaming development expertise which was acquired over the years with PlayStation business to provide gaming application optimized for smart devices including smartphones to users in Japan and Asia,” explains Sony.
As mentioned earlier, the new company will start operating on April 1, 2016, but the first game might not arrive on Android and iOS platforms until later this year.
No word on the first games to be launched, but they will be “full-fledged” titles
We also don’t know what PlayStation titles Sony plans to bring to mobile operating systems first, but we suspect the Japanese company will start with those games that are very popular in Asia and Japan.
The new company will be run by Atsushi Morita as President, and a board of two members: Andrew House and Hiroshi Ueda. Kazuhiko Ono will be the company’s auditor.
Last but not least, Sony states that its upcoming mobile games will be „full-fledged” title, so we’re hoping that none will be ports from PlayStation franchises.
Although Sony has some experience in developing games for smaller screens, the company’s experience is tied to PlayStation Vita, which is likely to be discontinued.
Sony will stop developing for PlayStation Vita and focus its full attention on creating games for mobile platforms like Android and iOS. Let’s hope we won’t have to pay a fortune for these titles, but more importantly let’s hope they will be made available in other regions as well, not just Japan and Asia.