It looks like Sony will follow Nintendo’s cue and focus on mobile gaming. The company announced today that it will form a new business unit tasked with bringing PlayStation titles and IP to iOS and Android devices.
That sounds like great news for gamers, but there’s a caveat here, it seems. Forward Works, Sony’s mobile gaming arm, is going to focus on users based in Japan and Asia, according to today’s announcement. The division will be formally created on April 1 — not a hoax (we hope) and the same date that Sony Computer Entertainment becomes Sony Interactive Entertainment — so we’re likely to learn more after then.
Atsushi Morita, SCE’s head in Japan and Asia, will lead Forward Works. Other directors of the organization include Andrew House, who is Group CEO of SCE.
Nintendo released its first mobile game this month, Miitomo. The long-awaited title isn’t really a mainstream release, though. Rather, it is a social app that lets users create cartoon-like avatars — very much like the ‘Miis’ you can create with the Nintendo Wii. That’s likely to limit its appeal to hardcore Nintendo fans. Sony, however, has hinted that its mobile titles will be “full-fledged,” which makes us optimistic that they will be more universally appealing. Sony’s previous effort at tapping smartphones — PlayStation Mobile — was tied to its Vita handheld device. It closed down last year.
