
Like mobile gaming, but wish you could play more of your favorite titles? Sony may have the answer you've been looking for.
Like many other aspects of our technological lives, the future for gaming appears to be heading toward the mobile realm. According to a report from Tech Crunch, Sony will be the next to step in this direction, after it announced plans to form a new company geared at bring classic PlayStation titles to iOS and Android devices.
Sony recently announced its plans for FowardWorks, the group that will begin making PlayStation games available for mobile platforms. Unfortunately for U.S. gamers, however, the company will initially focus its efforts solely on Japanese and other Asian markets.
The ForwardWorks division will be formally introduced to the Sony family on April 1, despite rumors that it could be a bad April Fool’s joke. The date will also represent a shift from Sony Computer Entertainment to Sony Interactive Entertainment – a subtle name change that aligns the company to better perform in the evolving online gaming market.
The company announced that Atushi Morita, Sony Computer Entertainment’s lead in Japan and Asia, will also front the Forward Works effort. The group CEO of SCD, Andrew House, will also serve as a director of the newly formed company.
The move comes after a number of other major gaming firms have begun focusing on mobile gaming. Earlier this month, Nintendo released its first mobile offering, Miitomo. Far from a full-on video game, the release is more of a social application that allows users to create their own avatars, much like “Miis” from the Nintendo Wii, and play interactive games.
It remains unclear whether Sony will follow Nintendo’s model and create a more social environment for their mobile games, but the company has hinted at its intentions to put out “full-fledged” versions of its classic PlayStation titles. With one of the biggest IP catalogues in the gaming industry, the shift to mobile platforms could pay off big time for Sony.
A press release from Sony describing the new ForwardWorks Corporation can be found here.
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