PlayStation CEO confirms mobile gaming plans with first-party IP

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Horizon Forbidden West Turtle (Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)

What you need to know

  • During a corporate strategy meeting, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan confirmed that the company plans to expand into mobile gaming.
  • This backs up a previously discovered job listing that indicated PlayStation was looking for a Head of Mobile role.
  • Ryan says that PlayStation has a "huge catalog of diverse first-party IP that can transition to smartphone gaming."

PlayStation's looking to invest more heavily in mobile gaming according to CEO Jim Ryan, who spoke during a recent company strategy meeting. Ryan says that the company has been thinking about how players enjoy its content, and points to early success in mobile experimentation that it can reach a wider audience. (via ZhugeEX).

Mobile is just one of the areas we are exploring to reach millions of gamers beyond our platforms. PlayStation has a huge catalog of diverse first-party IP that can transition to smartphone gaming and complement our AAA games or live service games. We are exploring the mobile market with some wonderful PlayStation franchises so please stay tuned. Through investments in IP, Group collaboration within Sony, investment in Social and Mobile, we are excited for the opportunity to continue to expand our community and welcome millions of new gamers to the PlayStation family.

These comments follow a job listing that was discovered in April that indicated Sony was hiring a Head of Mobile at PlayStation Studios, who would "lead all aspects of the expansion of our game development from consoles and PCs to mobile & Live Services with a focus on successfully adapting PlayStation's most popular franchises for mobile."

This doesn't mean that Sony's neglecting its first-party console offerings, though. The PS5 is a tremendously popular system — so much so that it's almost impossible to buy a PS5 right now. Ryan sees mobile as a way to diversify its assets and complement its AAA library.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Ryan confirmed that Sony would continue to bolster the PlayStation Network alongside PS Plus and PS Now, continuing to grow those communities.

Jennifer Locke
Games Editor - PlayStation, Android, VR

Jennifer Locke has been playing video games nearly her entire life. You can find her posting pictures of her dog and obsessing over PlayStation and Xbox, Star Wars, and other geeky things.