As of 2020, mobile gaming accounts for about 50% of the gaming industry, the rapid growth of which has inspired many developers to step into the mobile gaming sphere. According to notes from a Sony corporate strategy meeting on May 26, PlayStation will officially start major moves into mobile gaming in the years to come.
Kenichiro Yoshida, the Chairman, President, and CEO of the Sony Group Corporation, gave a speech outlining the direction of the company for 2021. Yoshida highlights PlayStation mobile gaming in a part of his speech dedicated to how Sony will respond to ongoing trends like social interactivity and service-based products. The speech also covered hardware like the PlayStation 5 and other technology, how the company will expand its social capabilities, plans for IP collaboration in the future, and a broad spectrum of Sony's other future endeavors.
Yoshida specifically mentioned Fate/Grand Order as a successful example of how Sony plans to implement IPs into mobile games. Yoshida said that PlayStation IPs will eventually be "deployed on mobile," although he did not specifically mention which franchises. Yoshida ended his speech on social, mobile, and services by mentioning that he wants to increase Sony's entertainment consumer base to 1 billion people by expanding Sony's efforts in these three spheres.
Jim Ryan, the President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, spoke after Yoshida to further explain PlayStation's collaborative efforts and its expansion into mobile. Ryan said that the company had "some early success" experimenting with mobile games with the goal of providing "more choice to gamers." Ryan then highlighted PlayStation's large catalog of original IPs that could see mobile transitions, and said the company is exploring the market with "some wonderful PlayStation franchises."
While it is not known exactly which franchises will be ported to mobile, fans can likely expect to see new games from PlayStation IPs new and old on mobile in the coming years. Critical response to big-name companies stepping into the mobile gaming market is diverse, though. For example, Nintendo has released a number of mobile versions of its popular IPs to varying success. Super Mario Run, Mario Kart Tour, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp have seen varying degrees of success in recent years, while Fire Emblem Heroes and Pokemon GO are just as popular as ever.
The announcement of PlayStation's moves into mobile gaming may seem concerning to some fans of console gaming. However, Jim Ryan assured investors that it is "just one of the areas we are exploring" and it is unlikely that any fan-favorite PlayStation IPs will become mobile-only in the years to come.
Source: FY2021 Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting