Sony surprised PlayStation fans on August 29 with its acquisition of mobile game developer Savage Game Studios. As part of this announcement, Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst unveiled the company’s new PlayStation Studios Mobile Division that will “operate independently of our console development and focus on innovative, on-the-go experiences based on new and existing PlayStation IP.” The news comes in the wake of the Backbone One – the launch of the PlayStation Edition and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which will also bring Candy Crush developer King and Blizzard mobile games to Xbox Game Studios. It’s clear that the big console players are investing in mobile more than ever.
That may sound like a shocking development, especially for hardcore console and PC players who aren’t fans of mobile games for a variety of reasons, including predatory monetization practices. But if you step back and look at the realities of mobile gaming, it’s perfectly clear why two of the biggest names in console gaming are looking to expand their reach into an even more global and lucrative market – especially as overseas markets continue to embrace mobile as a gaming platform of your choice.
Finding their talent for mobile
Focusing on console and PC gaming makes it easy to forget how big mobile gaming is. Following Microsoft’s announcement of the Activision Blizzard Acquisition, George Jijiashvili, chief analyst at Omdia, told Digital Trends that while consumer spending on PC and console gaming is expected to hit $62 billion this year, mobile game players will spend a total of $175 billion by 2022. “Looking at our 2025 forecast, we expect console and PC game spending to remain relatively flat,” said Jijiashvili. “Mobile gaming, however, will grow significantly.” Jijiashvili’s estimates also do not account for cloud gaming, which is common on mobile and is expected to grow in the coming years.
Jijiashvili stressed that console gaming would remain healthy but stagnated somewhat as previous generations players upgrade to PS5 and Xbox Series X. Meanwhile, he says PC gaming is falling out of favor in Asia, stressing that a game like PUBG will see most of the resources assigned to the mobile game before coming to the PC and console versions. For the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Jijiashvili believed Xbox “desperately lacked” a strong foothold in the mobile games market, and it’s easy for us to see that the same is currently true for PlayStation prior to the Savage Game Studios acquisition. Because of how important PlayStation and Xbox were to console players, companies like King and Zynga meant much more to mobile gamers for a long time.
In addition, mobile gaming also extends the reach of these game companies to an even wider audience. Yes, over 20 million PS5 and 117 million PS4 consoles are out there, but especially in Asian markets, mobile games will give PlayStation and Xbox much more exposure. Of course, Jijiashvili points out that having mobile studios is not an immediate guarantee of success, as Asian mobile players prefer “more hardcore games from the battle royale and MOBA genres, which have gained great popularity and have strong performances. ” Still, Xbox and PlayStation will soon gain more foothold than ever on platforms and in regions where gamers don’t play on PC or console as much.
It’s worth noting that both Xbox and PlayStation have some history on mobile – just not very successful ones. Microsoft had Windows Phones, tried to push SmartGlass features into early Xbox One exclusives, and is currently making great strides in console gaming via the cloud on mobile. Meanwhile, PlayStation franchises like Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, and even Knack (Knack’s quest, ladies and gentlemen) got mobile games under the “PlayStation Mobile” banner in the 2010s. These acquisitions showed a renewed interest in developing games made exclusively for mobile. While we can’t predict Microsoft’s long-term plans for King, as the Activision Blizzard deal is still pending, Hulst has made Savage Game Studios’ position within PlayStation Studios very clear.
“As we previously assured you with our plans to bring select titles to PC, our efforts outside of consoles do not diminish our commitment to the PlayStation community, nor our passion to continue to create great single-player, story-driven experiences,” said he. . “Our mobile gaming efforts will be similarly additive, providing more ways for more people to interact with our content and striving to reach new audiences unfamiliar with PlayStation and our games,” he added. he gets to it later.
Obviously, much like Sony’s recent push into live service — which Savage Games Studios is also part of with a live-service shooter in development — this acquisition is part of PlayStation’s attempt to catch up in a major gaming market. who did not fully embrace it yet. It may have very successful God of War and Horizon adventures on consoles, but also introduce these series to players and potentially make even more money from games in both series on mobile. Only time will tell if Hulst’s comments are correct, but it’s understandable why Sony would finally make a big push towards mobile to complement its success on console, PC and VR.
By expanding more boldly to mobile, companies can build their audience and in turn spread the fame of major franchises and earn quite a bit of money. Hardcore console and PC gamers hate big developers who play mobile – sometimes for good reasons – but it’s clear that game companies and analysts believe it’s impossible to ignore such a crucial gaming market, or hardcore Xbox and PlayStation -fans like it or not.
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