Sony’s new Playstation mobile gaming division could be a shrewd move according to report

This year has already been a pretty noteworthy one for Playstation and parent company Sony, with the publisher’s massive deal to acquire ex-Halo developer Bungie having grabbed headlines back in January.

Also on the agenda for Playstation has been an unexpected push into the PC market, with the likes of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered having already attracted lots of players and some pretty interesting mods, and some less popular PS5 price increases.

Now, though, according to a report from CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal, it seems that the Japanese publisher’s next big expansion attempt is going to be into the world of mobile gaming, with a new internal division having been set up to facilitate this.

Which Playstation titles would you like to see come to mobile?

According to the report, the new team, founded on Monday and called PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, is set to be run independently from the console-focused arm of the company, in an attempt to diversify its output.

This goal is reflected by Sony’s recent acquisition of Finnish mobile developer Savage Game Studios, whom Head of Playstation studios Hermen Hulst suggested will be working on a new blockbuster mobile title with live-service elements.

The aim is seemingly for this game to have a similar level of success to the likes of Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal, both of which have had strong sales, despite the latter attracting some criticism for its monetisation practices.

This would provide a welcome boost for Sony, whom Kharpal cites as being in the midst of a slightly difficult financial period, following a huge boom in business throughout the peak years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The publisher’s competitors have started to make similar moves into the world of mobile gaming, with Nintendo being particularly bullish in its efforts to move into a massive market already filled with big-name players like Tencent and NetEase.

However, due to the substantial firepower Sony has at its disposal in terms of studios and IP, the report cites its chances of finding success as still being favourable.

Regardless of how this move ends up turning out in the long run, make sure to follow us for coverage of Playstation’s console games.