Sony has undoubtedly been a prominent name in the world of console gaming. With loyalists of its PlayStation platform from around the globe, Sony has always stayed on top of their game while being considerably ahead of its Microsoft counterpart, Xbox. While console gaming has been rewarding for Sony in terms of revenue and popularity, it seems that the company will now also point its focus towards mobile gaming.
The mobile gaming industry is a booming one and has a larger base of audience than any other mode, thus it is not surprising to see that big names from the gaming industry are leaning towards this market, which still has a huge untapped potential.
Now, Sony, CEO, Kaz Hirai, while speaking to the Financial Times has revealed that Sony is indeed planning on “aggressively getting into” the booming industry of mobile gaming. It seems like Pokemon Go has been an inspiration not only to small firms and indies but also big players like Sony as Hirai explained, “Pokemon Go is a real game-changer,” he said “I’m very interested in the fact that it has the potential to really change the way people move, literally.” He even went on to say, “(It’s an) innovative idea that’s going to lift all boats for the video game industry.”
Sony had launched its mobile app/games developing division, ForwardWorks, in April this year and although there are no reveals or releases planned yet from the developers, Sony had implied that they will be using as many IPs as they can from their PlayStation franchises.
Hirai has also hinted that they would be interested in making AR games and given Sony’s Tokyo Game Show conference coming up on 13 September, we can expect some product from ForwardWorks, even if not related to AR.