24 March 2016 : Sony has formed a new company that will create mobile games for iOS and Android devices using the intellectual property from its PlayStation characters and titles.
The new business called ForwardWorks Corporation will begin operation from April 1, Sony said in a release on Thursday. ForwardWorks will be based in Japan, and at least at the outset, the apps will be solely driven at “users in Japan and Asia.” We have no word if ForwardWorks will bring any PlayStation titles to the US. We’ve reached out to Sony.
Sony has formed a new company that will create mobile games for iOS and Android devices using the intellectual property from its PlayStation characters and titles.
The new business called ForwardWorks Corporation will begin operation from April 1, Sony said in a release on Thursday.
“ForwardWorks will leverage the intellectual property of the numerous PlayStation dedicated software titles and its gaming characters as well as the knowledge and know-how of gaming development expertise which was acquired over the years with PlayStation business to provide gaming application optimized for smart devices including smartphones to users in Japan and Asia,” the statement said.
Sony will be releasing “fully-fledged” game titles but did not give any timeline. The move is part of a push by Sony to attract more users across different platforms into its ecosystem, and therefore sell them more software and services.
t’ll be interesting to see what kinds of PlayStation games ForwardWorks brings over to smartphones. Nintendo, also based in Japan, just recently launched its first smartphone application. Nintendo’s “Miitomo” app, which is only available in Japan so far, has reportedly been downloaded by more than one million people in its first three days of availability.
Sony hasn’t said yet when we can expect Forward Works to deliver its first mobile title compatible with iOS and Android devices, it’s understandably going to take some time before one comes out.
Sony has also announced that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will change its name to Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), effective from April 1.