In a new job posting, Sony is looking for a “Head of Mobile,” thus seeking a head of the business unit for mobile gaming within PlayStation Studios. The person will be responsible for bringing Sony’s top franchises to mobile devices.
What’s it about? A new job posting from Sony (via Greenhouse) has caught the attention of the gaming community. In it, the publisher is looking for a Head of Mobile for their PlayStation Studio in San Mateo, California.
The job tasks include building and promoting the “vision, mission, and strategy for mobile game development within PlayStation Studios” as well as collaborating closely with the leadership of PS Studios to develop a roadmap for mobile products.
The job’s focus is generally on expanding and making more profitable the mobile gaming branch of PlayStation Studios. The Head of Mobile is expected to access Sony’s “most popular franchises.”
What franchises could this involve? In the new job posting for Head of Mobile, it states that the focus will be “on the successful adaptation of PlayStation’s most popular franchises to mobile.” These potentially include the following franchises:
- God of War
- Uncharted
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- The Last of Us
- Ratchet and Clank
- Gran Turismo (via gamerant)
One of the major strategies that PlayStation has pursued for their PS4 console was to establish a strong lineup of exclusive titles to keep players attached to the brand. Many of Sony’s blockbusters on PS4 were praised by critics and gamers alike and received various awards, as was the case last year with The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima.
These big names are likely what Sony wants to leverage to gain a foothold in the mobile market.
Mobile Gaming Continues to Grow
When thinking of “mobile games,” many inevitably think of Candy Crush or Flappy Bird, but with better smartphone hardware, mobile games have also gained complexity. Major franchises like Call of Duty or Mario Kart have managed to make a mark in the mobile space and broke download records at release.
The popular gacha game Genshin Impact is currently the latest example of an extremely successful hybrid game that has been released on both consoles/PC and mobile platforms. The game earned over $100 million within the first two weeks after release and was ranked 4th among the highest-grossing mobile games in January 2021 (sportskeeda.com via Sensortower).
In 2020, the revenue generated by mobile games accounted for nearly 50% of the total revenue of the global video game industry (via statista.com). And this trend seems to continue into 2021.
Data analyst Daniel Ahmad predicts in a tweet about mobile gaming that it will reach three times the size of the console software market in 2021. The statistics and analytics site statista.com also forecasts strong growth in the mobile gaming market by a bit over 10% annually by 2025.
It is therefore not surprising that Sony wants to put a greater focus on mobile gaming and take a piece of the pie.
What do you think of Sony’s job posting? Do you believe we will see God of War Mobile or Uncharted Mobile in the near or distant future? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
