Beloved PlayStation games could make the jump to iPhone, iPad and Android. The head of Sony’s games division promised to launch “iconic PlayStation IP on mobile” in the near future.
“In FY21 we will begin to publish some of our iconic PlayStation IP on mobile,” said Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, speaking Thursday at his company’s investor relations day. He made the statement after mentioning two PlayStation titles brought to PC in 2020, apparently indicating he’s talking about porting, not new mobile games with classic characters.
Sony PlayStation games on iPhone a real possibility
Ryan did not get more specific about which games will be ported from the PlayStation console. Sony is responsible for the Gran Turismo series and God of War. Plus many more.
The executive also didn’t specify whether the games are coming to iPhone, iPad, Android or all three. But the App Store generates twice as much revenue as Google Play, and the average U.S. iPhone user shelled out $138 for apps in 2020, so it seems unlikely Sony would skip iOS.
Ryan made it clear this is about increasing revenue. “As we increase the number of titles that we publish on mobile, the contribution from both PC and mobile will start to become steadily more important as time passes,” he said, according to VGC.
While the game developer ported a pair of PlayStation games to PC in 2020, Ryan’s announcement doesn’t seem to include Mac.
The developer’s 2021 fiscal year ends March 2022, so the PlayStation games could be almost a year away from iPhone and iPad.
To be clear, Sony hasn’t ignored mobile devices until now. It recently introduced Crash Bandicoot: On the Run for Apple handsets and tablets, for example. But this is a new game with an iconic character — not a ported PlayStation game.
