PlayStation Mobile is looking to increase its profile within the mobile games space, starting with the search for a new director of business development.
The new director will “assess potential merger and acquisition deals as well as opportunities for investment, co-development and licensing partnerships,” as well as “research, source and analyse new acquisitions and partnership opportunities that align with PlayStation mobile strategy”.
“PlayStation has a huge catalogue of diverse first-party IP that can transition to smartphone gaming and complement our triple-A games or live service games. We are exploring the mobile market with some wonderful PlayStation franchises so please stay tuned.”
Aggressive growth plans
This announcement comes in the wake of Sony’s business briefing in May, where Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan affirmed the group’s commitment to expanding into the mobile games space, with Ryan citing “aggressive growth plans”. The company aims to have mobile gaming represent 20 per cent of its first-party portfolio releases by the end of the 2025 fiscal year – an increase from 10 per cent for 2022.
To this end, the company have been consistently working to expand its team for around a year, appointing Apple veteran Nicola Sebastiani as vice president and head of mobile at PlayStation Studios, Kabam veteran Kris Davies as senior director and head of mobile business development, and Meta alumnus Olivier Courtemanche as head of mobile product. The appointment of a new director of business development, as well as other key hires in senior roles, are the next steps in the company’s expansion plans.
This recent push into the mobile market comes as a part of PlayStation diversifying its portfolio, including upcoming adaptations of hit titles The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima.
Recently, allegations have been flying that the company is eyeing an acquisition of Final Fantasy developer Square Enix, which we listed as number 44 on our list of 2021’s top game makers.
Lewis Rees is a journalist, author, and escape room enthusiast based in South Wales. He got his degree in Film and Video from the University of Glamorgan. He's been a gamer all his life.