Shawn Layden, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, sells the first PlayStation VR system to a lucky fan. (Photo : Getty Images/Noam Galai)
Sony is planning to launch at least five PlayStation games for mobile devices soon. The CEO of a Japanese gaming consultant group revealed that Japan is a market where console makers are struggling to sell units.
The console maker wants to release their games for smartphones due to Nintendo's announcement of releasing several video games for mobile. According to Nikkei, these will be initially launched in the Asian market by March 2018.
The games will be launched on Alphabet's Google Android and Apple's iOS operating system through Sony's ForwardWorks subsidiary. This development team opened earlier this year, which has a focus on developing mobile gaming.
Japan will be the first market to receive the games followed by other Asian countries. The console maker said that there will be no plans to bring these games to Europe or the United States currently.
While mobile games got revenues that make up over 50 percent of the $12.4 billion market, the console manufacturers have been having a hard time in the world's third-largest games market. Consoles only make up about 38 percent of the market, which is a trend that is not a similar in many other countries in a global aspect. Out of 69 million gamers in a country, 61 percent of them spend money, and Sony wants to take advantage of that.
Kantan Games CEO Serkan Toto said to CNBC by phone that Japan is a market where Sony and other popular console makers are struggling to sell their units. Most people today are purchasing smartphone games, which made the game company react and take action, he said.
Currently, the console maker did not specify what titles that would come first to both mobile stores. They might release popular classic games first with easier gameplay.
The move to transfer PlayStation games to the smartphone platform was inspired by Sony's PlayStation minis programs in the past. They usually made classic games come to their handheld consoles and old consoles like the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and the PlayStation Vita. "Uncharted: Fight for Fortune" was released digitally to the Vita, due to its compatibility to be played on the handheld system.
While the PlayStation 4 had a strong lead in its first few years, the Xbox One sold more units recently for three months in a row. This is another motivation for Sony to move to the smartphone platform.
Check out the PlayStation VR video below:
