Sony has stated that it intends to grow the brand across more platforms in the coming years.
By 2025, half of SIE’s annual releases are expected to be on PC and Mobile, according to SIE president Jim Ryan.
This news comes after Ryan stated during the company’s annual investor day yesterday that expansion to larger platforms, namely committing to publishing at least 12 live service games in the coming years, may be “transformational to our business.”
He went on to say:
“PlayStation Studios historically has executed wonderfully in the delivery of a strong portfolio of narrative rich, graphically beautiful single-player games, but it’s certainly the case that we have restricted ourselves to a rather narrow portion of the gaming market.
By expanding to PC and mobile, and it must be said… also to live services, we have the opportunity to move from a situation of being present in a very narrow segment of the overall gaming software market, to being present pretty much everywhere.
I think if we do this right if we execute with intelligence and we execute with excellence, the opportunities for significant growth in the number of people who play our games, the number of people who enjoy our games, and the number of people who spend money on our games, is exponentially a large one.
I would say for example, if we are successful in making a portion of the 12 live service games that we have in development in PlayStation Studios… if only a portion of those enjoy critical and commercial success, then the impact of that over time will be completely transformational to our business structure.”
In the meeting, he also presented a slideshow that suggests that all PS4 releases would be phased out by 2025.
The presentation suggested that bringing games like Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn, and God of War to PC is already paying off, with net sales on the platform more than tripling from $80 million last year to an anticipated $300 million in 2022. Sony has made no secret of its desire to bring more games to the PC, founding a PlayStation PC label and even acquiring a PC port company last year.
Sony also outlined a number of plans for “aggressive growth” in the mobile arena. These include partnering up with some “respected, established, and successful mobile developers” bringing its franchises to new players. It also plans to create internal mobile game development teams and publish “external games that fit within [the] broader PlayStation Studios portfolio.”