PLAYSTATION IS DEVELOPING A NEW PLATFORM FOR FREE-TO-PLAY MOBILE GAMES

[Gamernyc78]

PlayStation is Developing a New Platform for Free-to-Play Mobile Games

According to a new job listing, PlayStation is developing a new platform for free-to-play mobile games, which could launch soon.

insider-gaming.com

According to a new job listing, PlayStation is developing a new platform for free-to-play mobile games.

First spotted by Tweaktown, the listing is for a mobile platform architect, which reveals details on what PlayStation could be planning for its mobile platform. Earlier this month, Xbox also revealed that it will launch its Xbox mobile store in July 2024.

The listing reads, “PlayStation Studios Mobile is seeking an experienced software engineer to design PlayStation’s platform for developing, publishing, and operating free-to-play mobile games. An individual in this role will spearhead the design and implementation of this platform, work in partnership with internal teams to connect mobile games to PlayStation services, and ensure that all mobile games meet PlayStation’s quality standards.”

Responsibilities include:

• Design the system architecture and backend services for the mobile games platform
• Measure and improve platform security, availability, throughput and cost efficiency
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to the platform engineering team
• Establish pipelines and processes to facilitate the delivery of high-quality software
• Collaborate across teams to integrate the platform with internal services
• Influence and contribute to the platform engineering roadmap
• Clearly communicate end-to-end system behavior to platform users and stakeholders
• Actively track technical innovations, changes, and trends affecting mobile game development

 

[Etifilio]

beyond the boundries, they said

 

[Jivesh1995]

FFS, just release the PlayStation PC launcher already

 

[Yurinka]

Please notice this is not their mobile game store.

It''s a backend platform (server side) for their mobile F2P infrastructure, basically to control their PS platform features integration (stuff as could be API, SDK, friend list, trophies, library, IAPs, game metrics tracking, server status & costs metrics, etc) for F2P games.

Basically an internal app for them to manage and monitoring future F2P mobile games they may make, not a mobile game store to be used by the players.

When I did work making mobile games in our studio we developed a similar in-house app: I was able to check out in my phone in real time if some server exploded, the retention, user acquisition or monetization data, etc.

 

[Ico]

Nowadays we see mobile games that used to be spinoffs on portable consoles, like the kingdom hearts shift torwards mobile while it has a long story on gameboy, nds and psp.
maybe smaller IPs will get a new life with those mobile games, like patapon, ape escape and doko demo isho, since i dont see sony focusing again on A or AA games

 

[Umar]

Its taken them forever to release games for mobile when it should have happened already. They should be focusing on mobile over pc

 

[Yurinka]

Its taken them forever to release games for mobile when it should have happened already. They should be focusing on mobile over pc

For them is better what they are doing: to expand in both markets but step by step. They are still expanding on PC. Pretty likely around 2027, once they released all the current batch of console+PC GaaS titles, plus having ported to PC all their old PS5 and PS4 titles they consider worth to be ported, being them one of the very top PC publishers (if not the top one), in addition to release their own PC PSN Store (maybe at the same time they release PS6) they'll switch part of that growth effort to mobile.

They are working on it, but mobile games nowadays take almost as long to be made as mobile games.

In addition to the acquisition of Neon Koi they signed partnerships in recent years with many mobile gaming publishers, pretty likely to develop games for them or to publish and market the games on the leading Asian stores (Tencent, Netease, NC Soft, Kadokawa+CyGames, Koei Tecmo+Akatsuki, MiHoyo, Shift Up and a long etc.).

Sony's plans is both to make mobile gaming adaptations of some of their IPs, create dedicated IPs and as something secondary also bring to mobile PS cloud gaming.

These things take a lot of work, money and time, specially when they also have to build their PSN infrastructure for both PC and mobile. So they better to step by step.

Nowadays we see mobile games that used to be spinoffs on portable consoles, like the kingdom hearts shift torwards mobile while it has a long story on gameboy, nds and psp.
maybe smaller IPs will get a new life with those mobile games, like patapon, ape escape and doko demo isho, since i dont see sony focusing again on A or AA games

The best fit for mobile instead it's the stuff with a broader global mainstream appeal. So things like Singstar using their Sony Music artists, gatcha RPG stuff of games like Genshin Impact but maybe using some Sony IPs like Horizon or Ghostbusters, maybe some casual arcade racing or racing team management game using the Gran Turismo IP, the mobile game of some tv show they have like Wheel of Fortune (they sold the rights this one for like a billion or so to Scopely some time ago).

Remember that the audience in mobile is different in demographics (more Asian, more female, wider in term of age distribution) and has different tastes in themes, genres or business model, both for casual and midcore/hardcore stuf.

I think a mobile Patapon or Locoroco could happen only as rare exceptions, if are a small project and are released at the same time than a movie/tv show adaptation as crosspromotion.

 

[arvfab]

but mobile games nowadays take almost as long to be made as mobile games.

You don't say ....

 

[Nhomnhom]

So dumb.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Please notice this is not their mobile game store.

It''s a backend platform (server side) for their mobile F2P infrastructure, basically to control their PS platform features integration (stuff as could be API, SDK, friend list, trophies, library, IAPs, game metrics tracking, server status & costs metrics, etc) for F2P games.

Basically an internal app for them to manage and monitoring future F2P mobile games they may make, not a mobile game store to be used by the players.

When I did work making mobile games in our studio we developed a similar in-house app: I was able to check out in my phone in real time if some server exploded, the retention, user acquisition or monetization data, etc.

Well it does say 'backend' in the job responsibilities section, so hopefully others pick up the context. Though, this should be for games other than F2P; mobile could be a good grounding point for doing more AA traditional titles too.

Or maybe they can do that but find ways to make them palatable for F2P on mobile, and more fully traditional on console. They have a partnership with Shift Up, they should ask them for pointers.

 

[Yurinka]

Well it does say 'backend' in the job responsibilities section, so hopefully others pick up the context. Though, this should be for games other than F2P; mobile could be a good grounding point for doing more AA traditional titles too.

Or maybe they can do that but find ways to make them palatable for F2P on mobile, and more fully traditional on console. They have a partnership with Shift Up, they should ask them for pointers.

The job offer says it is:

"to design PlayStation’s platform for developing, publishing, and operating free-to-play mobile games. An individual in this role will spearhead the design and implementation of this platform; work in partnership with internal teams to connect mobile games to PlayStation services; and ensure that all mobile games meet PlayStation’s quality standards."

F2P generate almost all the mobile gaming revenue, and the few paid games that succedd are very small (often multiplatform ports) titles. Not a place for paid AA games. You should expect more F2P stuff like Genshin Impact, Nikke and the next Shift Up IP -Witches project, a F2P like Nikke for mobile and PC- (gatcha RPGs with waifus) than Stellar Blade. And very casual mainstream stuff regarding IPs, pretty likely a mixture of blockbuster gaming IPs heavily adaped to mobile and casual non-gaming ones, remember the huge success of games like Monopoly Go.

Hey Gamernyc78 I'd suggest to quote and link the original source instead of misleading articles that include incomplete info and wrong assumptions:
https://boards.greenhouse.io/sonyinteractiveentertainmentglobal/jobs/5078757004

 

[Gamernyc78]

Hmmm when it comes to mobile stuff and Sony idk I'm just not to enthused unless it's a portable console of course.

 

[Yurinka]

Btw, last year's Business Segment Meeting presentation (May 30th they'll update it with the version of this year, but shouldn't change as it didn't change in recent years) mentioned these things regarding mobile being part of their future growth pillars:

Their global gaming strategy fo the future:

Their growth pillars (most continue related :

Their mobile gaming specific strategy:

Hmmm when it comes to mobile stuff and Sony idk I'm just not to enthused unless it's a portable console of course.

If they are smart, most if not all Sony mobile games would be released on PC too, which would include their potential PC handheld (what I assume will be the next gen successor of PS Portal).

 

[Darth Vader]

Xbox Store backend when? They have to maximise those sales!

 

[Nhomnhom]

Xbox Store backend when? They have to maximise those sales!

Think of all the free money they are giving up just by not porting their games to the Xbox.

Spider-man 2 on the Series S would be like printing money.

 

[BLAZE]

I don't think it's a bad idea, but Sony will need good mobile games to convince people to use a PSN account, like Destiny Mobile?

 

[Killer_Sakoman]

Btw, last year's Business Segment Meeting presentation (May 30th they'll update it with the version of this year, but shouldn't change as it didn't change in recent years) mentioned these things regarding mobile being part of their future growth pillars:

Their global gaming strategy fo the future:

Their growth pillars (most continue related :

Their mobile gaming specific strategy:

If they are smart, most if not all Sony mobile games would be released on PC too, which would include their potential PC handheld (what I assume will be the next gen successor of PS Portal).

Yeah they are going after that 2 billion people

 

[Gediminas]

Yeah they are going after that 2 billion people

just 2? why not 5?

 

[Systemshock2023]

Bloodborne gacha?

 

[Yurinka]

just 2? why not 5?

2B are supposed to be the ones who played mobile games. In the same way that in the 3.3B gamers count they mention 600-700B console players (counting all the players from all the consoles of the 2/3 active generations ignoring the overlap between consoles/generations)

Bloodborne gacha?

Knack Go.