PlayStation may be one of the frontrunners in the console market, but its offerings for the mobile crowd are rather quaint. However, with the hiring of a former Apple executive, PlayStation is looking to flip the script on its mobile pusuits.
The prevalence of mobile gaming over the past decade is a boom like never seen before. It effectively killed the incentive of purchasing portable gaming devices like the PS Vita or the Nintendo 3DS, as with the blossoming of phone and tablet technology, a new type of mobile gaming arose, a more passive experience built on tight, simple gameplay loops. Earlier this year, PlayStation announced its plans of expanding into mobile, after testing the waters with infrequent releases in the last decade. With this announcement, PlayStation also confirmed it was hiring for its head of mobile position to help lead the adaptation of its most popular franchises.
Spotted by Tom Ivan of VGC, PlayStation has hired Nicola Sebastiani to help lead the company's journey into the mobile market. According to his LinkedIn experience page, Sebastiani is currently the Vice President and Head of Mobile at PlayStation Studios, joining the company back in July. Sebastiani spent the last eight years at Apple, the first five as the Head of Games Business Management on the App Store team, and the final three as the Head of Content at Apple Arcade. This is the position that PlayStation was previously hiring for, meaning Sebastiani is working on adapting PlayStation's first-party franchises for mobile.
It has been some time since the last major mobile release by PlayStation. In the run up to 2018's God of War, PlayStation released God of War - Mimir's Vision, an interactive AR game that let fans get a first look at the then-new world of Midgard. There are other titles like the puzzle game, Uncharted: Fortune Hunter, and the endless runner, Run Sackboy! Run!, but PlayStation has primarily been putting out companion apps for its console titles or its PlayLink initiative, where users play a game on their PS4 or PS5 through their phone or tablet.
The hiring of Sebastiani is a great sign for PlayStation's mobile pursuits, as he is a figure that clearly understands the mobile game market. It is a bit ironic that Nintendo, which has been shown to be a bit behind-the-times with its console features, is perhaps, the most integrated into the mobile market with its wildly successful games like Mario Kart Tour and Super Mario Run. PlayStation recently announced Wipeout Rush, a card-based racing game coming in early 2022 who's formula changes quickly disappointed Wipeout fans. Hopefully with Sebastiani, PlayStation can make up ground in the mobile market and offer some truly unique experiences.
Source: VGC