PlayStation Mobile was supposed to be Sony’s big push into the mobile gaming sphere. They had their own special phones, like the Xperia Play. A few Developers even lined up to make games. Sadly, things just didn’t seem to get off the ground for Sony. The Playstation Mobile store seemed to be comprised mainly of unpopular PS1 titles, and a few other ports. Overall there was a disappointing lack of new or interesting content.
Many have speculated that a large reason for the limited PlayStation Mobile selection was due to the high cost developers incur. They were required to pay $99 a year just to post games in the Playstation store. While that may not seem like a lot of money to some, it’s actually quite a hefty fee for an indie developer. Especially when there are alternatives available in the play store for free. The Play store also has the added benefit of hundreds of millions more active users.
Sony finally seems to recognize some of the issues that are currently plaguing the platform, and have since announced that they will be dropping all the fees associated with marketing games in their store. Unfortunately, third party developers will still have their apps relegated to a separate, and rather dusty, corner of the storefront. A corner that receives little to no promotion on the store’s home page. At least Sony appears to be playing a little nicer with developers, so lets hope devs get their own, easily viewable, section soon.
I’m glad to see Sony hasn’t simply given up on PS Mobile. It would have been easy for them to just write the whole thing off after the Xperia Play flopped. Instead, they have made an effort to increase their user base by adding more partners. First, HTC, and now Fujitsu and Sharp have joined as well. They just need to get the One certified and they might have a fighting chance.
The big question is whether or not the PS Mobile store really even serves a purpose? I know it is useful for PSP and Vita owners, especially if they happen to own a PlayStation certified phone since they can use PS Mobile titles on either device. Unfortunately, Sony’s mobile consoles haven’t really been a hit and the number of folks with compatible devices are few and far between. Do you want to see a PlayStation certification for your device? If it was there, would you even take advantage of it? Let us know in the comment section down below!