Slowly but surely the big names in gaming have been bringing smartphones and mobile devices into their overall experience. Microsoft made a big push for this with their SmartGlass initiative some time ago, but Sony have been taking a more subtle approach to things and have been leaning on the companion app side of things. After experiencing a pretty big failure with PlayStation Mobile it’s no surprise that Sony is cautious about embracing mobile platforms, meanwhile Nintendo will join the mobile party some time next year. Sony already have a handful of excellent apps available for Android, regardless of which phone model you use, including a dedicated PlayStation app. This app allows you to download games to your PS4 remotely, purchase games on sale and see who’s online. Now though, Sony has released PlayStation Messages.
PlayStation Messages is basically what you think it is, it’s an Android app that offers PlayStation players a way to communicate with people no matter where they are. All users need is a PlayStation Network account and they can use this app to communicate on the move. Predictably, there are a number of stickers of key PlayStation characters that players can use in their chats, and there’s also the ability to chat with people in groups of up to 100 players. While this could be used as a de facto messaging app on Android, it’s not designed to replace WhatsApp or Google Hangouts.
Instead, this is more of an app to keep PlayStation players engaged no matter where they are. A lot of gamers end up forming friendships solely through their games consoles and with this new app there’s no need to provide any more details of yourself, and it’s probably easier to organize game sessions using an app like this than it is something not as specific. The app is of course free to download and use, and as we noted above users only need a PlayStation Network account to use this. Those interested can download it from the Play Store here and take a look at some screens down below.
