I’m really not sure where it came from, but all of a sudden there has been a boom in mobile companion apps for games. Nearly every next-gen game from Ubisoft seems to have one, and there are plenty of other people getting on board too.
That’s now including Sony, who are releasing a free iOS puzzle game alongside the PS4 title, as confirmed by Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, this time in an interview rather than on twitter as many of his recent announcements have been.
He says that they have “totally shifted” their way of thinking, continuing “Through the companion apps, the official PlayStation app and game dedicated apps… in some cases, we’re creating small games that go with PS4 titles. We’re releasing a puzzle game themed around Knack that you can play for free.”
It will also help out with the PS4 version – you’ll be able to collect items, which will transfer over to the full game. He also points out that it might be useful as a marketing tool, saying that players “might be motivated, because they’ve already unlocked some items, to take a look at what this Knack game on the PS4 is all about.”
It’s certainly a good strategy, and they’re no longer considering these mobile devices as competition, embracing them and realising it’s a totally different market.
“Lots of people don’t seek out game-specific info – they’re busy. But because they use social network services, App Stores… Let’s push our info to them. That’s why we are creating the hook, releasing the official PlayStation apps on Android and iOS at the launch of PS4.”
It will be interesting to see how these mobile tie-ins work out. We’ll have a preview of the PS4 version of Knack at 5pm today.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz, via CVG
jimmy-google
Interesting, especially after the new Ratchet and Clank was rated for vita and mobiles alongside the ps3 version.
Not sure I’d have time to actually use them but I can see a time when someone is asking me about ps4/ps4 games and being able to show them a mobile type version would be quite good.
bunimomike
Agreed. I feel no draw to them whatsoever but I love the idea of people enjoying them and then thinking “what’s this full blown game all about?”.