Sony has today announced it's signed a new "strategic partnership" with South Korean publisher NCSOFT, which has put out games like Guild Wars and Blade & Soul. The deal allows the two firms to "collaborate in various global business fields, including mobile", with NCSOFT employing more than 5,000 people worldwide.
A press release explains: "The two companies are evaluating a range of potential opportunities with an aim to foster strategic synergy, leveraging NCSOFT’s technological prowess and SIE’s global leadership in the entertainment field." Jim Ryan said: "Partnering with NCSOFT advances our strategy to expand beyond console and broaden PlayStation’s reach to a wider audience. Like SIE, NCSOFT shares a similar vision in creating high-quality, impactful entertainment experiences for players everywhere, and together we’re excited to collaborate to push the boundaries of gaming further.”
Just over a year ago, it was reported Sony is making a Horizon MMO for smartphones with the help of NCSOFT. Now this deal has been made official, it appears likely such a project is in development.
[source sonyinteractive.com]
Comments 36
So Jim's still making moves, even though people keep telling me he was forced out because he ruined PlayStation and apparently they'll never recover.
Hey Jim, how about some PS5 games or even some PSVR2 games?
Expanding beyond console to mobile and PC and you're forgetting about your core userbase.
They also publish on pc. If sony wants their services to be a success on pc you want korea, china and russia in.
@MrMagic Based on this he should have been dragged out of the building sooner 🙂 I'll remember his lovely tenure in PlayStation for his constant push towards mobile, live service and PC market
I have no issue with games on mobile as long as they are not just free to play mtx ridden rubbish and they have trophy integration. Otherwise it’s a waste of time for me.
Seems like a good move. Previously Sony relied on just their IPs to do the leg work on mobile but it never worked. So partnering with companies who know the key markets should be a more sound business move.
Do we need this? Hardly. But hey, some of Nintendo’s smart phone offerings have been alright.
It seems like NCSOFT will be doing the main work for any mobile/PC games, so Sony's own studios can focus on their projects. I see absolutely no reason people could moan about this, apart from the usual nay sayers.
Diversifying the PlayStation brand is a good call anyway you slice it.
@Tecinthebrain I'm glad you'll remember him fondly.
@MrMagic It's funny to me people are acting like Jim immediately retired and isn't making any more decisions when he's there until March 2024 and PS is saved now, making great decisions. He's still doing things and with how slow the output has been this gen we probably won't see what his successor does until late PS5 to PS6 gen at this point
Fans: Hey Sony you should get back to your roots a bit and get more 1st party Japanese Studios
Sony: A-hyuk who wants Korean games 🤪
@Sam_ATLUS Yeah he truly is a great leader.
All Hail King Jimbo. 👑
@NinjaSixx They want their brands to reach more people. They believe if they can expose more people to their characters/franchises, it’ll bring those consumers back to PlayStation — or at least give them a separate avenue to interact with the products.
If they stay the course they will fall behind.
As others have mentioned, getting actual mobile developers, who understand the business properly, to make these games is the best idea.
It also takes absolutely nothing away from the games/developers you already love.
Trying the get that genshin impact money
Mobile games...🙄
@NinjaSixx I can perfectly understand point of view on that but on this occasion I don't think it's about bringing mobile content to PlayStation but more about using their IPs on different platforms. The way I look at it is, as long as we still get Horizon games on console then I'm not too concerned how many mobile offerings they do.
Sony is trying to chase that trillion dollar dream, too!
exteel revamped for playstation please.
If the strategy is more like Nintendo where the expansion's purpose is to get people buying consoles, it's fine. People check out stuff like the Mario movie, the mobile games and the theme park which convinces them to buy a Switch + MK8 Deluxe + SMB Wonder.
But that's not the impression I get from Jim Ryan. Rather an approach where it doesn't matter if people buy a console or not, just that they're spending money on Sony content. If mobile profits grow they'll focus more on mobile, if live service profits grow they'll focus more on live service, etc.
NCSOFT for me was Lineage 2 and Guild Wars on PC
Maybe we can get a proper Lineage 3... or the PC Remake of Lineage 2. Not really tried their mobile games.
Oh Sony.
Just port all your PSP titles to mobile and charge a $10 unlock fee after the first hour of gameplay.
It's not that hard.
@NinjaSixx nah, mate. Current reality is rude and harsh: mobile rip-offs and clones with battle-passes, in-apps and ADs can make you much more money than dozens of premium titles. Smartphones are everywhere: people walk with them, work with them, smoke with them even take a bath with them. And developers make hell out of them, creating "free" games with perfectly tuned difficulty, fun and sense of progressions. Which in their turn generate billions of profit. It is a different branch of gaming with different target audience, mechanics, etc. But it blooms and shines.
Just google financial reports of big companies and compare premium market vs mobile. I only hope that companies won't abandon AAA single-player games entirely as time moves on.
@NinjaSixx They're publicly traded. They have to show/attempt to branch out and grow and mobile is the biggest market right now.
A huge part of the MS/Activision deal was for the mobile component as well.
So this is great. Can we get an actual update on Stellar Blade now?
@Agramonte Guild Wars I think I put 5000 hours in that game I loved that game so much. Playing with the Guild was so much fun. 😅
@NinjaSixx You want to keep playing your triple A titles let's hope it does. Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft are here for one thing and that is the big bucks. Microsoft has unending funds and Sony does not who knows what they will buy next.
@GamingFan4Lyf Why do you think MS bought Activision Blizzard because they like quality games. 😆😂🤣
@Flaming_Kaiser Well MS is worth more than 1 trillion.
Achievement Unlocked.
@GamingFan4Lyf But what is your point you are bringing to the table here?
@Flaming_Kaiser That all of this is to chase money - plain and simple.
People are saying that Sony will lose it's way by spreading too thin, when Sony is simply wanting to score more cash however it can - "way" be damned!
It wants that Microsoft (or Apple or Google) cash flow!
Well ncsoft r successful with what they do so go jim ryan going out with a bang probably getting a good bonus for this deal as well
@Flaming_Kaiser
Yeah, old NCsoft PC games actually made being in a Clan/Guild fun. Might instill L2 just to see if my character is still there
@Agramonte I lost my login stuff and could not get my bonuses with GW2 and thats why I never started that game.
@Sam_ATLUS The funny thing is people believe that he makes all the decisions without any other people.
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