Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has recently been expanding their reach, most notably with their push to add more of their exclusive titles into the PC marketplace. Its no wonder that they’d decide to take an interest in the mobile game scene. Earlier today SIE announced their recent acquisition of Savage Game Studios, mobile game developer based in Berlin, Germany. This new acquisition seems to follow Sony’s recent goal of branching out to reach new audiences. SIE shared their excitement and reasoning behind the acquisition in a Playstation Blog post.
Savage Game Studios is a fairly new game developer. Established in 2020 and led by Michail Katkoff, Nadjim Adjir and Michael McManus, Savage Game Studios seeks to “create a creative space where experimentation and taking risks weren’t warily avoided, but rather eagerly embraced.” Savage Game Studios was formed by these veterans of the industry to be able to have a space to take risks, so its interesting that they would decide to work with a gaming giant like Playstation. Michail Katkoff, CEO and Co-founder of Savage Game Studios, gave his thoughts on why his company decided to agree with the acquisition.
“We made this deal because we believe that PlayStation Studios’ leadership respects our vision for how we can best operate and succeed, and because they too are not afraid to take chances,” said Katkoff. “All of that, plus the ability to potentially tap into PlayStation’s amazing catalog of IP and the fact that we will benefit from the kind of support that only they can provide… The harder question to answer would be “why not?”
Savage Game Studios will be joining the newly created PlayStation Studios Mobile Division which, according to the blog post, will be independent from their console development studios. The PlayStation Studios Mobile Division will “focus on innovative, on-the-go experiences based on new and existing PlayStation IP.”
Sony stepping into the mobile gaming scene is a development rife with potential. Mobile games for the longest time have been overlooked by the video game community at large, despite how wide-reaching and profitable the scene can be. It will be interesting to see how Sony’s involvement will change the mobile gaming landscape. They have already hinted at an unannounced AAA mobile live service action game in the blog post. More information will likely be revealed about this unannounced mobile game in the future.