Games maker and publisher NCSoft has announced a strategic partnership with Sony following a joint deal between respective CEOs Taekjin Kim and Jim Ryan.
Through this partnership, the companies will collaborate across a range of global business fields, mobile games being among them.
Bursting with potential
From Sony’s perspective, the strategic deal will bolster gaming advances beyond PlayStation. For NCSoft, meanwhile, the partnership brings opportunistic synergising with Sony’s tech expertise.
The companies are still evaluating the full breadth of potential this agreement may bring, but given 75% of NCSoft’s sales revenue last year came from mobile games, the decision to collaborate on mobile titles is bound to be a key focus for Sony. After all, the PlayStation maker recently suffered a 6.8% drop in games income despite the reveal of its next console Project Q.
By the same token, the potential for an NCSoft mobile game leveraging Sony’s IP prove a huge boon towards bouncing back from its staggering 74% profit fall this year. Even with this major blow, NCSoft remains South Korea’s highest-earning mobile publisher for the fifth year running, demonstrating just how much potential this deal has for both parties.
“This partnership [with Sony] is the beginning of our efforts to build various synergies together, utilising both companies’ core competencies, technological capabilities, and expertise,” said Kim. “We will deliver a new and enjoyable experience to our audience across and beyond genres and regions.”
“Partnering with NCSoft advances our strategy to expand beyond console and broaden PlayStation’s reach to a wider audience,” said Ryan. “Like [Sony], 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.”
Many Sony franchises already have some level of presence on mobile, but with the field expressly among Sony and NCSoft’s joint intentions, what would you like to see leveraged in their collaboration? A God of War gacha? A new Crash Bandicoot racing game? Let us know on Twitter.