Sony to Acquire Mobile Game Maker Savage Game Studios

Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corp. announced on Monday acquisition plans for German mobile game maker Savage Game Studios as part of its efforts to expand its services beyond console gaming.

The Tokyo-based company did not reveal how much it intends to pay to buy the Berlin- and Helsinki-based group, which it said will make up a part of the newly created PlayStation Studios Mobile Division.

Savage Game Studios was founded in 2020 and is currently developing a AAA live-service action mobile game.

Sony expects the new segment will create “innovative, on-the-go experiences based on new and existing PlayStation IP that meet PlayStation Studios’ high-quality standards.” The mobile division will also operate separately from the console game division.

Expanding Beyond Console Gaming

Sony’s latest acquisition plans align with its efforts to expand beyond the console gaming business, exploring other platforms while preventing certain technological changes from weakening the utilization of bulky hardware.

PlayStation Studios Head Hermen Hulst said the company should keep building and diversifying its offering beyond the console, releasing new exciting games to more people than before.

In May, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) Chief Executive Jim Ryan stated plans to significantly broaden the company’s gaming services portfolio and focus beyond the PlayStation (PS5) console and single-player games, respectively, by introducing more PC and mobile titles.

Furthermore, acquiring Savage Game Studios may ease pressures on the Japanese entertainment group, which is currently facing a production snag with the PS5 console, making it challenging to meet demand amid ongoing supply chain issues.

Sony announced in the previous week that it was raising the price of the PS5 game console across several countries to cope with soaring inflation and higher interest rates that have weighed on its gaming business.

PS5 console prices increased around 10% in Europe and Japan and about 6% in the UK, while US prices were unchanged.