Sony forms new company to develop full-fledged iOS and Android titles

Sony has formed a new company which will focus on creating games for iOS and Android devices.

For now, the mobile offerings from ForwardWorks will only be offered in the Japan and Asia markets. The studio will be headed up by Sony Japan boss Atsushi Morita while the division's SVP Hiroshi Ueda along with Sony CEO Andrew House will be on the board directors.

ForwardWorks will "leverage the intellectual property" of the numerous PlayStation software titles and its gaming characters, allowing mobile users to "casually enjoy full-fledged game titles," according to Sony.

The official launch of the company will occur on April 1, which is the start of the financial year in Japan. This is also the day Sony Computer Entertainment becomes Sony Interactive Entertainment.

This isn't Sony's first foray into mobile games. In 2012 the company launched PlayStation Mobile for PS-certified tablets, phones and PS Vita. It was a cross-platform game service with its own digital store containing indie titles as well as those from major developers.

Just a week shy of its two year anniversary, Sony stopped supporting PlayStation Mobile on new Android devices running Android 4.4.3 and up. The service was completely shuttered worldwide in March of 2015.

Nintendo released its first mobile offering, Miitomo, in Japan last week. The social app quickly hit the top of the iOS charts in the region within its first 24 hours of availability. The app is expected to head west sometime this year.

At this time, Sony hasn't announced whether its new mobile offerings will be made available outside SCEJ region in the future.