Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that they’ve entered into a “strategic global business partnership” with Korean publishing giant NCSoft. For those unfamiliar with NCSoft, they’re mainly active in the mobile and MMORPG space, publishing franchises like Guild Wars, Lineage, and Throne and Liberty. Sony doesn’t specifically say what this partnership is for, but it seems like NCSoft’s mobile expertise is what Team PlayStation is most interested in. Here’s what Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan had to say about the new partnership:

　　“Partnering with NCSoft advances our strategy to expand beyond console and broaden PlayStation’s reach to an even wider audience. Like Sony Interactive Entertainment, 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.”

　　Meanwhile, here are NCSoft CEO Taekjin Kim’s thoughts on the team up:

　　“This partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment is the beginning of our efforts to build various synergies together, utilizing both companies’ core competencies, technological capabilities, and expertise. We will deliver a new and enjoyable experience to our audience across and beyond genres and regions.”

　　In recent years under Jim Ryan, PlayStation has been moving away from its strict focus on AAA console games, with a big push towards live service gaming. The kickoff to PlayStation’s live service era has been rocky, with the company recently delaying half of them after internal assessments and reactions from fans were less than positive. Perhaps Ryan sees mobile as a more accepting market for the kind of live service titles he thinks PlayStation should be making.

　　As for what Sony and NCSoft may be making, that’s a big question mark at this point. It would arguably make sense to leverage their current hit IP to make mobile games, but I don’t know how comfortable NCSoft would be with something like, say, The Last of Us or God of War.

　　What do you think? Could something potentially interesting come out of this PlayStation/NCSoft partnership? Or is this Sony traveling further down the wrong path?