Sony forms new studio to make smartphone titles based on PlayStation games

Sony Computer Entertainment is getting serious about making PlayStation games for smartphones. In a press release today, the company announced the formation of a new studio, ForwardWorks Corporation, which will be dedicated to making apps for mobile devices based on PlayStation games and characters.

ForwardWorks will officially start operations April 1, the same day Sony Computer Entertainment unifies its PlayStation divisions under the name Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Here's Sony's official word on what ForwardWorks plans to do:

ForwardWorks will leverage the intellectual property of the numerous PlayStation dedicated software titles and its gaming characters as well as the knowledge and know-how of gaming development expertise which was acquired over the years with PlayStation business to provide gaming application optimized for smart devices including smartphones to users in Japan and Asia. The company will aim to deliver users with opportunity to casually enjoy full-fledged game titles in the new filed [sic] of the smart device market.

While SCE didn't announce specific titles, it sounds like the company will make a more concerted effort to bring PlayStation brands like Gran Turismo, God of War, Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted and others to Android and iOS devices.

Sony has already released a number of PlayStation titles on mobile devices, including the LittleBigPlanet spinoff Run Sackboy! Run!, Ratchet & Clank: Before the Nexus and Knack's Quest. PlayStation Mobile Inc. is responsible for those games and a number of companion apps for PlayStation games like Until Dawn, SingStar and Beyond: Two Souls.

Since ForwardWorks titles are announced only for Japan and Asia, we've reached out to Sony Computer Entertainment America to find out if they're coming stateside as well.