Author: Amanda Giasson

Sony recently announced that it is shutting down its PlayStation Mobile Service.

Sony initially launched PlayStation mobile (PSM) back in 2012 in response to the mobile gaming growth on mobile platforms like Android and iOS, a service that enabled PlayStation content to be played on both the PS Vita portable gaming device and PlayStation Certified Android mobile devices, such as the Xperia Play smartphone, but the electronics giant revealed last week that its cancelling its PSM service.

Sony is focusing on its businesses that are performing and cutting those that are underperforming.

While Sony did attempt to jump on board the mobile gaming trend, one of the problems it encountered is it was not successful at attracting a sufficient number of developers. Furthermore, another issue was that many mobile gamers chose devices that were not compatible with the PSM platform, and those that did support it were never particularity popular among consumers.

However, while the company may be struggling with its PSM business, its PlayStation business has been highly successful in recent quarters. PlayStation 4 sales remain strong around the globe. Therefore, while Sony has said that it’s PlayStation business, as well as its devices operations, Sony Music, and Sony Pictures will play a vital role in its operations in the future, it also said it would be cutting those businesses that were not performing as well, which is likely why it’s game over for PSM.

PlayStation mobile gaming content distribution will cease in July.

Sony announced that after July 15, PlayStation Mobile will no longer distribute content on its supported platforms. The company also said that as of September 10, all in-app purchases and the re-downloading of purchased content will also stop, as well as the PlayStation Mobile for the Android app itself.

What this means is that those who have spent money via the PlayStation mobile gaming service will not lose access to content, as long as games are activated and the device is authenticated with their account before the closure. That being said, users of the service who do not download games onto their local device before the cancellation of the service will not be able to access this content after the closure.

Zynga shares dropped while King reported quarterly results that were better than expected.

Unlike the popular “Candy Crush Saga” developer, King Digital Entertainment, which experienced better quarterly results than were expected, Zynga, the creator of the farming simulation social game, “Farmville”, is struggling to keep up with its competition, due to its failure to catch up with the recent mobile gaming growth during the latest quarter, reported the New York Post.

King’s Candy Crush games topped the mobile download lists for multiple months last year.

After extended trading, last Thursday, King Digital’s shares skyrocketed by as much as 20%, gaining 4.2%, to $14.74, by the close. Meanwhile, Zynga’s shares plummeted by as much as 11% in the after-market, following a 5.3% decrease, to $2.66, during the regular session.

Part of Zynga’s shares declined after it was revealed that the social game services provider is closing development offices in China. According to Zynga, this will save the company $7 million, annually, but will also cut 71 jobs.

In addition to reports of its mobile gaming success, King announced its purchase of Z2.

The creator behind the world-famous match-three puzzle video games, said that it will be acquiring Seattle startup, Z2, a game developer which has had success with its freemium turn-bases strategy video game, Battle Nations. King purchased the U.S. company for $45 million and as much as $105 million of additional payments for future performance targets.

Unlike King, Zynga has struggled to make the transition to mobile gaming with its popular games, like “Farmville”, which was initially designed for a social network platform, several years ago.

However, all might not be lost for the struggling company. Its “New Words With Friends”, a Scrabble-like game, has been gaining popularity. A fourth-quarter update revealed that the game had a 35% monthly audience increase.

For 2015, Zynga is aiming to make mobile gaming 75% of its overall business. The company said last Thursday that every new game it introduces this year, will be “mobile-first”. It is expected that the company will release anywhere from six to 10 mobile games, and among the new titles include “Empires & Aliens”, “Dawn of Titans”, and “Farmville: Harvest Swap”.