Sony Mobile expansion on the move, patents mobile DualShock-like controller

With mobile games on the rise and in its bid to expand the company’s reach, tech gaming giant Sony is reportedly in the works of creating a mobile DualShock controller for smartphones.

Just last week, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) Japanese division posted a patent, which has been surfacing in the online world since, leading people to believe that the gaming company is now targeting to expand in the mobile gaming scene.

The patent contained drawings of a controller interestingly intended to use for mobile gaming, and it resembles that of the PlayStation 4’s DualShock 4. Described as “a left side grip portion and a right side grip portion gripped by the left and right hands of the user,” it also contains the traditional arrow keys on the left and action keys on the right, with the regular joysticks included.

The patent also shows a smartphone plugged in between the two handgrips in a stretched-out form. It leaves “a shaft portion that can be tilted by the user, and detect the tilting direction and tilting amount of the shaft portion.”

Though much has not been revealed about it yet, it is easy to believe that the device can serve as a key for smartphones to access the Remote Play feature, which allows it to host PlayStation games. Although such a function is already compatible through Bluetooth—similar to the third-party controllers used to stream Xbox games—this new development may also open new innovative features for the device to more than its intended purpose. (Read: Sony patents method to create a banana controller for PlayStation)

Such a move shows mobility in the company’s ambition of taking over the mobile gaming scene over the years.

In May of this year, after the successful release of its Horizon Zero Dawn on PC, SIE CEO Jim Ryan announced their plans of bringing some of its iconic games to be played through mobile by March 2022.

Just in October, SIE acquired the services of former Apple Arcade content head Nicola Sebastiani to spearhead their goal of adapting their games to be played in a non-console platform such as the smartphone.

Ten years ago, Sony released the Xperia Play gaming phone, which featured the DualShock style controls and joypad. It also featured high-quality games that can be downloaded from the PlayStation Pocket Store.

When this patent comes to life, Sony’s dream of taking over the gaming scene might just be within arm’s reach.

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