PlayStation quietly announces smartphone-based PlayLink range
New series connects phones to PS4 for asymmetrical multiplayer games
Sony may have focused on blockbusters at last night's showcase, but it's still working on quirkier, more family-friendly titles as well.
The platform holder announced a new series of games called PlayLink via the official PlayStation blog. These titles rely on players using their smartphones to input choices and actions via a free companion app that then get played out on the PS4.
It's a smart idea given how many people are using their phones when gathered around the TV. PlayLink will simply redirect that habitual screen-tapping into a multiplayer game experience. The games will even use your smartphone's camera.
Five titles have been announced so far, with the first relwase due to be That's You! - a comedic quiz game that sees players answering questions about other members of their group, or using their touchscreens to manipulate photos of them. You can watch the That You! in action with the demo below, featuring Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida.
That's You! launches on July 4th, with the full version available to PlayStation Plus subscribers for free.
The rest of the announced titles are due before the end of the year. They include crime thriller Hidden Agenda, trivia title Knowledge is Power, mini-game collection Frantics, and SingStar Celebration.
Of the four, Hidden Agenda is perhaps the most interesting: it's a co-operative drama where players are asked to make decisions at key moments and whatever the majority vote for triggers the next scene. It was inspired by Sony's discovery that streamers were playing Supermassive Games' Until Dawn - a single-player title - as a group, shouting out decisions as one person controlled the game.
Sony Worldwide Studios' senior VP Michael Denny writes on the blog that this is "just a small selection" of the PlayLink titles in the works among Sony's development teams, with more being build by third-party studios around the world.
It's surprising that this was not announced during Sony's E3 press conference, which was an hour shorter than previous years. Instead, the platform holder focused on a string of trailers for blockbuster games - most of which had been previously announced - as well as a fresh wave of PSVR titles.
You can catch up with everything presented at the Sony showcase with our full recap. Check out the trailer for Hidden Agenda below:
