Sony has patented a new design that seems to suggest that the company is working on a PlayStation controller for mobile devices.
The patent (spotted by VGC) was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Japanese division last week with the design resembling a split version of the PlayStation 4’s Dualshock controller rather than the DualSense of the PS5. In the design, the left haft and right grips of the controller are split, with the touchpad section replaced with a space for a smartphone to fit.
The controller is described as having “a left-side grip portion and a right-side grip portion” that users can position their hands around as well as a “shaft portion that can be tilted by the user, and detect the tilting direction and tilting amount of the shaft portion.”
While PlayStation controllers can already be used alongside compatible Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices at present, the patent seems to suggest that the device would resemble something similar to third-party mobile controller grips such as the iPhone compatible Backbone One.
Sony’s decision to seemingly take out a patent on a controller compatible with mobile devices may not come as a shock to many eagle-eyed fans of the company. Earlier this year, Sony set to expand further into the realm of smartphones as it surfaced that the company was looking to appoint a Head of Mobile.
Following news of the vacancy, the company further showed its interest in the sector via comments made by Sony Interactive Entertainment president, Jim Ryan who stated that PlayStation’s roster of first-party IPs “can transition to smartphone gaming and complement our AAA games or live service games”.
Ryan went on to say that Sony was “exploring the mobile market with some wonderful PlayStation franchises,” though it wasn’t clear at the time as to which of the studio’s numerous IPs would be making their debut on the platform.
For more on Sony’s patenting activities, make sure to check out this article detailing how the company has patented the PlayStation 5’s faceplates after threatening legal action against a number of other companies for creating them.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
