Sony’s latest PlayStation patent hints at Switch-like controller for your phone

Sony has taken a folio out of Nintendo and Razer's books with it'due south latest patent. The company appears to be working on a device that'll turn your smartphone into a portable console.

Video Games Chronicle was first to spot the patent, reporting that it was published past SIE'due south Japanese division this week.

According to VGC, the device resembles the PS4'south DualShock 4 controller more than so than the PS5's DualSense ane and is described in the patent as "a left side grip portion and a correct side grip portion gripped by the left and right hands of the user".

PlayStation mobile controller patent — Image: Video Games Chronicle

While you can already connect your PlayStation controller to your smartphone with the PS Remote Play app, this device will add together controls to either side of your phone's brandish turning information technology into something that looks more than like the Razer Kishi or the Nintendo Switch – albeit for PlayStation games instead of Nintendo titles in the case of the latter.

The controller apparently also includes the boosted reward of "a shaft portion that tin be tilted by the user, and discover the tilting direction and tilting amount of the shaft portion", making it seem a chip more dynamic than the Kishi.

The device would also marker another step in Sony's plans to push further into mobile gaming.

Earlier this year, the visitor released a task posting looking for a new Head of Mobile to develop the mobile games strategy for PlayStation Studios.

The listing called for a candidate to "pb all aspects of the expansion of our game development from consoles and PCs to mobile and live services with a focus on successfully adapting PlayStation's well-nigh popular franchises for mobile".

The visitor offered more insight into its plans during a Q&A session at Sony's investor relations day in May, when CEO Jim Ryan revealed that the company would be bringing more commencement-political party PlayStation IP off-console in 2021 and 2022.

"In FY21 we volition begin to publish some of our iconic PlayStation IP on mobile and nosotros anticipate that in 2021, that will not provide a significant profit menses, but nosotros do anticipate that equally we larn from that feel, and equally we increase the number of titles that we publish on mobile, the contribution from both PC and mobile will starting time to become steadily more important as time passes", announced Ryan (via Video Games Chronicle).

At this point, Sony has only filed a patent for the mobile controller, then there's no saying whether it'll get through with the idea. Nosotros'll take to wait and run into whether the brand launches it's answer to the Razer Kishi anytime before long.