PlayStation Productions: New Sony Division Aims To Bring Games To Film And TV

One of the integral backbones of Sony’s business going on over 20 years now has been PlayStation. The video game wing of the company has been a leading force in the space thanks to the PlayStation consoles and a list of widely acclaimed titles like “Uncharted” and “God of War.”

Now, Sony will take more of a direct hand in bringing those titles to film and TV with its new division: PlayStation Productions.

The new production division is being headed up by PlayStation marketing veteran, Asad Qizilbash, and chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden.

“We’ve got 25 years of game development experience and that’s created 25 years of great games, franchises and stories,” Layden said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

“We feel that now is a good time to look at other media opportunities across streaming or film or television to give our worlds life in another spectrum.”

Qizilbash also emphasized that “instead of licensing our IP out to studios,” any adaptations would be developed in-house.

It would also be the latest film division, following Ubisoft and Activison Blizzard. However, PlayStation Productions would have a leg up in this situation thanks to its sister company, Sony Pictures. This will allow PlayStation Productions to handle production of a project and release the film through the distribution wing instead of having to sell a film to a Universal or Disney-type.

“We want to create an opportunity for fans of our games to have more touch points with our franchises,” Layden said.

“When fans beat a 40-50 hour game and have to wait three-four years for a sequel, we want to give them places they can go and still have more of that experience and see the characters they love evolve in different ways.”

And thanks to the new production arm, the pair emphasized that the company will have full creative control over projects and will be able to afford plenty of time to “getting it right.”