“Do you have a smartphone?” »
Many people want to free themselves from the monopoly of the App Store and Google Play in order to avoid the restrictions and commissions charged by these platforms. Microsoft has already announced the launch of its own store this summer, and Sony seems to be following the same path. According to a job offer spotted by the site TweakTown, Sony is looking for a “Mobile Platform Architect.” Here is the translation of the job description, responsibilities and skills required:
PlayStation Studios Mobile is looking for an experienced software engineer to design the PlayStation platform dedicated to the development, publication and operation of free-to-play mobile games. The person in charge of this position will lead the design and implementation of this platform; will work in partnership with internal teams to connect mobile games to PlayStation services; and will ensure that all mobile games meet PlayStation's quality standards.
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Responsibilities
- Design the system architecture and backend services of the mobile gaming platform
- Measure and improve platform security, availability, throughput, and cost effectiveness
- Provide technical leadership and guidance to the platform engineering team
- Establish pipelines and processes to facilitate delivery of high-quality software
- Collaborate with teams to integrate the platform with internal services
- Influence and contribute to the platform engineering roadmap
- Clearly communicate end-to-end system behavior to users and platform stakeholders
- Actively monitor technical innovations, changes and trends affecting mobile game development
Desired skills and experience
- 8+ years of professional experience in mobile games industry
- Experience as a technical leader in a corporate environment
- Skillful communicator with technical and non-technical audiences
- Expertise in software architecture, service design and distributed systems
- Expertise in operating backend services at scale
- Experience designing similar APIs or SDKs
- Experience with infrastructure-as-code, containers, and Kubernetes/EKS
- Working knowledge of Unity or Unreal Engine
- Working knowledge of emerging technologies affecting mobile game development
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, or equivalent
It is true that apart from Fate/Grand Order, Sony has a small footprint in the mobile sector, but this is likely to change in the coming years. Indeed, the firm has been investing in this area for a long time through the acquisition of several support studios, as well as in recruitment to adapt the brand's strong licenses to mobile.
Although plans may have changed slightly since Jim Ryan's departure, the former SIE CEO said in 2022 to expect half of the annual releases to be on PC and mobile by 2025. Since then, this objective has been more or less respected with regard to PC games, which arrive later than their releases on PlayStation consoles.
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