Sony has today announced the formation of SCE Worldwide Studios in order to "accelerate the creation of global hit titles and be responsible for creative, technical and strategic direction setting of development and production of computer entertainment software for the PlayStation® platforms." The various Sony studios around the world will work for each of the SCE WWS regional headquarters in Europe, North America, South Korea, and Japan but there will also be a commitment from each of them to work together and produce global franchises across the PlayStation family.
Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that heading the new body will be SCEE Executive Vice President Phil Harrison who will be responsible for overseeing game development across the four territories. Ken Kutaragi, President and Group CEO, SCEI "As SCE enters its second decade, we need to challenge to reinforce our games development power and create new entertainment experiences that will bring out the best of the technology in platforms such as PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), PLAYSTATION®3, and beyond. Sony"s strategy follows a series of mergers and takeovers throughout the industry as the build-up to the next-generation continues with some publishers such Ubisoft utilising the skills of several of its development studios to produce titles for Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and Revolution.