After sluggish sales, a lack of interest, and lost developer support, there’s finally some good news for the fledgling Xperia Play.
Known more commonly as the Playstation Phone, the Play is the first – and so far the only – device that has been given a “Playstation Certified” stamp from Sony.
Instead of a traditional keyboard, the phone slides out to reveal a slew of gaming buttons, making it an idea smartphone for gamers. However, gamers just aren’t buying it.
There are all sorts of reasons as to why the Play isn’t successful – perhaps gamers are perfectly fine the standard touchscreen fare, or maybe there just isn’t a good selection of Play-exclusive titles, or maybe it’s just that hardcore gamers are more likely to already own a smartphone and thus currently locked into a contract with another phone.
Regardless, the device’s manufacturer Sony Ericsson – which operates as a separate company from Sony and the its Playstation division – is still supporting the phone, and in fact has nabbed a pretty impressive exclusive.
When the next iteration of FIFA, the world’s best-selling sports game franchise, hits the mobile space early next year, it will only be available on the Xperia Play.
It will remain an exclusive for the platform until February 21, giving soccer fans a reason to look more closely at the device. The game will take full advantage of the Xperia Play’s controls and advanced imaging capabilities, making it the most realistic FIFA game on Android to date.
There’s still an uphill battle for the Xperia Play, but at least this is a step in the right direction.
