Sony Mobile Display Corporation was a subsidiary of Sony Corporation and produced Low-temperature polysilicon, amorphous silicon TFT LCD panels, organic EL displays and touch screens for use in mobile products such as camcorders, digital cameras, mobile phones, automobiles, etc. Its manufacturing plants were located in Higashiura, Aichi and Tottori, Tottori, Japan. The business of the company was transferred to Japan Display Inc. on April 1, 2012.
On October 22, 1997, ST Liquid Crystal Display Corporation (STLCD), a 50:50 joint venture between Sony Corporation and Toyota Industries Corporation, was established in Higashiura, Aichi, Japan. On March 31, 2005, Sony and Toyota Industries acquired International Display Technology Corporation (IDTech) and renamed it to ST Mobile Display Corporation (STMD).
Recent history
On December 1, 2007, STLCD and STMD were merged to form Sony Mobile Display Corporation. On June 30, 2009, Epson and Sony agreed to transfer certain business assets relating to small-and medium-sized TFT LCD operations. On June 1, 2010, Sony Mobile Display sold the Yasu plant to Kyocera Corporation.
On August 31, 2011, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba announced that Hitachi Displays, Sony Mobile Display and Toshiba Mobile Display will be merged to form a new company called Japan Display Inc. (INCJ 70%, Hitachi 10%, Sony 10%, Toshiba 10%).[1]
On April 1, 2012, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Display and renamed Japan Display West Inc.
On April 1, 2013, Japan Display West (formerly Sony Mobile Display), Japan Display Central (formerly Toshiba Mobile Display), and Japan Display East (formerly Hitachi Displays) were merged into Japan Display.
It is a single internal entity overseeing all wholly owned development studios within SIE. It is responsible for the creative and strategic direction of development and production of all computer entertainment software by all SIE–owned studios, all of which is typically produced exclusively for the PlayStation family of consoles.
With the launch of the PlayStation 5 in 2020, Worldwide Studios brands all releases be it internal or externally developed under the "PlayStation Studios" label.[3]
History
SCE Worldwide Studios (SCE Worldwide Studios) was established on September 14, 2005, with Phil Harrison being appointed as president.[4] On May 16, 2008, Shuhei Yoshida became president.[5] In April 2016, Sony's Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) divisions merged, creating SIE Worldwide Studios.[5] Hermen Hulst succeeded Shuhei Yoshida as president of SIE Worldwide Studios on November 7, 2019, with Yoshida being delegated to lead Sony's indie development.[6]
Naughty Dog is home to the ICE Team, one of Sony's Worldwide Studios central technology groups. The term ICE originally stands for Initiative for a Common Engine which describes the original purpose of the group.[25] The ICE Team focuses on creating core graphics technologies for Sony's worldwide first party published titles, including low-level game engine components, graphics processing pipelines, supporting tools, and graphics profiling and debugging tools. The ICE Team also supports third party developers with a suite of engine components, and a graphics analysis, profiling, and debugging tool for the RSX. Both enable developers to get better performance out of PlayStation hardware.[26][27]
XDev
XDev Europe, established in 2000 and based in Liverpool, England,[7] collaborates with independent development studios across Europe and other PAL territories to publish content to PlayStation platforms all over the world. XDev has helped to create and publish, titles such as the LittleBigPlanet, Buzz!, MotorStorm and Invizimals series, Super Stardust HD, Heavenly Sword, Heavy Rain, Beyond, Tearaway and Resogun. Partners include independent developers such as Quantic Dream, Magenta Software, Climax Studios, Novarama, Supermassive Games and Sumo Digital, as well as SCE subsidiaries such as Media Molecule and Guerrilla Games. In addition to funding projects, XDev offer full production, project management and game design support. Titles are also supported with community management, online production and dedicated outsourcing management facilities. XDev work directly with Marketing and PR teams in all Sony territories to promote and publish games worldwide.[28][29]