Microsoft Games Studios is establishing a new Mobile Gaming studio to develop Windows Phone 7 games

Neowin has the scoop: according to the Microsoft Careers website, a new game studio that specializes in Windows Phone games is being created as we speak. This news comes just a few hours after details of Sony Ericsson's 'PlayStation Phone' emerged. The new studio's 'mission statement' follows:

MGS Mobile Gaming - focused on bringing games and entertainment to the mobile life that people lead. Our vision is to deliver games and entertainment so good that people will want them always with them, on a service that makes them social, connected and relevant anywhere their life goes. The Mobile Gaming team is building industry leading products that showcase our Windows Phone platform as well as emerging mobile platforms, and will help realize Microsoft's connected entertainment vision. The Mobile Gaming studio will be the hub for MGS franchises and titles on mobile devices and a center of excellence for mobile games.

I can't add much to the story other than speculation. What are the other 'emerging mobile platforms' that are alluded to? Experience with Xbox Live and C# are listed as 'highly desired', so I can't imagine them making games for iOS devices -- but who knows what Microsoft has planned?

Microsoft definitely managed to carve itself a nice chunk of the console industry with the Xbox -- can it do the same with the mobile segment? Before today, the mobile phone industry lacked a big-money developer and now we have both Sony and Microsoft weighing in! Things are about to get very interesting -- and right now, if I happened to be a Nintendo executive, I'd be wondering when and where the mobile phone and portable gaming markets will collide...

Tags: microsoft, microsoft game studios, MicrosoftGameStudios, mobile gaming, MobileGaming, nintendo, portable gaming, PortableGaming, sony, sony ericsson, SonyEricsson, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7