PlayStation Now is listed as a "mobile" subscription in a document labelled: "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY'S EYES ONLY." (Apple; Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge)
Sony might have been another console maker looking to bring the experience to smartphones. In a document obtained from Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple, the iPhone maker reportedly learned about Sony's plans to have a "mobile extension" of PlayStation Now back in 2017. It intended to stream over 450 PS3 games first, followed by PS4 titles.
Apple mentioned this rumour/report in the middle of explaining its plans to launch its game subscription service. It didn't launch Apple Arcade until a couple of years after that, but the company saw it as a shift in the industry towards gaming subscriptions.
If the report is accurate, it isn't clear why Sony still isn't offering game streaming to smartphone users. A recent report claims Sony is working on a PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus hybrid due to come out in the spring of 2022. But this rumour doesn't mention mobile access. The company won't comment on this story.
As The Verge noted, perhaps Sony didn't want to enter into a tussle with Apple over mobile access for games. Instead, it focused on developing its consoles, which the publication pointed out PS4 and PS5 owners can use PS Remote Play to stream games to different Apple and Android devices.