PlayStation certification for mobile devices has been an exclusively Sony-only affair up to this point, but today Pocket-lint is reporting that HTC will break that monopoly in the latter half of 2012. Citing sources in the know, the site suggests HTC will get approval to slap PlayStation Certified stickers on its products later in the year, though it's not entirely clear if that will apply retrospectively to devices already released or only to brand new ones. There's also no way to yet know if we're talking about future smartphones, tablets, or both.

From the moment it introduced us to the concept of PlayStation Certified devices, Sony has stressed that it will look to bring other Android device manufacturers into the fold, and HTC looks like a very logical candidate. Frankly, it's taken a surprisingly long time for us to hear anything about other phone makers wanting in on Sony mobile gaming ecosystem (which grants you access to a number of PS One classics as well as the PS Suite). HTC has kept quiet on the rumor, but we'll see if it becomes more talkative during the Mobile World Congress gathering in Barcelona later this month.