SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Sony on Monday announced it is moving its PlayStation business to Silicon Valley and consolidating its game console offerings under one roof.

The Japanese entertainment and consumer electronics giant said that as of April, its PlayStation hardware, software and online businesses will be unified in a new company called Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The freshly formed company will bring together Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment International and be based in the northern California city of San Mateo.

"By integrating the strengths of PlayStation's hardware, software, content and network operations, SIE will become an even stronger entity, with a clear objective to further accelerate the growth of the PlayStation business," said Sony Computer Entertainment global chief executive Andrew House.

Units being consolidated include the one working on virtual reality head gear synched to PlayStation and the teams handling streaming music, television and online game play.

PlayStation consoles have been a bright spot for Sony, with the latest generation far outselling rival Xbox One and Wii U consoles fielded by Microsoft and Nintendo, respectively.

PlayStation 4 has seen the fastest and strongest adoption since the first generation of the video game console was introduced in late 1994, according to Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE).

Some 30.2 million PS4 consoles were sold worldwide as of Nov 22, SCE announced late last year.

PS4 and Xbox One were both released in 2013.

SCE was established in late 1993 and released the first PlayStation video game system in Japan a year later.