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[Panajev2001a]

I think it depends on the company and IP. COD really is the exception to the rule that made the case for buying them a long process.


I don’t think they will have a problem. Buying smaller devs … like CDPR. They are not activision. I could agree if we are talking the likes of EA, UBI…which they are not allowed to make any moves on for Atleast 10 years…. But the fact that they could after that time is up pretty much says that they can not only buy smaller gaming entities like CDPR, right now but that larger ones like EA are not entirely off the cards either, at some point down the road…


If MS doesn’t buy them it’s an Amazon or tencent that does. A company with a lot of money on hand…. Embracer is out of the race. This is the part where it’s really just between the big spenders in the game…. Kind of reminds me of the music and film biz before they went through their phases of consolidation. Which sony was all to happy to play it’s part in. They are gonna fo whatever they have to do to make sure they also own some large 3p IP. Maybe they really should just start with square and see what Elise is up for sale after that.


Buying one publisher is not enough for any of these companies so there will be more. Even if Sony somehow managed to sell a part of themselves JUST to buy T2, they will not only be locked into RDR, and GTA remaining multi platform but they will also have to deal with inevitable further buying up of publishers….. how much more of themselves would they have to sell to stay in that fight? We are at the beginning of these aquisition wars. How does all this play out for them? They sell the TV and electronics divisions next? Till the point where they are just a games company? How much money do they have to be in that kind of fight?….. and how much of Sony will Sony have to give up to stay in the fight for these aquisition wars? We already have people talking about how they should sell off the finance division? And then what, when Another publisher is bought in response? What else do they sell off to buy something in response? or maybe Sony are better off doing a Nintendo and jus focusing on what has made them successful with the PlayStation this far…their 1st party output.


I’m sure Sony will buy some devs but I think people need are gonna be disappointed if they think Sony is gonna be buying anything the size of EA, let alone T2.

The point, and you know it, is not that once you have managed to trick/lobby regulators in letting you buy two of the biggest third party publishers in the world (Zenimax/Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard-King with all the IP’s they have) keep buying the much smaller ones remaining is a free pass. It is the opposite, it is why you need to block the rest… it is because that “thought experiment” of spending their competition into oblivion (which leaked during the FTC trial and is the classic monopolistic MS competing by razing the industry into the ground… done using money their game division does not make/has never made in all its history) would be the sad / deplorable reality.

So yeah, scrutiny on any MS IP acquisition now should be scrutinised as an attempt to cut the oxygen from the competition and to purchase the market into transitioning to a Netflix style subscription service based economy.

The fun thing would be if a company even bigger than MS will be attracted into the market and will outspend them with the same dirty competition / monopolistic tactics, best thing would be if it were a Chinese company just to see MS mostly US base contort itself into pretzel to demonise it .

 

[Panajev2001a]

Fair play. I’m sure they had their reasons for not wanting to spend 3bn on bungie. Not wanting to us not the same as can’t, especially when we are talking about a company that just spent a smidge under 80 billion for two publishers and intends to buy more. Shame because I would have loved to see bungie back under Xbox wings.

Maybe Bungie did not want to go back to Xbox/MS?

To be honest ain’t the same company that made halo anymore. So I can see why they weren’t that eager to outbid Sony for them.

Ah… so…

…

 

[Dice]

Everyone saying Capcom doesn't know Capcom. Convincing them to sell would be like convincing Nintendo to sell.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Maybe Bungie did not want to go back to Xbox/MS?

We know (at least allegedly) that according the rumors Bungie wanted to stay independent and multiplatform inside Microsoft - like Mojang - and even was ok with 2b, but Microsoft was not willing to keep them multiplatform and when ABK opportunity arrived they went after ABK.

Shame because I would have loved to see bungie back under Xbox wings.

Nah, the modern Bungie is not the same anymore. Though, I hope Marathon is good .

 

[Soodanim]

Everyone saying Capcom doesn't know Capcom. Convincing them to sell would be like convincing Nintendo to sell.

I don't want any third party to be bought, but Capcom makes the least sense as one that would want to sell. They're one of if not the strongest third party devs in the industry, and they have little to gain by disturbing that.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Since this is the direction the industry is going the best thing Sony could do is buy Square, CAPCOM, FROM *and* Bandai-Namco (oh yeah, let's get greedy) to have the Japanese side of things on absolute lock, much better PlayStation acquires any one of these devs vs communist Chinese companies or MS. This isn't necessarily what I *want* but if that's what it has to be then that's what it has to be. PlayStation's other studios already dominate the "Western" side of game development.

No matter what happens I'd like for Nintendo to be left alone forever and always, I say that as a big critic of the company and someone who hasn't gamed in that ecosystem from the Wii onwards (but owned every console/handheld up until then). They will *always* have a prominent place in this industry, Xbox brand could die tomorrow for all I care.

 

[Dice]

I don't want any third party to be bought, but Capcom makes the least sense as one that would want to sell. They're one of if not the strongest third party devs in the industry, and they have little to gain by disturbing that.

They are also a family run business.

 

[Panajev2001a]

We know (at least allegedly) that according the rumors Bungie wanted to stay independent and multiplatform inside Microsoft - like Mojang - and even was ok with 2b, but Microsoft was not willing to keep them multiplatform and when ABK opportunity arrived they went after ABK.

So, even in your scenario, you are agreeing with me… Bungie would not have wanted to go back to MS. Also, allegedly/rumours == we do not really know.

Nah, the modern Bungie is not the same anymore. Though, I hope Marathon is good .

Meh…

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Bungie would not have wanted to go back to MS.

What? No, it is not like they did not want - the point is that they wanted to release multiplatform games and Microsoft was not willing to allow them that.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Best for Sony would be to make a deal with Valve (Steam Deck is like their best bet at a portable console ) by buying CDPR and thus GoG which they could either pivot in their own PlayStation store or merge with Steam to get such deal with Valve (royalties deal with Steam, ensuring all Sony PC titles are Steam Deck verified and optimised, etc… bonuses for both parties).

Other targets for an acquisition (assuming Capcom stays independent for sure, else they are worth prioritising) are FROM Software, Square-Enix, and maybe Konami. It seems like a lot of companies but once you compare it to the studios MS got with Zenimax/Bethesda (let alone Activision-Blizzard-King) it is not a big leap…
Rockstar/Take2 should be safe from MS acquisitions because GTA is another one of those monster franchises like CoD and I do not think MS will be allowed to swallow it in this current climate for a looong while.

IP’s wise SEGA would be a great match for Sony (lots of gaps it could fill especially as they want to push stronger and more varied first party releases), but culturally it would depend on how bad the clash between the two company cultures (still related to the old console wars) would be. I see Sony going after them IF they feel this is manageable and they can restructure their studios efficiently (they want to avoid another JAPAN Studio situation).

 

[Panajev2001a]

What? No, it is not like they did not want - the point is that they wanted to release multiplatform games and Microsoft was not willing to allow them that.

Keep re-arranging the same point around to make it yours. Bungie always had multiplatform aims and the “where everyone plays everywhere we all win” MS would never be willing to entertain it unless forced by regulators… so Bungie would not want to go back to MS as they know who they are.

 

[custardbun01]

Can you imagine if Sony got a hold of GTA and the treatment it’d get after you see how their recent big games have been pitched as family friendly Disney adventures?

 

[Heisenberg007]

Can you imagine if Sony got a hold of GTA and the treatment it’d get after you see how their recent big games have been pitched as family friendly Disney adventures?

Family-friendly Disney adventures like the TLOU 2, Returnal, and Ghost of Tsushima?

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Keep re-arranging the same point around to make it yours. Bungie always had multiplatform aims and the “where everyone plays everywhere we all win” MS would never be willing to entertain it unless forced by regulators… so Bungie would not want to go back to MS as they know who they are.

Well if Sony allowed their own users to use browser, they could also play but they prefer nickel and dime their own users. Anyway, the point about "knowing who they are" is funny. Continue to be angry

 

[Panajev2001a]

Well if Sony allowed their own users to use browser, they could also play but they prefer nickel and dime their own users.

As a user, I want local games not shittier cloud approximations running inside a local web browser (I do care about an always more consistent experience). Let’s not act as if there was no local security concern either.

Anyway, the point about "knowing who they are" is funny. Continue to be angry

Continue to carry water and evangelise . Not sure why this pushed your button and you went personal, but fill your boots mate .

 

[TheRedRiders]

Family-friendly Disney adventures like the TLOU 2, Returnal, and Ghost of Tsushima?

That kind of criticism really pisses me off, people are really trying to paint Sony first party studios as some sort of MCU Disney which pumps out games every other months but it's simply not true.

 

[Panajev2001a]

That kind of criticism really pisses me off, people are really trying to paint Sony first party studios as some sort of MCU Disney which pumps out games every other months but it's simply not true.

Anything they think that could stick. The other fun thing is the anti GaaS stance from people that love GamePass as a model and sing the praises of games like Forza and MSFS .

You see how they are the same exact talking points repeated ad nausea by all the “influencers” and then you have shitposters aligning.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Go to a war of acquisitions with a trillion dollar company.

Sounds like a smart plan.

Dick weaving the thread.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Keep re-arranging the same point around to make it yours. Bungie always had multiplatform aims and the “where everyone plays everywhere we all win” MS would never be willing to entertain it unless forced by regulators… so Bungie would not want to go back to MS as they know who they are.

I actually think that had Microsoft been the Microsoft they are today, they probably could have kept Bungie. Releasing on PC probably would have been enough to retain them.

They left so much money on the table because Halo wasn't on PC. Sure it would have made even more money on PlayStation as well.

I think Sony recognizes that they're in a similar situation and that multiplatform isn't the end of the world, especially if there is a strategy behind it. I just think the ramp-up to PC support has been difficult for them, even with the purchase of Nixxes. They're realizing that you really do have to develop their games with PC in mind from the start, but then you're basically sitting on a finished game for 2 years?

I think that's why they bought Nixxes so that they wouldn't have to, but Nixxes isn't capable of porting ALL of Sony's games after the fact. Just not big enough. They have 82 employees.

It's been nearly a year since they released Marvel's Miles Morales on PC. They're due to release Horizon Forbidden West on PC soon and then they'll certainly start working on Spider-Man 2 within the next year for release in 2025, but they must have a big PC game they're working on now.

I think Sony will buy JetPack Interactive at some point, but according to linkedin they're only 11 people. Somehow they were able to do God of War, maybe in conjunction with Santa Monica.

Sony had worked with Virtous to do the port of the original Horizon Zero Dawn and hasn't worked with them since, as the port did not come out to warm reception, and as I mentioned Nixxes is handling the port of the sequel. I believe they won't work with Iron Galaxy again. Not working with these studios might mean more quality, but it also means fewer PC ports. So we keep asking about GT7, Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, MLB The Show... It's just going to take some time.

 

[FeralEcho]

If Sony wants to expand their GAAS approach I can't see a better alternative. Ubisoft would be a good buy.

Rainbow Six
The Division
Riders Republic

and many more alongside Bungie's offerings. That's your GAAS portfolio sorted.

Then just fucking focus on single player games please.

This!!! If it gets Sony to go back to focusing its studios on single player experiences then I'm fine with sacrificing Ubisoft for their gaas initiative.