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[yurinka]

Thanks guys. Yes I get the way the process works - but “in discussions” just seem like the wrong words to describe where the status of this transaction now. Discussions is what one might do before getting down to negations, which themselves precede a deal agreed subject to regulatory approval.

The deal is agreed subject to regulatory approval - it’s a contractual and regulatory matter, not still in discussions with Bungie as I understood it. So that’s why I asked. Anyway ok I guess

They agreed Sony will buy 100% of their shares, specified how they will pay it, that will be under SIE but not under PS Studios and that will continue being multiplat. While they make all that paperwork and get the approvals prettty likely they will have a ton of discussions about smaller details. Like how are they supposed to share their tools and knowledge with the other teams, how are they going to address their Bungie IPs movie & tv shows, if or how are they going to integrate duplied stuff with Sony (HR, CM, CS, marketing, PR, legal, finantials...), how that third of the payment made later with bonuses, plans and budgets for current and upcoming games, plans for including Bungie games on PS+, merging of workflow, best practices, company policies and rules, reporting workflow, etc.

 

[SentientStone]

Couldn’t care less unless it’s something big like what MS has delivered. Only something like Capcom, Square-Enix, Konami, or Take-Two would wow.

 

[BreakOut]

I really would like to see acquisitions stop. I think it would be so much better if every company that wanted exclusives just created studios. Obviously PlayStation has a history of doing that, I think they should stay that way. It was one thing when it was here and there but now it’s just fucking every other week.

 

[C2brixx]

I understand Microsoft reason for acquiring studios. They have subscription service where they are putting games in day and date. You'd be hard pressed to see a game like COD ever end up on Gamepass without an acquisition. Sony's acquisitions feel defensive. No developer is not going to publish their game for Playstation unless they've been acquired by another platform holder and aren't allowed to. Bungie games were coming to Playstation without and acquisition.

 

[Heisenberg007]

TLOU wasn't a new game, just a remaster from PS3,

Then why did you include Spider-Man Remastered?

and The Lost Legacy and First Light are expansions to Uncharted 4 and InFamous Second Son more than new games.

No. They are separate games -- not expansions. They are just smaller in scope, but with their own characters, storyline, etc.. Very much like Miles Morales.

 

[reinking]

Gimme some of the organic growth again

/s

Didn't Hulst said that they are not in acquisition race with Microsoft few months ago?

But tell me last time when Sony exec said something and then make exactly opposite thing

I think some of you are being dense on purpose.

One does not necessarily remove the other. The article mentions two studios Sony is currently working with. A good guess is that is who Sony has an eye on to buy depending on the relationship and success of the titles they are currently working on. You know? Developing a relationship organically.

This fanboy stuff over who is buying who and what someone said a few years ago (prior the their competition buying another large publisher) is the dumbest stuff I have seen in gaming.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I plan to win the lottery at some point. Doesn’t mean I will.

 

[Swift_Star]

It's always hilarious to see comments like this from fanboys projecting. There is nobody "panicking" over what was known for a long time now. Jim hasn't stated anything new and Sony absolutely needs to acquire to stay toe-to-toe with Microsoft, who is 100% guaranteed to make more acquisitions after ABK. Sony also wants to be more GaaS heavy and their aspirations are not possible with their current studios (hence why they overpaid so much for Bungie and gave concessions for the first time ever). Acquisitions are a given.

And yet you’ve written a text wall…

 

[Hobbygaming]

"The games that we make are getting bigger; they’re getting better, they’re getting more beautiful, they’re getting richer, the narrative is getting stronger… this is really great and gamers tell us this is what they really want from PlayStation."

 

[vivftp]

I understand Microsoft reason for acquiring studios. They have subscription service where they are putting games in day and date. You'd be hard pressed to see a game like COD ever end up on Gamepass without an acquisition. Sony's acquisitions feel defensive. No developer is not going to publish their game for Playstation unless they've been acquired by another platform holder and aren't allowed to. Bungie games were coming to Playstation without and acquisition.

Sony's acquisitions can have multiple reasons

- Sony have acquired many of their close partners that they've worked with over the decades. These could be seen as defensive because a a lot of companies are out there hoovering up smaller developers and Sony didn't want to risk losing these close partners so they brought them in-house
- Sony's got PlayStation Productions so they need IP to fuel that machine for TV shows and film. They've got 10 in production already and we know the Bungie acquisition will bring additional film and/or TV content to their lineup
- Sony's already got a lock on single player content and are now heavily investing in GaaS content to expand the scope of their lineup. GaaS is a tricky business and for every success there are many dismal failures. Bungie has seen a great deal of success with Destiny while many other companies have failed to produce a Destiny clone. The knowledge and experience Bungie has gained with GaaS titles is invaluable and can be shared with the rest of SIE so they don't have to try and reinvent the wheel when making their own GaaS content.
- Acquiring Bungie ensures their content will remain on PlayStation, which might not have happened if a company like Microsoft acquired them. It's nice that Sony's giving them independence to continue to publish on other platforms as they see fit.
- Bungie's a successful company with a popular IP and multiple new IP on the way. Who wouldn't want that? They should be a good money maker for SIE.
- Tech and knowledge sharing is common within SIE and no doubt Bungie can share and learn a great deal with the other SIE studios.

 

[Zeroing]

I understand Microsoft reason for acquiring studios. They have subscription service where they are putting games in day and date. You'd be hard pressed to see a game like COD ever end up on Gamepass without an acquisition. Sony's acquisitions feel defensive. No developer is not going to publish their game for Playstation unless they've been acquired by another platform holder and aren't allowed to. Bungie games were coming to Playstation without and acquisition.

I do not understand your statement. If anything, MS's reason to be acquiring studios is because they never invested in their own studios or in new IPs. Sony spent 1 generation expanding the teams of their studios and making new IPs.
MS is buying publishers, Sony is buying small studios. Both are competing to each other but doing it differently.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Represent.]

“The games that we make are getting bigger; they’re getting better, they’re getting more beautiful, they’re getting richer, the narrative is getting stronger… this is really great and gamers tell us this is what they really want from PlayStation.

Fucking music to my ears.

"MuH orGaNiC sTUdIO grOWTH!!" -Sony fans that aren't hypocrites rn

Read the article, guy. Two things at once can be true.

He added: “We’re growing our studios organically and we’re growing through acquisition.

Key word nice and big for ya. They will organically make the studios they have already larger, as well as buy other studios.

 

[Hobbygaming]

hence why they overpaid so much for Bungie and gave concessions for the first time ever

Sony paid extra to keep Bungie developers from leaving after the acquisition, like many developers do when an acquisition is made

 

[C2brixx]

I do not understand your statement. If anything, MS's reason to be acquiring studios is because they never invested in their own studios or in new IPs. Sony spent 1 generation expanding the teams of their studios and making new IPs.
MS is buying publishers, Sony is buying small studios. Both are competing to each other but doing it differently.

Bungie is a small studio? My post was about each companies reason for acquisitions. Microsoft's reasoning is clear. They need alot of future content for Gamepass and by acquiring the studios they can guarantee the games come to the service. Sony just seems to be purchasing studios that were already making their games for Playstation.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I understand Microsoft reason for acquiring studios. They have subscription service where they are putting games in day and date. You'd be hard pressed to see a game like COD ever end up on Gamepass without an acquisition. Sony's acquisitions feel defensive. No developer is not going to publish their game for Playstation unless they've been acquired by another platform holder and aren't allowed to. Bungie games were coming to Playstation without and acquisition.

That's silly.

It is way more nuanced than that.

Content is going to become more expensive to license and talent harder to find.

If the industry ever does go to an independent subscription model, Sony doesn't want to be on the end of having to pay significant monies for other people's property and games or worse not having them available at all.

This is a future forward strategy that makes as much sense as it does for Microsoft.

 

[Varteras]

I understand Microsoft reason for acquiring studios. They have subscription service where they are putting games in day and date. You'd be hard pressed to see a game like COD ever end up on Gamepass without an acquisition. Sony's acquisitions feel defensive. No developer is not going to publish their game for Playstation unless they've been acquired by another platform holder and aren't allowed to. Bungie games were coming to Playstation without and acquisition.

Because content is king and you don't sit around while everyone is being bought by other big companies. Buying IP means you get bigger cuts from the sales. Destiny 2 makes hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Now, instead of Sony only getting 30% of its sales on their platform, they get 100% of sales on their platform and 70% of the sales from any other platform it sells on. Any IP bought by these companies is ultimately theirs to decide what they do with them. You could make them exclusive, depending on the situation. You could have it so that IP appears only on your subscription service. Destiny 2 is actually leaving GamePass later this month, as an example. I can almost guarantee you Sony will put it on PS+ as part of their revamped service in June. You can also have exclusive content and perks not available to other platforms. Meaning that even if you don't make the game platform exclusive, you can still make your version the better one.

It's not solely about existing IP, either. It's also about talent and future IP that comes from it. That is the primary motivator for pretty much all of Sony's acquisitions up to this point. Talent is getting increasingly difficult to come by in this industry so anything you can do to secure existing teams that show talent, you should. Bungie was purchased not just because of Destiny being a highly successful IP. It's also a live-service, multiplayer game. Something Sony has greatly struggled to achieve. Bungie brings that experience and those tools with them to help Sony achieve those aspirations.

Insomniac, Housemarque, Firesprite, Bluepoint, and Haven didn't really have any truly notable IP that they owned prior to Sony buying them. It was about their capabilities and growth potential. Insomniac rapidly releases high quality titles and has VR experience. Housemarque is great at arcade-style shooters, something Sony's other studios are not. Firesprite has VR experience and is working on many projects at once. Bluepoint showed great technical prowess in bringing old games up to a modern visual standard. Haven is working on a live-service game with many industry veterans at the helm. Sony was so impressed by Haven's vision that they were willing to greenlight all three projects that were pitched to them.

Psychonauts 2 has no PS5 version. Starfield will not be on PlayStation. Hellblade 2 will not be on PlayStation. Bleeding Edge isn't on PlayStation. Avowed will not be on PlayStation. Outer Worlds 2 will likely not be on PlayStation. Grounded is not on PlayStation. All of these games were from studios who would have previously released their games on PlayStation. Some of them are franchises that were already on PlayStation at one point. Microsoft bought those IP and those studios. Imagine Sony never made a move on any of the studios they have and Microsoft buys them instead. If the Activision deal goes through, Microsoft will have well over 30 studios and some very popular IP at their command.

Sony needs to make sure they secure their own content future. They can't stand around while Microsoft prepares to start dropping frequent exclusive titles and buys IP that increases their revenue and footprint in the industry. Making it easier for them to secure deals with companies that are still third-party. Sony needs to have their own frequent releases of quality titles that they have full control of.

 

[C2brixx]

That's silly.

It is way more nuanced than that.

Content is going to become more expensive to license and talent harder to find.

If the industry ever does go to an independent subscription model, Sony doesn't want to be on the end of having to pay significant monies for other people's property and games or worse not having them available at all.

This is a future forward strategy that makes as much sense as it does for Microsoft.

How is it silly? There isn't an independent or big 3rd party developer that doesn't want to publish their game on Playstation. Sony's reason for purchasing developers maybe numerous, but it wasn't because of a lack of 3rd party content coming to their platform. Notwithstanding the deal they had to make with Bungie most of Sony's acquisitions are about exclusivity. You could say the same from Microsoft, but clearly they are more concerned with shoring up their subscriptions service with content.

The reason "fans" get excited about Sony acquisition rumors is because the idea of more games becoming exclusive to Sony. Why is there a need for From Software or Konami to be purchased by Sony when all their game are pretty much guaranteed to appear on the platform?

 

[vivftp]

How is it silly? There isn't an independent or big 3rd party developer that doesn't want to publish their game on Playstation. Sony's reason for purchasing developers maybe numerous, but it wasn't because of a lack of 3rd party content coming to their platform. Notwithstanding the deal they had to make with Bungie most of Sony's acquisitions are about exclusivity. You could say the same from Microsoft, but clearly they are more concerned with shoring up their subscriptions service with content.

The reason "fans" get excited about Sony acquisition rumors is because the idea of more games becoming exclusive to Sony. Why is there a need for From Software or Konami to be purchased by Sony when all their game are pretty much guaranteed to appear on the platform?

1. Sony can dump far more money into those companies to expand their work force, improve their tech and increase their output (Bungie's work force is growing considerably as an example)
2. Sony can take IP from those companies (those that have IP of their own) and branch them off into other media like film/tv/anime
3. In a case like Konami Sony could potentially revive/reboot a whole host of IP that have remained dormant for a long time
4. PlayStation fans can rest assured that this IP will remain on their platform and that there's no risk of someone else acquiring them and taking them away
5. Having more back content to put on PS+ Extra/Premium without having to pay licensing fees or negotiate against other subscription services.
6. Planning for the future depending on how things play out with the industry, having an even larger back catalog of known and beloved IP will be useful. If the day does come that Sony puts all their content on PS+ day 1 then the more content they have the better. In other words the "You don't wait til you have to take a shit to then build an outhouse" strategy. Plan ahead, and ensure you're covered for future eventualities.

 

[Tarkus98]

Why would Kadokawa sell FromSoftware, which is easily their most valuable asset as a company?

Do you know how much Namco Bandai would cost? What would the return be? What is their best studio? What IP do they own that would justify buying them?

Well this is a speculative thread so those were my suggestions/opinions.
Why would Kadokawa sell them? Well I would suspect for money. Would they actually sell them? Probably not, but who knows. I'll bet high level discussions have already taken place between Sony and Kado/From. Lets see if anything happens.
Do I know how much Bandai/Namco would cost - hell no. My guess though would be in the 4 to 7 billion dollar range. Again since this is thread based on speculation or others wish lists I am not going into any heavy duty research to find actuals anyway. If any of this does happen I'll how much at that time.

As for the rest of your questions - are you serious? I mean don't get me wrong, if you already know the answers feel free to enlighten the rest of us. I'm always willing to learn new things / gather new information, but I'm not going to take my time to do it. I'm just not as serious about it as you appear to be. I am however an independent IT / Cyber Security contractor and normally get paid $185hr. For you, $183.50hr. Special forum buddy rate.
Oh and if you do know, how about if Sony tried to pick up Square Enix or Konami as a lot of people have been speculating about them as well. Thanks!!

 

[gow3isben]

Attaboy jimbo gotta catch’em all!

 

[remember_spinal]

Sony is eventually going to buy a big dev or publisher thats gonna cause a ruckus and it looks like that time is soon coming.

Anyone that thought they were gonna be able to comfortably slide on having just one console this gen were fooling themselves

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

And IP. Sony's CEO noted in January that they're on the lookout for IP that can be utilized across Sony's entertainment divisions (games, film, TV, anime, music) and acquiring a publisher with a long list of IP would help further those goals. The interview in question was referring to large scale acquisitions on the Sony Pictures side of things, but no reason that doesn't hold true for SIE as well.

Yup. Ips as well.

If Sony gets Square-Enix they'd get Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest and so many other IPs...same for Capcom (Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, etc).
For a company that's all about synergy, they'd get plenty of IPs with so much history connected with PlayStation...and plenty of choices for future movies as well.

 

[Rac3r]

How is it silly? There isn't an independent or big 3rd party developer that doesn't want to publish their game on Playstation. Sony's reason for purchasing developers maybe numerous, but it wasn't because of a lack of 3rd party content coming to their platform. Notwithstanding the deal they had to make with Bungie most of Sony's acquisitions are about exclusivity. You could say the same from Microsoft, but clearly they are more concerned with shoring up their subscriptions service with content.

The reason "fans" get excited about Sony acquisition rumors is because the idea of more games becoming exclusive to Sony. Why is there a need for From Software or Konami to be purchased by Sony when all their game are pretty much guaranteed to appear on the platform?

It's clear that Sony is trying to create a live service game that is as successful as Apex, Fortnite, Destiny, etc. The Bungie deal is an effort to bring in the expertise necessary to make that possible. Valkyrie, Housemarque, Bluepoint, and Firesprite are studios that already had deep ties with Sony. Nixxes was purchased for the sole purpose of porting games to PC. None of these acquisitions were defensive, but very much confirm Jim Ryan's previous comments about organic growth and betting on GaaS over Game Pass.

I do think Sony will buy a big publisher soon, but their current moves suggest that they're focused on their own strategy.

 

[00Magnum Gaming]

Thought he believed in growing studios organically? What happened jim?

Ask the Sony fans who parrot that bs

 

[Infamy v1]

And yet you’ve written a text wall…

You clearly have no rebuttal because you got called out on your shit, so you merely say I wrote a text wall. Obviously that wasn't a text wall but hey, gotta have something to say back, right?

Sony paid extra to keep Bungie developers from leaving after the acquisition, like many developers do when an acquisition is made

I'm not talking about retention bonuses, and on that subject you are incorrect; the retention bonus spent in comparison to the remainder of the cost is quite high as been noted by many, because the main reason for acquiring them was GaaS dev expertise and if they leave then it becomes a bad buy for the price.

We already knew the price Bungie wanted since Fall 2021 (or close to it) when they were in talks with Microsoft. We also knew that they wanted their independence as part of the deal. Both things came true (2~bil plus independence, sans the retention bonus), except with another party in the end. It is widely stated that Sony overpaid for one IP considering that is what the majority of the costs for acquisitions go toward, but nevertheless, as has been stated, Bungie has GaaS expertise that Sony deems valuable so it's worth it for them.

 

[vivftp]

Ask the Sony fans who parrot that bs

sigh...

 

[Swift_Star]

You clearly have no rebuttal because you got called out on your shit, so you merely say I wrote a text wall. Obviously that wasn't a text wall but hey, gotta have something to say back, right?


I'm not talking about retention bonuses, and on that subject you are incorrect; the retention bonus spent in comparison to the remainder of the cost is quite high as been noted by many, because the main reason for acquiring them was GaaS dev expertise and if they leave then it becomes a bad buy for the price.

We already knew the price Bungie wanted since Fall 2021 (or close to it) when they were in talks with Microsoft. We also knew that they wanted their independence as part of the deal. Both things came true (2~bil plus independence, sans the retention bonus), except with another party in the end. It is widely stated that Sony overpaid for one IP considering that is what the majority of the costs for acquisitions go toward, but nevertheless, as has been stated, Bungie has GaaS expertise that Sony deems valuable so it's worth it for them.

Do you think I waste my time writing rebuttals to desperate people? Lol

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Utterly surprised Konami is chattered about now since the Capcom salary increases. Capcom is probably asking for more. I guess Konami video game assets are cheaper than all of Capcom.

I wouldn‘t believe any of this.. but it’s everywhere. I guess Sony wants Back Catalogue for PS+ Premium. Konami and Capcom have alot of PS1-PS4 games.

 

[yurinka]

I understand Microsoft reason for acquiring studios. They have subscription service where they are putting games in day and date. You'd be hard pressed to see a game like COD ever end up on Gamepass without an acquisition. Sony's acquisitions feel defensive. No developer is not going to publish their game for Playstation unless they've been acquired by another platform holder and aren't allowed to. Bungie games were coming to Playstation without and acquisition.

Defensive? Let's see who they acquired:

• Dev studo focused on VR who has a lot of Evolution Studios and SCEE Liverpool former staff (Firesprite)
• Dev studo focused on VR who has more Evolution Studios and SCEE Liverpool former staff (Fabrik)
• Dev studio from Finland who after making many games for them just published their first AAA (Housemarque)
• Dev studio focused on remakes who previously worked many times for them (Blue Point)
• Dev studio focused on PC ports who previously worked many times for them (Nixxes)
• Dev studio focused on outsourcing who previously worked many times for them (Valkyrie)
• Top dev studio who revolutionized FPS, online MP and GaaS on console and created the top Halo and Destiny IPs who partnered with them just after leaving MS for Destiny 1 (Bungie)
• New dev studio with AAA devs who previously worked many times in top AAA IPs who partnered with them(Haven)
• Dev studio focused on mobile games who previous worked for them and generate them $1B/year (Lasengle)

MS bought a lot of very well known top multiplatform AAA IPs, tons of AAA dev teams and publishers.

Sony basically acquired people who partnered them for a while to support areas where they want to focus but pretty likely don't want their existing teams to focus on, or want to learn from these studios in these areas(remakes, ports, outosourcing, VR, FPS, GaaS). Regarding IPs, instead on buying a ton of super successful ones acquired very talented, experienced and successful teams experienced on creating very successful IPs.

One buys many top IPs and a lot of teams who made them. The other buys some dev teams who worked with them to expand to additional areas and talent with potential to create top IPs.

I think Sony will end buying a publisher with many IPs and popular teams, but until now I think their focus has been very different and didn't react to this. In any case, I think MS was the one reacting to Sony buying many important dev team and top (not dead) IPs because Sony had way more than them.

Why would Kadokawa sell them?

Like many other Japanese publishers they realized that the Japanese console has been shrinking and that doesn't make sense anymore to make small games targeting Japan only but instead to make bigger games with a global appeal. Kadokawa gave 2% of their stocks to Sony in exchange to help them bring their games and anime to a global market and to give them a more global approach.

Plus Sony owns the main channels (PlayStattion and Crunchyroll) where their products would be mostly sold in the west. And well, like From Software and several other game publishers and game developers owned by Kadokawa, Kadokawa themselves made dozens of PlayStation exclusives since the PS1 days.

The weird thing would be what Sony does with the non gaming and anime parts of Kadokawa? They have stuff like publishing labels for books, mangas or magazines. But Sony could do the same they did with Bungie: they can put them under SIE and let them work as they did until now, to allow them to conttinue with non-PS business in this case outide gaming.

Do I know how much Bandai/Namco would cost - hell no. My guess though would be in the 4 to 7 billion dollar range.

I think 4-7B range is more for people lke Sega (around 4), or maybe even Capcom (around 7). Bandai Namco would be above 10B. Like Kadokawa, they also have the "issue" of their non gaming business, from arcade and pachinko stuff from toys in the case of Bandai or resorts in the case of Sega.

 

[Infamy v1]

Do you think I waste my time writing rebuttals to desperate people? Lol

You just called 5 sentences (one being 4 words) a wall of text because you're mad and salty you have no rebuttal and got your shit laid out in front of you. Sounds like you're the actual "desperate" one here, bud.

 

[Infamy v1]

In any case, I think MS was the one reacting to Sony buying many important dev team and top (not dead) IPs because Sony had way more than them.

It was hard to parse through all the fanfiction, but Microsoft stated many years ago their goal is to release one AAA game every quarter at the minimum on Game Pass, and subscription services need constant content in the first place (see Netflix, Prime, Disney+ etc.). That can't be the reason why they're doing what they're doing, right? No, no...it must be because Sony had more IPs than them. Yeah, that's it.

Even Sony would need to go on a crazy acquisition spree to release a minimum of one AAA game per quarter every single year. But I'm sure you'll find another way to spin things.

 

[Hezekiah]

I agree, I think Deviation is a high-value target. Based on LinkedIn they should have at least 118 employees already. That's sizable.

For context, 200 people work for Treyarch. 444 employees work for Infinity Ward, and 160 work for Sucker Punch.

They were founded in November of 2019 right before the pandemic started. They signed their publishing deal with Sony less than two years later. I don't think they're going to have much to show for a long time though. Looks like their game didn't enter into production until this year. I think you're looking at 2025-2026 release.

But that's the thing with these new studio acquisitions, they're almost certainly for the future i.e. PS6, future subscription services, than they are about PS5.

Bungie unlike Deviation games gives you what they have in their pipeline today. This is the longest Bungie has gone without publishing a game. I think that is significant and I also believe that they're going to have something to show extremely soon as a result.

Axcording LinkedIn, Treyarch have 551 employees, Infinity Ward 542. Sledgehammer Games for reference, 496 employees. My guess is they've staffed up, not surprising given the incessant pressure from Activision for releases every three years. Plus there are support studios who I guess do a lot of the grunt work.

 

[Tarkus98]

Defensive? Let's see who they acquired:

• Dev studo focused on VR who has a lot of Evolution Studios and SCEE Liverpool former staff (Firesprite)
• Dev studo focused on VR who has more Evolution Studios and SCEE Liverpool former staff (Fabrik)
• Dev studio from Finland who after making many games for them just published their first AAA (Housemarque)
• Dev studio focused on remakes who previously worked many times for them (Blue Point)
• Dev studio focused on PC ports who previously worked many times for them (Nixxes)
• Dev studio focused on outsourcing who previously worked many times for them (Valkyrie)
• Top dev studio who revolutionized FPS, online MP and GaaS on console and created the top Halo and Destiny IPs who partnered with them just after leaving MS for Destiny 1 (Bungie)
• New dev studio with AAA devs who previously worked many times in top AAA IPs who partnered with them(Haven)
• Dev studio focused on mobile games who previous worked for them and generate them $1B/year (Lasengle)

MS bought a lot of very well known top multiplatform AAA IPs, tons of AAA dev teams and publishers.

Sony basically acquired people who partnered them for a while to support areas where they want to focus but pretty likely don't want their existing teams to focus on, or want to learn from these studios in these areas(remakes, ports, outosourcing, VR, FPS, GaaS). Regarding IPs, instead on buying a ton of super successful ones acquired very talented, experienced and successful teams experienced on creating very successful IPs.

One buys many top IPs and a lot of teams who made them. The other buys some dev teams who worked with them to expand to additional areas and talent with potential to create top IPs.

I think Sony will end buying a publisher with many IPs and popular teams, but until now I think their focus has been very different and didn't react to this. In any case, I think MS was the one reacting to Sony buying many important dev team and top (not dead) IPs because Sony had way more than them.


Like many other Japanese publishers they realized that the Japanese console has been shrinking and that doesn't make sense anymore to make small games targeting Japan only but instead to make bigger games with a global appeal. Kadokawa gave 2% of their stocks to Sony in exchange to help them bring their games and anime to a global market and to give them a more global approach.

Plus Sony owns the main channels (PlayStattion and Crunchyroll) where their products would be mostly sold in the west. And well, like From Software and several other game publishers and game developers owned by Kadokawa, Kadokawa themselves made dozens of PlayStation exclusives since the PS1 days.

The weird thing would be what Sony does with the non gaming and anime parts of Kadokawa? They have stuff like publishing labels for books, mangas or magazines. But Sony could do the same they did with Bungie: they can put them under SIE and let them work as they did until now, to allow them to conttinue with non-PS business in this case outide gaming.


I think 4-7B range is more for people lke Sega (around 4), or maybe even Capcom (around 7). Bandai Namco would be above 10B. Like Kadokawa, they also have the "issue" of their non gaming business, from arcade and pachinko stuff from toys in the case of Bandai or resorts in the case of Sega.

Thank you for the info!

 

[yurinka]

It was hard to parse through all the fanfiction, but Microsoft stated many years ago their goal is to release one AAA game every quarter at the minimum on Game Pass, and subscription services need constant content in the first place (see Netflix, Prime, Disney+ etc.). That can't be the reason why they're doing what they're doing, right? No, no...it must be because Sony had more IPs than them. Yeah, that's it.

Even Sony would need to go on a crazy acquisition spree to release a minimum of one AAA game per quarter every single year. But I'm sure you'll find another way to spin things.

Yes, until now MS releasing a AAA per quarter on GP relies in the fanfiction area, but I assume that starting in 2024 or 2025 they'll be able to do it.

MS included games in Gold because Sony was including them in PS+, MS made Gamepass/xCloud becacuse Sony had PS Now. MS made their own Remote Play. MS bought a ton of IPs and top gamedev teams because Sony had way more top games than them, sold more than them, won more awards and GOTYs than them in the last decade, in hardware outsold them in all generations, now have around the double of the active installbase and generate way more revenue from gaming and do it in a profitable way. And Sony is also pioneering on console VR, which I think it's the next area where MS will follow Sony.

Sony is way ahead of MS. They are the top dog and MS is the third. MS is the one who has to catch up, not Sony. MS main focus is a game subscription, and recently said that game subs generate only 4% of the gaming business. And even here Sony has 2X the subs than them, generating almost $4B per year.

 

[Swift_Star]

You just called 5 sentences (one being 4 words) a wall of text because you're mad and salty you have no rebuttal and got your shit laid out in front of you. Sounds like you're the actual "desperate" one here, bud.

I’m not reading what you’re writing.
You’re wasting your time.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Reading the thread you can see that some people are panicking over this. I thought acquisitions were good.

Reading the thread I don't see the same consolidation fearmongering from certain people present in every Microsoft acquisition. I thought acquisitions were bad

 

[jigglet]

I would buy EA, close down every studio and revive Westwood.

Yes bitches.

 

[Infamy v1]

MS included games in Gold because Sony was including them in PS+, MS made Gamepass/xCloud becacuse Sony had PS Now. MS made their own Remote Play. MS bought a ton of IPs and top gamedev teams because Sony had way more top games than them, sold more than them, won more awards and GOTYs than them in the last decade, in hardware outsold them in all generations, now have around the double of the active installbase and generate way more revenue from gaming and do it in a profitable way. And Sony is also pioneering on console VR, which I think it's the next area where MS will follow Sony.

Sony is way ahead of MS. They are the top dog and MS is the third. MS is the one who has to catch up, not Sony. MS main focus is a game subscription, and recently said that game subs generate only 4% of the gaming business. And even here Sony has 2X the subs than them, generating almost $4B per year.

This is a prime example for why arguing with rabid console fanboys is a waste of time and can degrade brain cells. What are you even rambling about ? Instead of replying to my point about the reason MS has stated (more like confirmed because everybody knows this) for their acquisitions, you spew unrelated list warz diarrhea like your corporate worship life depends on it. Not to mention all the tales-from-thy-ass involved that you probably tell yourself each night to sleep better.

By your logic, I can say Sony copied XBL with PSN, and slowly over many years copied the features XBL provided, copied the inclusion of an internal HDD in a console, straight up ripped off the idea for achievements (3 years later), copied their successful focus on digital monetization including XBLG (which is the most profitable part of gaming for Sony now), and now are following in Microsofts exact footsteps with the new GaaS, PC gaming and cloud initiative. And that's just an abridged, quick version.

Yuck, I feel stupider for having brought myself to your level, but I wanted to see what it was like. It's... like arguing with a petulant 12 year old, lmao. But please, keep exposing yourself.

Edit: that's right, leave a reaction like instead of replying because you know you're full of shit.

 

[Hobbygaming]

You clearly have no rebuttal because you got called out on your shit, so you merely say I wrote a text wall. Obviously that wasn't a text wall but hey, gotta have something to say back, right?


I'm not talking about retention bonuses, and on that subject you are incorrect; the retention bonus spent in comparison to the remainder of the cost is quite high as been noted by many, because the main reason for acquiring them was GaaS dev expertise and if they leave then it becomes a bad buy for the price.

We already knew the price Bungie wanted since Fall 2021 (or close to it) when they were in talks with Microsoft. We also knew that they wanted their independence as part of the deal. Both things came true (2~bil plus independence, sans the retention bonus), except with another party in the end. It is widely stated that Sony overpaid for one IP considering that is what the majority of the costs for acquisitions go toward, but nevertheless, as has been stated, Bungie has GaaS expertise that Sony deems valuable so it's worth it for them.

Bungie has more games in development and showing them to Sony would've helped the deal

 

[Zeroing]

Bungie is a small studio? My post was about each companies reason for acquisitions. Microsoft's reasoning is clear. They need alot of future content for Gamepass and by acquiring the studios they can guarantee the games come to the service. Sony just seems to be purchasing studios that were already making their games for Playstation.

Bungie is so far the only big studio Sony bough and they have not big publishers.
Sony reason is also clear. They are buying studios they have a good partnership and see value in it, before other companies go and buys them. Quantic dreams was heavy associated to Sony and now they belong to Tencent

 

[Shmunter]

Only reason I want a Fromsoft acquisition is because i want them to upgrade their engine and trade whatever tech Bluepoint has for their next game.

But on the other hand, all that can be done with a simple exclusive deal for their next game. I just don’t see why from or Kadokawa wouldn’t want to sell considering they are always looking for publishing for their games.

Most 3rd parties have been better with game patches for the new consoles. From sucks, but Sony isn’t too much better.

 

[Infamy v1]

Bungie has more games in development and showing them to Sony would've helped the deal

Bungie's next big game is a "whimsical" GaaS ala Fortnite, that's also releasing on Xbox. You don't overpay for future prospects that may or may not turn out, you pay for established IP. You also pay for talent, but IP is forever and talent is not, hence the retention bonuses. Sony clearly stated their main aspirations for Bungie are their GaaS expertise and clearly they fall into their whole plan for 10 GaaS games by 2026, which includes helping their other studios.

 

[Lemondish]

Why would Kadokawa sell FromSoftware, which is easily their most valuable asset as a company?

That's exactly what multimedia holding companies like Kadokawa actually do. They invest early, grow organically, and sell at a massive premium. I think Forbes mentioned they paid like $27.5 million or so back in 2014. FromSoft would be worth significantly more than that now and would net them an amazing return on investment.

 

[EDMIX]

They've been growing all their studios for the past 3 years and many of them are now multi-project. That's the organic part. The thing that many people miss is that each time they've said "organic growth" it was immediately followed by "and select acquisition". The internet seems to have selective amnesia when it comes to that which is why we keep seeing this nonsense being brought up over and over.

Agreed.

Slow people simply love "either ors" and "instead ofz".

Them liking organic growth doesn't mean they hate purchasing the right studios. I don't really know why gamers seem to be really slow at understanding that as I've heard odd "instead ofs" in gaming for a long time, its like the community doesn't understand many things can occur at once.

Like when a remaster is announced and someone ask for a new game "instead"...

sigh, Papa has to sit down and explain yet again to jr that Bluepoint Games is not Naughty Dog.

be like "but thot day saidz growz organicz"

 

[Darlingcognito]

Organic,Virtuous and 3rd person perspective what a 1-2-3 hit combo.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Why are you people acting like new dev studios aren't being created all the time? Unlike the film industry a single person can take the entire industry by storm, such as ConcernedApe with Stardew Valley.

If ConcernedApe announces a new game the entire industry will take a moment or two to pay attention.

 

[ToadMan]

It was hard to parse through all the fanfiction, but Microsoft stated many years ago their goal is to release one AAA game every quarter at the minimum on Game Pass, and subscription services need constant content in the first place (see Netflix, Prime, Disney+ etc.). That can't be the reason why they're doing what they're doing, right? No, no...it must be because Sony had more IPs than them. Yeah, that's it.

Even Sony would need to go on a crazy acquisition spree to release a minimum of one AAA game per quarter every single year. But I'm sure you'll find another way to spin things.

I think MS should walk before they run - how about one AAA game per generation first?

Halo Inf is proof that it doesn’t matter how much money is thrown at a turd - no one is getting GP for that “content”.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Thought he believed in growing studios organically? What happened jim?

I’d argue that their purchases so far have been organic. The ones that don’t fit Sony’s traditional model are Bungie and Haven.

Haven are organic as everything they’ve done so far have been with Sony and their money.

Bungie aren’t part of PlayStation Studios, but they have had a strong relationship with Sony ever since Destiny. They’ve been acquired as expansion of what SIE are about, rather than what PlayStation is about.

If the rumours are true and Sony are investing in a publisher, think they’d probably move for one already successful with GAAS and strong IP already going. I don’t think they’d lock them off exclusively to PlayStation as so far the only company locking people out of content they had come to somewhat expect is Microsoft with Bethesda IP.

Smaller acquisitions will still happen, and I think a significant amount will focus on GAAS:

Deviation Games - Sony have made a huge investment there. Their premises are gargantuan and they’ve got studios in the US and Canada now.

Arrowhead - They’ve been bulking up with Sony’s money and are making a GAAS game.

Firewalk - no idea what they are doing, but they have a lot of talent there.

As for genres Sony could use - they need a WRPG, a JRPG and an arcade racer to flesh things out a bit from PlayStation Studios. I suspect Guerilla’s next project will be an FPS GAAS game.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Sony is eventually going to buy a big dev or publisher thats gonna cause a ruckus and it looks like that time is soon coming.

Anyone that thought they were gonna be able to comfortably slide on having just one console this gen were fooling themselves

This, is bang on the money but I do think this gen will be fine. It will be next gen that it goes to shit and PC takes over consoles by a considerable margin and will be the one place you can get most games day and date. it already is to an extent but it will increase