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Jim Ryan confirms Sony ‘has more studio acquisitions planned’ (VGC)

Barakov

Gold Member
Didn't

Didn't Microsoft try to buy wb last year but we decided against selling? If it comes up for sale again I don't see how Microsoft doesn't go after them again. And Sony don't have that type of cash to compete.
Just a guess on my part. It just makes sense given Sony's current moves(EVO etc). Even Microsoft will have to cool their current buying spree after snatching up Activision Blizzard. Which isn't even official. If it doesn't happen they definitely have the money to snatch up all of WB games.

ALSO, who is the WE in this?
Emotion Reaction GIF
 

GHound

Member
ALSO, who is the WE in this?
The head of WB. His name Otto. Otto Korrekt.:messenger_smirking:



Careful guys. Jim's about to go all in. Gonna announce on Wednesday that they're buying Square Enix...
...'s European division and deleting it. 🤫
Realistically Deviation is up next. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me they were sniffing around Dan Houser's studio either or Build a Rocket Boy for that matter.
 
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Sweden85

Member
I don’t know. I just remember seeing Sony fans and Jim Ryan saying organic growth was better than acquisitions. 🤷

The majority probably still has this opinion, but on the other hand if the competition is trying to cockblock you, well you have to do something :p
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
They are doing both (reports are that all of their studios grew in headcount and keep on hiring). We are giving way more visibility to the original troll concern comment though.

Troll concern? You know yourself that when Microsoft announced studio buy outs there are posts and posts from Sony fans about how that’s not the way to do it and organic growth is the way. Now that Sony started buying studios like bungee its now ok to buy and not have organic growth.

My opinion is we that both Microsoft and Sony should acquire as many studios as they can to keep google and apple out of the console market.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Glad that they've been more efficient with their money so far. They're mostly investing in great talent and good potential, as you can always attract extra devs from other studios when it's showing proper projects that are moving forward. Their latest PS+ was smart and lucrative price-wise, and keeping their big budget projects protected seems like the way to go.

Despite the hate, Jim Ryan is doing a great job so far.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
I don’t know. I just remember seeing Sony fans and Jim Ryan saying organic growth was better than acquisitions. 🤷
This had been discussed to death before and after the Bungie acquisition many times and again in this thread after your initial drive by trying to get people lit and derail the thread. Yet people replied to you and again we went into the whole “organic growth (adding resources to existing studios) happened and is still happening as their studios are still on a hiring spree” … and you are back on the same point.

Let alone one thing being better than another does not mean you cannot do both especially when you consider how quick hiring for existing teams is (not quick). Bungie and Nixxes aside, the other acquisitions they performed were also essentially second parties exclusive for them for years and they have been growing them (adding headcount)… considering you have replied to almost nobody that replied to you and are just doubling down on the initial one liner I am not sure you intend to do more than throw gasoline on the fire and derail the thread, but you do you.
 

leizzra

Member
Buying CDPR, in my opinion, would be a bad decision and Sony or MS shouldn't do that.

CDPR is bad company. It was bad when it was making Witcher 1 and it is still nowadays. There is a dissonance between how the company looks inside and outside. For them, number one thing is how the gamers see them. That's why they were very aggressive with building their image in the eyes of gamers and media. But inside the studio has many issues. I knew that eventually they'll show their true face. It happened a bit quicker though and it's a good thing because they can still change. The bad thing is that they probably won't change much, becasue CP2077 still sold and was prised and the new Witcher will make people to forget about their past behaviour.

CDPR to change it would mean to change most of the menagement (CEO included) and that won't happen. Becasue of that they'll still be thinking that they are the gods and that they know better then the others. They'll still will be thinking like - next game must be bigger and better then the last, and the next after that needs to be the same (that's why CP2077 gameplay was resetet few times). The development of games will be messy and painfull and probably long (yet another problem). I want to remind people - they thought that they can make at least two games at once with The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk. They couldn't so what do they plan next - make another few games at once.

They have problems with recruitment of talents becasue many people in Poland don't want to work there (they heard bad things or worked there and don't want to go back). Workers outside of Poland are harder to find becasue not so many people want to move to the country (now after Russian aggression on Ukrain it can be even worse). It also should be noted that CDPR made games on someone's IP not their own. I don't mean that they can't do something of their own but we can't be sure either.

One of good signs is changing engine to Unreal but even this looks like old CDPR behaviour - every game needs to be on completely new engine. This time they won't do it from scratch in-house but they still can overhaul it just to please the engine lead programers.

Buying CDPR takes money (much more then only buying a company) and time to make it a good purchase. I think that if someone wants to buy polish developer it should buy smaller company with good reputation and invest in their growth.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
It's a small fish in the ocean trying to get some food from the remains. I'm curious if Microsoft will wait until the Activision deal goes through before announcing their next purchase.

Possibly, it will be interesting to see what happens. After all they are only in 3rd place in the console market. Will be interesting to see how it grows this gen and next gen with the studio buy outs they have
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Troll concern? You know yourself that when Microsoft announced studio buy outs there are posts and posts from Sony fans about how that’s not the way to do it and organic growth is the way. Now that Sony started buying studios like bungee its now ok to buy and not have organic growth.
Again ignoring the fact that they are staffing you their studios (and have been doing it for a while) and Bungie is still multiplatform Xbox included. Bungie is their live services gateway.

Even HouseMarque and BluePoint were essentially second parties almost 100% exclusive to PlayStation consoles and working shoulder to shoulder with other SIE WWS studios. Even these companies grew around the time of and after the Sony acquisition, Insomniac included. So, yes, they are growing organically… and?

My opinion is we that both Microsoft and Sony should acquire as many studios as they can to keep google and apple out of the console market.
They are not buying studios to do that but to prop their services (Sony and MS)… so far Sony has yet to take one game away from Xbox console customers, let me know if this is mutual ;).
 
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Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Possibly, it will be interesting to see what happens. After all they are only in 3rd place in the console market.
I think this is a line fed to the FCC trying to make them buy how they will not remove Activision-Blizzard content from competitors’ platforms, but you do know the effect if massive amounts of Multiplatform games were removed from other consoles.
Anyways, at some point a bigger conglomerate than MS may rise up and will outdo them and people cheering massive acquisitions removing content that had been multiplatform for decades will probably just ramble about RDF or the CCP or something else :p.

Bigger point is… why did this thread pivot to discuss MS acquisition plans 😂?
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Again ignoring the fact that they are staffing you their studios (and have been doing it for a while) and Bungie is still multiplatform Xbox included. Bungie is their live services gateway.

Even HouseMarque and BluePoint were essentially second parties almost 100% exclusive to PlayStation consoles and working shoulder to shoulder with other SIE WWS studios. Even these companies grew around the time of and after the Sony acquisition, Insomniac included. So, yes, they are growing organically… and?


They are not buying studios to do that but to prop their services… so far Sony has yet to take one game away from Xbox console customers, let me know if this is mutual ;).

Buying insomniac took games away from Xbox. They had started to do games for Xbox so there is that, also no FF7 remake on Xbox. They did try to money hat a lot of exclusivity for this gen befor the gen started. There is a massive thread about it and how they approached all the big company’s for is. Let’s not pretend they dont do it as well

Edit: street fighter didn’t show up on Xbox last gen because Sony paid to keep it exclusive
 
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Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Buying insomniac took games away from Xbox. They had started to do games for Xbox so there is that, also no FF7 remake on Xbox.
Now you are taking timed exclusivity of 1 game and 1 game Insomniac developed outside of PS vs decades of exclusive PS games and comparing it with removing The Elder Scroll series, DOOM series, Fallout series, etc… and possibly Call of Duty? Come on, you are not serious, are you?

Edit: oh you completed the detail bingo by bringing in timed exclusives / Ryan alleged moneyhat trip and equating it to taking multiplatform series off another platform permanently :rolleyes:.
 
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phil_t98

#SonyToo
Now you are taking timed exclusivity of 1 game and 1 game Insomniac developed outside of PS vs decades of exclusive PS games and comparing it with removing The Elder Scroll series, DOOM series, Fallout series, etc… and possibly Call of Duty? Come on, you are not serious, are you?


Again when it fits your narrative its timed exclusives, it wasn’t timed exclusives it was Sony trying to pay to keep games off other consoles
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Again when it fits your narrative its timed exclusives, it wasn’t timed exclusives it was Sony trying to pay to keep games off other consoles
It was not timed exclusives? What was it? It was permanent exclusivity? Any proof that they were taking series like DOOM, COD, Fallout, TES/Skyrim, etc… exclusive?

This is barely tangential to this thread too.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
It was not timed exclusives? What was it? It was permanent exclusivity? Any proof that they were taking series like DOOM, COD, Fallout, TES/Skyrim, etc… exclusive?

This is barely tangential to this thread too.

Again there tried to and failed, it wasn’t timed exclusivity they tried to keep games off other consoles.

I am all for Sony buying studios to as i own a PlayStation console but lets not pretend they dont have a history of it and are still trying to do it to
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Again there tried to and failed, it wasn’t timed exclusivity they tried to keep games off other consoles.
Proof of this? Proof it was not timed exclusives?

I am all for Sony buying studios to as i own a PlayStation console but lets not pretend they dont have a history of it and are still trying to do it to
Let’s also not pretend that trolling the thread under a disingenuous “dur dur 😂 organic growth where trolllolol?” one liners is contributing to the discussion more than gasoline on the fire (the poster throws a one liner, wait a few pages, throws it again, etc… stupid us that even reply to the poster at all since we play to their tune).
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Not played Kena yet, but that dev seems like a natural fit. They have a pretty robust first party now that they’ve added Bungie. As others have said, probably missing a true RPG studio seeing as how MS has Obsidian and Bethesda but I don’t think CDPR are worth the risk.
 

ksdixon

Member
Having Netherealm under the Playstation umbrella would make a lot sense since they bought EVO. Also there's a good chance that SFVI is PS console exclusive as well.

It seems like Playstation has been going pretty ham with their exclusive tournaments so that lends some credence to that supposition.
I want PS to buy WB and Capcom to cut through some licensing red tape. Probably end up with MVC4, SFvsMK, MKvsDC2, MARVELvsDC,
 

Leonidas

AMD's Dogma: ARyzen (No Intel inside)
Here's hoping it's true. Still haven't opened my PS5. Would probably open it if native PS3 games came to it.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
It was not timed exclusives? What was it? It was permanent exclusivity? Any proof that they were taking series like DOOM, COD, Fallout, TES/Skyrim, etc… exclusive?

This is barely tangential to this thread too.



there is the thread if you wanna read back
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Proof of this? Proof it was not timed exclusives?


Let’s also not pretend that trolling the thread under a disingenuous “dur dur 😂 organic growth where trolllolol?” one liners is contributing to the discussion more than gasoline on the fire (the poster throws a one liner, wait a few pages, throws it again, etc… stupid us that even reply to the poster at all since we play to their tune).


And a link to an article

 

Vognerful

Member

there is the thread if you wanna read back
watch it bro, you are dealing with one of a kind goalpost juggler
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
watch it bro, you are dealing with one of a kind goalpost juggler

I just dont like the narrative that Microsoft are the only ones who do it.

i remember Sony buying up studios back in the day so they couldn’t produce games on other consoles, i remember them paying so tomb raider 2 couldn’t be on saga consoles. They have a history of doing it.

Yeah they all do it but i hate the narrative Sony is the good guys and only grow studios. Yeah they are amazing at growing studios but they will money hat or buy exclusivity when ever they can
 

Vognerful

Member
I think they pretty much paid for the entire development of that game. At the time Capcom weren’t in a good place. From what I recall they were actively looking for a timed exclusivity deal for Starfield too.
You are close about SF. As I remember, Capcom shat the bed with developing SFV (as usual with street fighter development) and they had to scrap everything after 2 years and start from scratch.

Their development money was running low and they took a Sony deal to cover marketing it.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
I think they pretty much paid for the entire development of that game. At the time Capcom weren’t in a good place. From what I recall they were actively looking for a timed exclusivity deal for Starfield too.

They do deal for exclusivity all the time. Both companies are as bad or good as each other. I just dont like how some play Sony being the shining white knight.

yeah Microsoft have gone big with it but Sony have in the past to and would do the same if they could.
 
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SSfox

Member
I can't believe there are people and JOURNALISTS who think Sony must put new God Of War and all future games
day one on PS+ so that gamers can buy it for 15$. because a lot of people would do that.
how many people would need to buy it for 15$ so that Sony could actually earn any money from that game ?
we are talking about 150-200 million dollar games, right ?
two games cost 120$. you pay 120$ a year for this service and get like 5 exclusives in one year. what sense does that make

Yup indeed.

That's when you realize that a lot of people don't always use their brain.

Maybe if the service has 200 millions subs or more, but in the actual state no way and there is no logic to it, and Sony cannot afford to bleed infinite money like MS does.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Yup indeed.

That's when you realize that a lot of people don't always use their brain.

Maybe if the service has 200 millions subs or more, but in the actual state no way and there is no logic to it, and Sony cannot afford to bleed infinite money like MS does.

Are people forgetting that these games will still be available to buy? Look at Forza horizon 5 with the ultimate edition where if you purchased the ultimate edition you could play befor the official launch. It had millions of players befor launch. Of coarse the Sony fans on here were claiming it was people just lending the game out or the reviewers playing it lol.

Games still sell even if they are on a subscription service so the only money for the game doesn’t just come from the sub service
 

kyussman

Member
Although they have nothing really to prove in terms of recent game development......it does feel very much like PlayStation are in reactionary mode right now rather than leading the way.Microsoft have made huge publisher aquisitions that have in one swoop gave them many studios and it feels like PlayStation are just trying to keep up.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Although they have nothing really to prove in terms of recent game development......it does feel very much like PlayStation are in reactionary mode right now rather than leading the way.Microsoft have made huge publisher aquisitions that have in one swoop gave them many studios and it feels like PlayStation are just trying to keep up.

Yeah agree with that. Sony have put out quality all last gen but with them not putting first party onto their own sub service day one i wonder why they bothering buying studios and not just making sure studios will put the games on there instead.

buying a lot of studios doesn’t do much for the sub service if they have to wait a year or two for the games to get on there. Just s thought
 

NeroDaGod

Member
Yeah agree with that. Sony have put out quality all last gen but with them not putting first party onto their own sub service day one i wonder why they bothering buying studios and not just making sure studios will put the games on there instead.

buying a lot of studios doesn’t do much for the sub service if they have to wait a year or two for the games to get on there. Just s thought

Why does their strategy need to make sense to you? They’re not buying studios for PSNow they’re not focusing on a subscription based growth like Microsoft is.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Why does their strategy need to make sense to you? They’re not buying studios for PSNow they’re not focusing on a subscription based growth like Microsoft is.

Wow just a thought i said

was comparing the differences in hope they are doing it
 
Yeah agree with that. Sony have put out quality all last gen but with them not putting first party onto their own sub service day one i wonder why they bothering buying studios and not just making sure studios will put the games on there instead.

buying a lot of studios doesn’t do much for the sub service if they have to wait a year or two for the games to get on there. Just s thought

Because they're not buying studios for the sub service. It's growth strategy.

Regardless of quality their FP output isn't good enough. There are gaping holes in their portfolio, hence the GaaS investment, and when you're in a consolidation era like we are now you can't remain complacement and continue to rely on third party support

And if it works well they''ll be stronger financially and have a more secure position.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Yeah agree with that. Sony have put out quality all last gen but with them not putting first party onto their own sub service day one i wonder why they bothering buying studios and not just making sure studios will put the games on there instead.

buying a lot of studios doesn’t do much for the sub service if they have to wait a year or two for the games to get on there. Just s thought
Is this a stealth GamePass thread derail now?
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
I’d say From would be Sony’s Best Buy, but the success of Elden Ring has drastically upped the price of that studio.
 

yurinka

Member
It's a small fish in the ocean trying to get some food from the remains. I'm curious if Microsoft will wait until the Activision deal goes through before announcing their next purchase.
MS is the third, but isn't that small.

Although they have nothing really to prove in terms of recent game development......it does feel very much like PlayStation are in reactionary mode right now rather than leading the way.Microsoft have made huge publisher aquisitions that have in one swoop gave them many studios and it feels like PlayStation are just trying to keep up.
A few years ago Sony had way more top gamedev teams and active top AAA IPs, MS bought a huge chunk of AAA teams and IPs to be at tthe same or higher than Sony in this area because their output was way behind. MS was the one reacting.

Sony has a different acquisition strategy, decides to acquire way less and instead of focusing on getting big AAA names (they only bought Bungie/Destiny in this area) they focused more on getting support on areas where they want to grow from people who partnered them during many years. Or hire people with talent and potential to create new IP.

Notice other than Bungie, Destiny and future Bungie IPs they got a AAA studio that didn't release their first game even if has very experienced staff in AAA and new IP, a couple of VR teams, a porting studio, a remakes studio, a studio who made small games and just made the first AAA, an outsourcing studio and a mobile gamedev studio.

Notice the difference with acquiring a ton of AAA dev teams, a ton of AAA IPs and even big top publishers as Activision Blizzard and Bethesda are. It's peanuts.

In recent years Sony instead prefered to grow in another way: to hire a lot more people for all their already existing teams to the point they can now work in more games at the same time. Instead of trying to buy a studio like Naughty Dog, give Naughty Dog monery to grow and work in a game or two more at the same time. And apply that to SSM, Insomniac, Guerrilla, etc. That's what Jim Ryan meant with organic growth.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
I really cant wait to see which "big" acquisition they are talking about.

It will end up WOAHHHH or LMAOOOOO for me.
 
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