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Mergers and Acquisitions |OT| Thread Merged

Acquisitions and mergers official topic

  • Is this thread organic enough?

  • The thread merging will lead to the collapse of the forums industry

  • Anti-trust laws should prevent people from creating threads

  • This gaming forum has not been bought out

  • The monopolization of OTs is bad for gaming discussion

  • Your post is in talks to be acquired by another forum


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MonarchJT

Banned
If he knew anything he should post Sony buying Bungie before the facts.

Using that news to gather clicks for a unknown purchase that is bigger is really dumb and show your true face.
well there is also that we had the same rumor (from others) just after Microsoft acquisistion of AB.
 
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I think we need to look at the math here and realize while Sony is a large company, it’s NOT a Microsoft. I could see some smaller purchases from them over time, but unlikely anything earth shattering.

I don’t see Sony making a large purchase of a company like EA — which has a market cap of around 40 billion dollars, and Sony itself is around 135 billion dollar market cap. That’s a pretty significant purchase for Sony to swallow, and doesn’t make sense when you compare their company sizes. EA is around 1/3 the size of Sony. Doesn’t mean that a purchase of EA by Sony is impossible, just unlikely.

I could maybe envision a take two purchase by Sony as that company is about half the market cap of EA, around 18 billion so that’s not unfathomable but still large, and even then for Sony it’s still a significant investment. Doesn’t mean it’s impossible either, just more foreseeable.

A Bungie purchase makes sense because relative to Sony’s size, 3.6 billion dollars isn’t as hard to swallow as the bigger players. It would not be inconceivable for Sony to begin buying some “smaller companies” from the likes of Capcom (market cap 6 billion US) or Konami (7.5 billion market cap), or Square Enix (6 billion market cap). These purchases, whichever one they choose, would make more sense relative to Sony’s purchasing power.

I know as gamers we like to throw around “x company should buy y company because z reasons” but that’s not how it works. A company like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, or Apple have money that Sony simply doesn’t have. Sony itself could be bought out by any of these companies, as that company would automatically gain a large entertainment and hardware business, services, among other things.
 

Skifi28

Member
Honestly, there should be a Jeff Grubb official thread to shove all the crap he says daily in there and not take up space.
 

reinking

Gold Member
dan james wish GIF by Much
 

Tutomos

Member
SE will be the prime target because you get some really good 3rd person action game studios like Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics, not to mention they've worked with Marvel. Like how MS just took over WRPG, Sony should take over 3rd person action games.
 
Then, things would be different. That hasn't happened though.

I don’t believe Japanese studios not being acquired while western ones are one after another is just a coincidence.
It's because no one wants to acquire them. I like Japanese games, but they just aren't market movers anymore. No one wants to buy Square or Konami, I mean c'mon.
 
Activision market cap is 62 billion for reference here.
The difference is, Activision put up a big For Sale sign. They wanted to sell and actively went to several large companies, other than Microsoft, trying to be purchased.

As far as most of us know, Capcom, SquareEnix, etc do not want to be sold.
 
None of them as Sony fans have been telling us for years Sony accuire studios organically.

However I feel like capcom would be the best purchase from that list if they wanted to grow. From software would be a great purchase for Sony but I don't feel like they be gaining much of an audience, as most of those games are bought on PlayStation anyway.
 
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leo-j

Member
Japanese Studios X Rockstar, or R
Hmm, let's think about these options:

  • Square Enix - not getting anything you don't already get, but close relationship. Oddly the crown jewel is probably FF14. IP has lost some of its luster in the west.
  • Capcom - have some incredible IP and studios firing on all cylinders. Taking an awful lot away from Nintendo especially if making their games exclusive. Would probably require a high premium.
  • Kojima - if rumors are true then currently making a MS exclusive. Has great relationship with Sony, and games are cool and unique. This is a super likely target.
  • Ember Labs - ehhhh, a single IP studio that is brand spanking new? Not likely. Most of Sony acquisitions are of people who worked with them and impressed them, or major devs (Psygnosis, Insomniac, Bungie).
  • Sega - If Sony really wants to move into the PC market in a bigger way then Sega is a decent addition, if not then what do you do when half their sales are on PC? From an IP perspective Sega has loads, but otherwise most of what they put out today are niche and smaller selling series. Does get you Atlus, but those games are already pretty much "exclusive".
  • Konami - This is a joke. Konami has the worst studios on this list, and you pay a premium for a bunch of businesses that Sony is not involved in. I get they own cool IPs, but the people who think you can just really randomly spin up AAA devs and churn out a game in 3 years from their IP are smoking crazy amounts of peyote
  • Remedy - Not enough of their own IP, but could be a pickup if Sony is just looking for a developer to re-make some IP.
  • FromSoft - Have to buy a bunch of unrelated businesses, but on the other hand Sony owns part of the parent company.
  • Firewalk Studios - See Ember Labs up above
  • Arrowhead Games, Lucid Games,, Deviation, Haven -
Guardians Of The Galaxy GIF



The one you are missing that would be the greatest pickup is Bandai Namco. Games are killing it, Anime and Manga is something Sony is highly invested in, have a good number of IPs, and have good active development studios right now
Here’s the deal with Square:

FF XIV is a console playstation exclusive.
FF XVI is a console ps exclusive
Forspoken is a console ps exclusive
Babylon’s fall is a console ps exclusive
Star ocean I believe is also a console ps exclusive?

From all we know FF VII’s console exclusivity remains despite the agreement ending (this could mean talks for a merger have been on going and Sony want to keep Cloud with PS.)

Plus Sony owns some of Square already(or they did when they bought part of the company and published FF VII.). Square fits the PS dna, plus they could develop a FFXVII MMO for ps5/6 and PC.

I also think getting capcom, and acquiring Monster Hunter on PS could really change things for them in Japan.
 
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Lognor

Banned
Who is that other guy Jeff was talking to? They both hinted about some rumor they had heard but cannot say. Are they bullshitting? Who knows. Probably an Xbox acquisition though, right? Isn't Jeff clued in on Microsoft goings ons?
 

Lognor

Banned
I don't think it would be Kojima unless he was given complete control. And with how things went down with Konami, would Sony be willing to give that to him? Kojima ain't looking to get fucked over again and he wants all the time he needs and all the resources to make the game he envisions. Kojima really needs to stay independent to do things his way.
 

CheeseCake

Member
Who is that other guy Jeff was talking to? They both hinted about some rumor they had heard but cannot say. Are they bullshitting? Who knows. Probably an Xbox acquisition though, right? Isn't Jeff clued in on Microsoft goings ons?

I don't think Xbox can acquire something else right now because they're waiting Activision's deal to close.

Some people are saying it could be Capcom... but there's anti-trust laws in Japan... So it's a no no for Microsoft.

And if it is indeed Capcom, the next Studio being acquired, the only "way" i could see Microsoft getting them is through Tango Gameworks...? If that's even possible?

I hope, whoever acquires them, if they're for sale, that they stay multiplatform. Forever. Resident Evil games should stay multiplatform.
 
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azertydu91

Hard to Kill
The videogame business is not going to be the same. I look forward to the one box to rule them all.
And I fear closegated content tied to ecosystems/launcher etc...And that's not something I look forward to, be it from Sony,Ms,Nintendo or anyone.Because right now I fail to see where the consumers win.
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
I bet microsoft enters a partnership with nintendo that allows nintendo first party games to appear on more powerful hardware and the switch will become an extension of gamepass. Source? My ass hole
 
He makes a good point about inflation burning a hole in the cash reserves of course. Sony and MS might as well split the pubs that are left and get it over with. Then put their subscriptions on the other console.
 

Lognor

Banned
I don't think Xbox can acquire something else right now because they're waiting Activision's deal to close.

And if it is indeed Capcom, the next Studio being acquired, the only "way" i could see Microsoft getting them is through Tango Gameworks...? If that's even possible?
Yeah, I've heard others say that, but I'm not sure it's based on anything factual. I was looking at the wiki of Microsoft acquisitions and they've made a lot of bigger acquisitions in a short period of time. Especially with Sony's acquisition of Bungie, how can anyone argue that Microsoft has a monopoly? LOL. Perhaps what Microsoft would do is to buy a private company that doesn't need to go through all the red tape as a public company. A private company won't nearly have as much scrutiny.

IF you think Microsoft is just sitting idly by in their M&A group you'd be sorely mistaken. Deals are being worked on in the video game space, I can assure you.
 

MScarpa

Member
I think Jeff Grubb must be banned as source, he has zero insider info and only is throwing some random guesses when saying stuff like that.

We already know that Sony, Microsoft, Tencent, EA, Take 2 or Embracer are acquiring and that plan to acquire more. Plus who knows if Amazon, Google or Facebook will decide to continue buying.
I think Jeff Grubb is fine. No need to ban him. You can choose not to listen to him, not sure why he bothers you Alex. Just let him be. I enjoy the posts. This is awesome.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Probably has something to do with the fact that's the only thing Bungie has been doing in the past 12 years... Yeah, might be it.

If they made Destiny (new IP during the PS3\360 days), they can make another one.

what else Bungie is worth for ?

I'm assuming they've learned one or two things over the last 10 years when it comes to making MP games, GaaS game, and MTX stuff that Sony would love to put in some of their other games that they are making for the PS5.
 

DJ12

Member
The difference is, Activision put up a big For Sale sign. They wanted to sell and actively went to several large companies, other than Microsoft, trying to be purchased.

As far as most of us know, Capcom, SquareEnix, etc do not want to be sold.
It doesn't matter if publicly traded companies want to be sold or not, the very fact they are being traded means they are for sale.

Wouldn't even need to buy the entire company to "own it"

The current owner holds a mere 19% of the shares.
 

Corrik

Member
Money was never in the hardware, it was always the software, the game's, the DLCs, the MTX, the services. So why spend a billion and a half on designing a new console, then sell it at a loss or manufacturing cost at best, when you can sell the same software on people's PCs, TVs, laptops, smartphones etc. Lesser investment, bigger reach, more profit, this is the way. Now I know a lot of Gaf is obsessed with physical copies, but those times are inevitably coming to an end.



MS buys Hazelight and Josef Fares will personally announce it on TGA saying "FUCK THE OSCARS SONY!".
Apparently Resident Evil has a "it takes to two tango" achievement.
 

01011001

Banned
it is big in a financial way it can only really be Microsoft buying someone because I doubt Nintendo or Sony have money ready to buy something big. if it's big in a fan favorite way then I suspect Nintendo getting some japanese publisher on board like Capcom, Konami or Sega
 
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I think that people would be wrong to limit their unfounded guesses to it being anything to do with the three console manufacturers, they are simply not the only people involved in gaming these days and I feel now that the likes of Apple, Google, Amazon, Steam, etc, etc are going to be announcing some pretty hefty surprises over the next couple of years.
Rest assured that where we think gaming is now is not where it;s going to be five years from now, ten years from.
 

Fbh

Member
Has this dude ever had something to share (and be right about) that's neither:
-Really vague
-A safe guess that anyone who keeps up with gaming news could have made.

?
 

The Alien

Banned
He can say its not Take2, but honestly only GTA is the last remaining piece of the puzzle that would be a shift...a game changer for whoever buys them.

At this point if its someone newer like Apple or Amazon there isn't much left thatd get them bug news into the market. Syre they could start new and fresh but thats crazy difficult and risky.
 

PuffyCan

Member
I usually like Grubb and he did get a lot of things right in the past, but there is no way he knows anything about any acquisition. These type of deals are kept secret for a reason, people who know are legally required to not say anything.
 

01011001

Banned
I think that people would be wrong to limit their unfounded guesses to it being anything to do with the three console manufacturers, they are simply not the only people involved in gaming these days and I feel now that the likes of Apple, Google, Amazon, Steam, etc, etc are going to be announcing some pretty hefty surprises over the next couple of years.
Rest assured that where we think gaming is now is not where it;s going to be five years from now, ten years from.

I limit my guesses to those 3 because I simply assume that he doesn't have much insider contacts at Amazon, Apple, Google etc.
 
If I could direct Sony or Microsoft's acquisitions funds, I'd spend a couple of billions to prospect studios in Poland, China, maybe Japan, or any place where the main concern is still creativity and not promoting diversity & inclusion. American studios may still have valuable IP, but most are at a dead end in terms of creativity and suffering an exodus of talent.
 

Menzies

Banned
What is the point of acquiring EA? Their cash cow is FIFA which is a licensed IP.
Even if it is multi-platform, if your subscription service includes COD + Fifa for $15 p/mo. (MS) or Destiny + Fifa (Sony) - then you are adding immense value and 'stickiness' to your service.
 
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