But Sony was the first one that buys a multipaltform developer and publisher. So...Of multiplatform publishers, yes, they are bad and should not be celebrated.
Having said that, if your competitor starts doing it and hints at acquiring even more publishers, you can't just sit on your asses. In my books, Sony gets a pass for buying one big multiplatform publisher, just because of that Bethesda's purchase, just to balance things again so it'd be 1-1.
If Sony buys two publishers, it's bad and should not be celebrated.
That most likely will happen at some stage.Imagine Sony acquired Kadokawa, the meltdown lol
But Sony was the first one that buys a multipaltform developer and publisher. So...
"Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999)[1] was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984[1][2] by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing the original PlayStation and later became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios"
Psygnosis - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Shawn Layden recently said that AAA games cost something like $100 million to make last gen, and expected that perhaps double this gen. My question is this. Going forward, will AAA games really cost somewhere between $100-$200 million? Is that the total cost or does that include things like marketing as well?
I ask because it might help explain the justifications for such acquisitions as large as those being discussed here. It might seem prohibitively expensive to purchase something as large and expensive as a Konami or Capcom or whatever. But when juxtaposed next to the crazy trajectory of future game production costs... It might not seem all that expensive after all in the long run.
In a few years Firesprite + Fabrik made a well review AAA VR horror game plus a couple of smaller VR games of other genres -one of them also well reviewed-, did help Sony in some different small projects like experimenting on mobile+Vita with the Sackboy autorunner, co-developing The Playroom and The Playroom VR, while also co-developing Star Citizen as support team as they did back then with Killzone 2 when they were Livepool Studio.Yeah but neither push PS forward or elevate the status / quality IMO.
Just a bit of a waste from my perspective.
I assume he name drops them to counter false saying they abandoned Japan. He says their XDEV Japanese team continues working with teams like these two but now outside Japan Studio, that continues developing internal games rebranded as Team Asobi, same as Polyphony, and that they continue signing Japanese 3rd party exclusives.He has done it multiple times now -- name-dropping Kojima and FromSoftware in the same sentence. Here is one example:
From the outside you also seem to want to insist on leaving money and time out of the equation but they are equally important.
In a few years Firesprite + Fabrik made a well review AAA VR horror game plus, a couple of smaller and different VR games -one of them also well reviewed-, did help Sony in some different small projects like experimenting on mobile+Vita with the Sackboy autorunner, co-developing The Playroom and The Playroom VR, while also co-developing Star Citizen as support team as they did back then with Killzone 2 when they were Livepool Studio.
They have a lot of staff from Liverpool Studios, Evolution and Bizarre Creations so can make new badass AAA VR friendly Wipeout, Motorstorm, Driveclub which would be PSVR2 system sellers to me (or well, a new arcade racer to compete vs Horizon or o make it MP/GaaS/eSports friendly if desired).
They are rumored to be working on a new Horizon game for VR codeveloped with London Studio. And Shinobi also mentioned that in recent years they've been hiring many talent from Naughty Dog, Rockstar, Rocksteady, Ubisoft and places like that.
So they have a lot of manpower, work in different big and small projects at the same time of different genres, they can also work in tech demos/R&D stuff so can free Team Asobi of these tasks to allow them to focus more in games, can release AAA VR projects, have pedigree from previous exclusive series, and support AAA projects from other studios, something specially helpful now that as AAA become bigger it's harder to find external outsourcing studios that aren't busy with other project.
May not be as glamourous as other ones, but sound helpful to Sony in several key areas.
I assume he name drops them to counter false saying they abandoned Japan. He says their XDEV Japanese team continues working with teams like these two but now outside Japan Studio, that continues developing internal games rebranded as Team Asobi, same as Polyphony, and that they continue signing Japanese 3rd party exclusives.
Add Tecmo. Platinum is safe at Nintendo.Ok.
Take 2, Square, From, Capcom and Metal Gear+Castlevania ips from Konami.
Enjoy eternal dominance.
Ok.
Take 2, Square, From, Capcom and Metal Gear+Castlevania ips from Konami.
Enjoy eternal dominance.
John Kodera censorship all Japanese Game and increase PS+ Price...All SIE acquisitions since Insomniac have happened during Jim's years including that studio.
I'd say he's doing a better job than the previous CEO in this.
A conversation about Sony acquisitions wouldn't be complete without the term "organic" thrown into the mix as if other companies are okay to just throw money away and have no one to answer to. Sony just happens to be very good at identifying needs and risk compared to others. They really are a model.
I expect Sony to be much more active in the next couple of years as consolidation picks up steam. The term cash on hand isn't equal though and the ability to sustain loses even with CoH is dramatically different between companies. The threshold for acceptible risk is much different when talking about cash on hand too.
I agree that would be nice to get studios who excel in genres they don't cover with 1st party, it would help them to expand in areas where they excel.I know, I heard they are working on something cool too. I do have concerns to the overall vision and goals of the acquisitions though going forward if they keep on being of a similar vein......
They need an acquisition / several that are exciting and actually even up some of the damage done by MASFT's acquisitions.
Square or From or buy Atlas from Sega..... or ArcSys & IOI. Something that really mixes things up and adds genres and niches to the lineup.....
Many people complain about PS not having 1st party JRPG's and now there are way less WRPG's and neither of these have been in any way thought of let alone addressed.
Yup, in all these quotes from all your posts in this thread you are obviously saying that money and time are equally important than talent and it's me who can't read, you are rightBefore arguing a shitty strawman, go back and read my posts where I specifically mention money and time.
Making top tier games at the level of ND and Rockstar isn't just about fucking money. It has more to do with talent than anything else.... like at all.
Look at all the best dev teams in the industry... (yes "teams" being the operative word)... these devs have all been around for a very long time and have built up a company culture, work processes and streamlined work-flows, engine and dev toolchains, together with fostering their talent and honing their craft over the course of multiple console generations. Money had very little to do with their success.
There is not a single example of a studio in this industry that you can point to, that was acquired providing immediately greater resources and thus was able to instantly put out GOTY-level games because of a bigger dev budget.
You think that's true including PC? I am trying to square that with comments from the COO of Capcom trying to make PC 50% of their revenue.they already make up 70% or more of Capcom, Square and Namco sales in the AAA / AA space.
Yup. Last time he teased an acquisition, GAF made fun of him only for Bluepoint acquisition to be announced the day after.Idk if it’s been mentioned in this thread but one of the more reliable insiders Shinobi retweeted the article.
You think that's true including PC? I am trying to square that with comments from the COO of Capcom trying to make PC 50% of their revenue.
Also you got any company level sources of data for revenue by platform? I am trying to find it but its a bit tough. Square does it by game category which is a bit vague to me.
Square Enix annual gaming sales 2024 | Statista
In the fiscal year ending March 2024, digital games and entertainment company Square Enix generated approximately 99.2 billion yen in net sales via its HD games segment.www.statista.com
The PS Plus price increase was actually under Andrew House as CEO back in 2016.John Kodera censorship all Japanese Game and increase PS+ Price...
Definitly the worse CEO of PlayStation.
Sony film exec already said the next consolidation moves would be in the gaming division and they have been acquiring devs.
They should go out there and buy SE, see how the acquisition lovers react.
Yeah, they are about 66% of Capcom overall software sales....I rounded up a bit. That includes PC and Nintendo and Xbox.
You can check that out in their Investor relations section.
You can also see where the PC sales are important for them.....it breaks it down by region and it is for asia / china that they want to be on PC. Western sales for their games on PC are okay but nothing amazing.
It was recently spun that MHW sales outside Japan were higher on PC (slightly) but if you examine the figures...
Only Asia was ahead for PC (excluding Japan), if they used the same logic and left out non-Japan Asia...PS4 would have been double the number of PC.
What they are really projecting with the PC growth is gaming growth in China.... which due to new laws will be massively stifled.
Continue reading the page.But Sony was the first one that buys a multipaltform developer and publisher. So...
"Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999)[1] was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984[1][2] by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing the original PlayStation and later became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios"
Psygnosis - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
They later restructured, Sony sold some of the licenses to their games to another 3rd party publisher. While i understand why people would point to Psygnosis as a major 3rd party buyout, it is not the same. They still remained fairly independent for a long time and still published games for other competing platforms.Despite being owned by Sony, Psygnosis retained a degree of independence from its parent company during this period and continued to develop and publish titles for other platforms,[27] including the Sega Saturn[28][29] and the Nintendo 64.[30] This caused friction between Psygnosis and Sony, and in 1996 Sony engaged SBC Warburg's services in finding a buyer for Psygnosis.[31][32] However, though bids reportedly went as high as $300 million (more than ten times what Sony paid for the company just three years before),[33] after six months Sony rescinded its decision to sell Psygnosis. Relations between the two companies had improved during this time, and Sony became reconciled to Psygnosis releasing games for competing platforms.[34] Shortly after, Psygnosis took over distribution of its own titles, a task that Sony had been handling following the buyout.[35]
I think the fastest way to push EA out is for Tencent to acquire them once as part of their expansion into the West Though that may not be the kind change that's for the better...I’d like to see them expand San Diego and make more multi-platform sports titles.
Slowly pushing EA out of that market.
'Yet'.And that doesn't affect either MS or Sony. See above.
Any more info on this? I was not aware of Tencent having something like Gamepass or xCloudTC ambitions are very much in the 'one service to get all games' and they've had more experience (and success) to date with it than MS
I thought only thicc_girls brought up Psygnosis when he ran out of arguments lolBut Sony was the first one that buys a multipaltform developer and publisher. So...
"Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999)[1] was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984[1][2] by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing the original PlayStation and later became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios"
Psygnosis - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Okay but it was still an investment, and that is more to the point of what I'm speaking to: it was an investment from a platform holder into a major 3P publisher entity. Someone could still claim it was "defensive" (if they want to use terms like that, which some ITT are doing) because if Sony hadn't made that investment, another party would've and that could have impacted facets of Sony's level of cooperation with Square going forward. It could have even prevented a Square & Enix merger which would have its own implications.The Square investment was to help them out their money problems after the Final Fantasy movie tanked.
You always fail to mention the only thing that matters in your (endless) posts about this subject. The IPs.
Sony didn't buy any big IPs with their acquisitions so there's no impact at all. Organic or not, it changes nothing for Xbox.
Also, Embracer and Tencent are not platform holders so again nothing changes for their releases on consoles. Most them are small AAs, PC only or mobile anyway. You will never convince people to get angry about it. There is no double standard with them vs MS. You can drop it.
My god, this is gold.
Next-Gen PS5 & XSX |OT| Console tEch threaD
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/xbox-game-pass-now-has-over-18-million-subscribers.1588263/ Yeah... that thread may be a little too toxic to comment in.www.neogaf.comXbox's Ben Decker says they will address exclusivity of Zenimax titles after acquisition but their goal is to get more people into Xbox community
It is the entitlement of some fan boys. It usually is the so called master race and port begging. Now that Microsoft will have some games with while it is the justified port begging. Before: Xbox has no exclusives, therefore I won't buy an Xbox Now: Xbox needs to release their exclusives on...www.neogaf.com
ND never made a shit fiasco like CP, so no.Ms and CD have a very strong relation and they could make easily a rival of naughty dog game with proper funds Ms know this
Struggling to find it so if you got a link, would really appreciate it.Yeah, they are about 66% of Capcom overall software sales....I rounded up a bit. That includes PC and Nintendo and Xbox.
You can check that out in their Investor relations section.
You can also see where the PC sales are important for them.....it breaks it down by region and it is for asia / china that they want to be on PC. Western sales for their games on PC are okay but nothing amazing.
First you claim I'm saying money and time aren't important; which I didn't. Now you your chaning it to equally important. Moving the goal posts.Yup, in all these quotes from all your posts in this thread you are obviously saying that money and time are equally important than talent and it's me who can't read, you are right
I did not claim that but reading my first post I can see how that can be interpreted. When I said you left money and time out of the equation I meant as downplaying their importance, not totally removing them.First you claim I'm saying money and time aren't important; which I didn't. Now you your chaning it to equally important. Moving the goal posts.
Let's agree to disagreeMoney and time aren't equally as important. At all. They are important but not nearly as important as talent. Not even close.
Microsoft would be paying a pretty big luxury tax.Happy to see acquisitions, a spending warning like in the NFL or NBA with their salary caps would be interesting in gaming.
Talent uses money and time as well. In some cases less and in some cases more. Your comparison isn't apt. One uses the other.You can have all the money and time in the world and it won't equal a top tier game.
You need talent, which is the most important factor that you seem to want to insist on leaving out of the equation.
Talent, time and money are needed to make top tier games. Proper -or at least decent- management is part of the things included inside the talent to make great games.Talent uses money and time as well. In some cases less and in some cases more. Your comparison isn't apt. One uses the other.
Talent is not really a fixed variable like time and money. I understand what you are trying to say, but they aren't really congruent to compare.
Of course talent is important. Nobody is going to dispute that. Having all the talent in the world won't save you from bad management either or from other logistical hurdles which in turn would amount to large monetary and time costs.
when they were first getting into video games, they bought them before the PS1 even releasedBut Sony was the first one that buys a multipaltform developer and publisher. So...
"Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999)[1] was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984[1][2] by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing the original PlayStation and later became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios"
Psygnosis - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I did not claim that but reading my first post I can see how that can be interpreted. When I said you left money and time out of the equation I meant as downplaying their importance, not totally removing them.
Let's agree to disagree
Talent uses money and time as well. In some cases less and in some cases more. Your comparison isn't apt. One uses the other.
Talent is not really a fixed variable like time and money. I understand what you are trying to say, but they aren't really congruent to compare.
Of course talent is important. Nobody is going to dispute that. Having all the talent in the world won't save you from bad management either or from other logistical hurdles which in turn would amount to large monetary and time costs.
Great post.. well said!You're all trying to re-frame the argument as "talent versus time and money", when in actual fact what I'm arguing about is "talent versus more time and more money".
If a studio is sufficiently staffed for the development of a game with a given scope, and they are given sufficient time to achieve their vision, throwing more time and money at the developer won't change the quality of the game in a meaningful way. The resource and time cost requirements of the project are already met.
So all those arguing that time and money are equally as important as talent are predicting their argument on a false premise.
Talent encompasses the skills, knowledge and expertise of the creatives on the team, the toolchains and technology they produce and utilise, as well as the skill and expertise of the production and project management functions who help guide the development path and lead the project to a timely, on-budget completion.
It's talent that wins.
Again your premise is faulty. The management skill and expertise fall under the category of talent. When I make the argument that talent is most important for a development team, I'm not just talking about the programmers and artists. I'm talking about the skill and expertise of everyone on the entire dev studio team, especially the creative leads and management.
I really don't see how there's any logical argument against this point.
If that were true they would have bought Insomniac who are one of the best, if not the best studio around.I think the issue is not that Sony doesn't wants to acquire more studios, it's that it's competing with MS. They got so much money on their hand, they could buy everyone sony is interested in for double the price and probably still not care about what they just spend.
If that were true they would have bought Insomniac who are one of the best, if not the best studio around.
It takes more than money to make a sale.