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Your game plan as Sony executive to counterattack Microsoft's latest strategy
- Thread starter Techno_Inked
- Start date
GHG
Member
The idea that you have to buy companies just to stay competitive (just because your competitor is) is a flawed one.
It's the age old build vs buy debate. In business when you buy another company you are primarily paying for their past. The reason I say that is because it is people who make companies tick and there is no way you can obligate all the people to stay after making a purchase. As people move around companies change, as do products from said companies.
In the entertainment industry things are fluid, very few IP are evergreen blockbuster sellers. It's just the nature of creative industries, there's always something new around the corner.
There's an opportunity cost involved with making purchases on the scale of Activision/Blizzard. Even if you were to make a purchase for 10 billion that's a hell of a lot of money that could be deployed elsewhere (R&D, studio expansion, etc).
Does anyone realistically think that buying publishers like EA and Take Two would be an efficient use of capital considering their output? Most of EA's studios are bloated inefficient messes, their games prove this year after year. Take Two can only muster up 1 game a generation these days. Yes it would create headlines but that's a short term PR victory and nothing more.
Call of duty is gone, no single purchase will make up for it in the short term, but in the long term there's an opportunity to potentially create their own things that can't be taken away from them.
SSfox
Member
I will say this, i don't care about Activition or Bethesda, but if MS will aquire some big japanese names like SE, Capcom or Bamco, then I can say very safely that Sony is totally fucked.
Those who will aquire the big japanese names will be the winners in the long run.
If Microsoft will be the ones that will aquire those Japanese companies while Sony let this happen and do nothing, then as a big big big PS fan since the beginning of time I'm gonna have to leave the blue ship for the green, i sympathysed with some BS moves from Sony recently but if they will let their ADN go away from them and go to MS, then at that point I can't help and I can't be supportive anymore and i don't think I'll be the only one.
Hopefully Sony aren't dumb enough to let this happen.
Those who will aquire the big japanese names will be the winners in the long run.
If Microsoft will be the ones that will aquire those Japanese companies while Sony let this happen and do nothing, then as a big big big PS fan since the beginning of time I'm gonna have to leave the blue ship for the green, i sympathysed with some BS moves from Sony recently but if they will let their ADN go away from them and go to MS, then at that point I can't help and I can't be supportive anymore and i don't think I'll be the only one.
Hopefully Sony aren't dumb enough to let this happen.
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mansoor1980
Gold Member
simple really
bring back kaz and watch as he wins this war AGAIN for sony with a laugh
bring back kaz and watch as he wins this war AGAIN for sony with a laugh
John Wick
Member
That could work. Get MS gamepass on PSPut Game Pass on Playstation. Put Sony game on Xbox.
Or Sony gamepass on Xbox and PC?
Captain Toad
Banned
That's not how it works. You don't just look what something is "worth" and just buy it.
What makes you think those companies are looking to sell?
John Wick
Member
I'd love it if they bought Kaz back. First thing fire Jimbosimple really
bring back kaz and watch as he wins this war AGAIN for sony with a laugh
Hitchyhero
Banned
I like some Japanese games but not all. I get that Playstation is popular with fans of Japanese games as they are practically non existent on Xbox.
But I think some people are way overestimating the popularity of these games on either platform. Yes those games might pick up a few users here and there but they will never replace the lost money that games like Cod bring in. The Japanese Market is heavily cornered by Nintendo, and even if Sony were to go heavy with those games again, all they would do is split one country of the market. Japanese games just arnt mainstream in western markets. It would be a waste of money to buy a developer to make big budget Japanese games.
But I think some people are way overestimating the popularity of these games on either platform. Yes those games might pick up a few users here and there but they will never replace the lost money that games like Cod bring in. The Japanese Market is heavily cornered by Nintendo, and even if Sony were to go heavy with those games again, all they would do is split one country of the market. Japanese games just arnt mainstream in western markets. It would be a waste of money to buy a developer to make big budget Japanese games.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Sony can and should invest in more first party studios.
The botched first few years of the PS3 forced Sony's hand to invest more in its' internal studios which led to some of the best IPs of the generation.
They can do that again.
If MS's strategy is to acquire as many studios under their first party portfolio and Sony can't afford that, they're better off focusing on the studios and increasing internal teams so their studios can become 2-project-at-a-time studios instead of one, without losing quality where possible.
The botched first few years of the PS3 forced Sony's hand to invest more in its' internal studios which led to some of the best IPs of the generation.
They can do that again.
If MS's strategy is to acquire as many studios under their first party portfolio and Sony can't afford that, they're better off focusing on the studios and increasing internal teams so their studios can become 2-project-at-a-time studios instead of one, without losing quality where possible.
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Team Andromeda
Member
Buy a Series X
Andodalf
Banned
Sony can’t respond in large scale to anything MS does, and if they did it would make it way easier for Ms to buy even more in response. What they need to do is focus on being a premium, brand name company. Xbox is going to be putting out more AAA games. No matter what. What Sony needs to do is keep focusing on big names. Having games like Spider-Man and Starwars exclusive is worth billions of dollars. Yet no one gets mad about monopoly laws for it. I say try to buy or get premium access to more IP, maybe WBs stuff like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
MOTM
Banned
It took 12 months early release for Europe to dump PlayStation and move to the 360. And MS had only been in the game for 5 years.
Casuals don’t have any loyalty to Sony. They’ll go wherever the tide takes them.
Techno_Inked
Member
I don't feel people really read lol. Everyone is saying buy this publisher and that publisher.
Sony barely has enough money to buy 1 publisher, let alone multiple ones.
The whole of Sony has a total of18 billion dollars to spend on strategic partnerships for the whole period of 3 years time. Meaning not just for PlayStation. Getting half of that for PlayStation only would already be super generous. Not to mention the fact that the money is not just for acquisitions and mergers, but also for things like timed exclusives, holding events, etc.
In reality, PlayStation will probably not be able to spend more than 1.5 billion per year. And even that is questionable.
Sony barely has enough money to buy 1 publisher, let alone multiple ones.
The whole of Sony has a total of18 billion dollars to spend on strategic partnerships for the whole period of 3 years time. Meaning not just for PlayStation. Getting half of that for PlayStation only would already be super generous. Not to mention the fact that the money is not just for acquisitions and mergers, but also for things like timed exclusives, holding events, etc.
In reality, PlayStation will probably not be able to spend more than 1.5 billion per year. And even that is questionable.
People seem to forget that most of their games make PROFITS!
It's not some overhead for them.
lastmessiah
Member
Their first party games don’t make anything for them. Certainly not enough to sustain a console business.
Kokoloko85
Member
So they should can take a back seat and watch the rest of the industry be bought off by MS and the bigger companies?
While Playstation buy silly PC porting studios they will lose IP like Resident Evil, Fifa, GTA, MGS, Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat, Tekken etc.
Things like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing selling like it is doing doesnt happen all the time. It didnt happen for Nintendo before either, so they shouldnt rely on it.
PlayStation and Nintendo need to protect some 3rd Party IP otherwise they will be on their own
Interfectum
Member
We are in IP wars so I'd snag as much legacy beloved gaming IP as I could... Capcom, Square, Konami.
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
How did you come out to a purchase price of 4.5 billion?
Punished Miku
Banned
When those fall under the control of California, then we have entered the dark timeline.
Interfectum
Member
It's either Sony or Tencent at this point. Pick your poison.
wowbaggerBR
Member
Yes, they can, provided they want to.
Badlucktroll
Member
I put my faith in this man
HE WILL SAVE US
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
nemiroff
Gold Member
Like more and more people are pointing out this is not just about the short term for the gain of a couple of videogames, it's about the long term future of entertainment. IDK, for the larger scope years ahead Sony might have to partner up with someone bigger than themselves.
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sainraja
Member
I think they are most likely going to merge PS Now & PS+ — that's been a key discussion point of 'Spartacus" but I don't think the first day thing will happen (I will be surprised if it does) and completely agree on the last point, I think they should have a PC storefront; try to establish the PS ecosystem on PC and bring back their cross buy program and have it work retroactively.
I mean they did it with PSN titles going from PS3 to PS4 without any advertisement so they can do it again globally for their titles.
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Punished Miku
Banned
Maybe. They haven't managed to launch a movie / TV streaming service either. Or a music one. Or a successful games one.
They have missed a few major markers. It's possible still, but they need to stop making bad decisions.
Putonahappyface
Gold Member
It won't happen but I'd love to see Sony buy Konami. Every Konami game in their catalogue is a winner more or less.
Punished Miku
Banned
I could see Sony merging with Disney. Then Spider Man will be fully absorbed.
reinking
Gold Member
I agree to a point. Maybe I should have focused more on studio acquisition in my wording instead of IPs. I would not dismiss the past so quickly though. There are select IPs that Sony has relied on in the past and it could harm them if they lose access to them. I will use Final Fantasy as an example. The same thing for some studios. Sony has a handful of studios they have worked well with in the past and it would be a blow to lose those relationships. For convenience, I will use Square as an example. It would absolutely be a blow to Sony if they lost them.
Neo_game
Member
I think they need some military shooter. They have not made any FPS games for a while. So I think that will be their first priority.
Badlucktroll
Member
Playstation relied alot on Metal Gear so much back in the day. I can’t fucking BELIEVE they let it die and become forgotten. Like, it seems like they didnt even try.
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Techno_Inked
Member
So get all the bloat + upkeep cost for 2.86 billion dollars? While really the only thing they want are the Dark Souls and Sekiro IPs? No one pays 2.86 billion dollars for just 2 IPs while having to shoulder and worry bout all the bloat mate.
SF Kosmo
Banned
Sony's problems are not Microsoft's problems. They do not have an issue with a lack of marquee titles to attract games. If they were to make a big acquisition, it wouldn't have to be some giant publisher, it could be like, From Software, Kojima Productions, IO Interactive, or Remedy. They wouldn't have to spend multiple billions, because they aren't hurting for content in the same way as MS, nor are they concerned with buying up back catalogs to fill out GamePass.
If I wanted to be a bit more surgical with regard to plugging specific holes in the lineup, I would say Sony now officially has an FPS problem. MS has CoD, Halo, Doom, Wolfenstein and their associated developers. If Sony wanted to counter that it would be hard. Bungie would be a big coup but they're privately owned and not motivated to sell (but maybe if they way overpaid). Other than that, maybe Crytek or someone, but it gets hard. MS is also flooding their lineup with western RPGs, to where Sony might benefit from having someone like Larian (and building them up into a AAA studio).
If I wanted to be a bit more surgical with regard to plugging specific holes in the lineup, I would say Sony now officially has an FPS problem. MS has CoD, Halo, Doom, Wolfenstein and their associated developers. If Sony wanted to counter that it would be hard. Bungie would be a big coup but they're privately owned and not motivated to sell (but maybe if they way overpaid). Other than that, maybe Crytek or someone, but it gets hard. MS is also flooding their lineup with western RPGs, to where Sony might benefit from having someone like Larian (and building them up into a AAA studio).
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Tiago Rodrigues
Member
People saying Sony doesn't have to do anything aren't paying attention.
Yes it's important to create new IPs and use the ones they have but Sony needs to make sure they won't lose access to IPs that don't belong to them and have always been related to Playstation somehow and keeps people invested in their ecosystem.
Paying for a cute year isn't enough when companies are literally cutting Sony from ever having their games on their ecosystem.
This is a race for IPs and it's a race Sony NEEDS to be a part of. They have the upperhand with Japanese companies...that's for sure what they should pursue.
Imagine the nightmares if MS somehow gets a hold of Capcom or Square-Enix.
Unfortunately the days of having plenty of 3rd party publishers in the market is done. This won't end here. It's a war for content. People thinking Sony can just ignore that? No.
Unless they realize what's best for their business is being a publisher only...but i don't think they would do that.
Sony can't keep having IPs denied to their eco-system and having 3 or 4 AAA titles per year, lmao. Now? For sure...but that's not a long-term plan for them to have. They know this.
Yes it's important to create new IPs and use the ones they have but Sony needs to make sure they won't lose access to IPs that don't belong to them and have always been related to Playstation somehow and keeps people invested in their ecosystem.
Paying for a cute year isn't enough when companies are literally cutting Sony from ever having their games on their ecosystem.
This is a race for IPs and it's a race Sony NEEDS to be a part of. They have the upperhand with Japanese companies...that's for sure what they should pursue.
Imagine the nightmares if MS somehow gets a hold of Capcom or Square-Enix.
Unfortunately the days of having plenty of 3rd party publishers in the market is done. This won't end here. It's a war for content. People thinking Sony can just ignore that? No.
Unless they realize what's best for their business is being a publisher only...but i don't think they would do that.
Sony can't keep having IPs denied to their eco-system and having 3 or 4 AAA titles per year, lmao. Now? For sure...but that's not a long-term plan for them to have. They know this.
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
You have to understand Sega had a hardcore console fanbase once. A lot of those people are still in denial 20 years after its death.
Sega is a relic of the past. SE and Capcom are indeed better choices.
Patrick S.
Banned
Man, lemme get back to you. I need to schedule an appointment next week to read that opening post first 
Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
They must rescue and have more studios.
Bring back Japan Studio in first place and Kojima productions
And remove Jim Ryan.
Bring back Japan Studio in first place and Kojima productions
And remove Jim Ryan.
yurinka
Member
Sony doesn't need to react, they only need to continue with their current strategy of focusing on consoles and dominating MS on console:
-Even adding ABK to MS gaming division and assuming all their games continue on PS (that won't happen), their revenue will be smaller than Sony's game division, Tencent and Sony are still bigger than them
-Sony consoles have 2x the userbase of MS as they did last gen
-Merging Plus and Now, Spartacus will start having 2X the subs than Gamepass
-Sony sold over 1700 games for their console, more than any other console in gaming history
-Sony PS4 exclusives won a ton of gotys and like half a dozen of them sold over 15-20M
-Sony doesn't need to spend dozens of billions buying IP, they have a ton of successful ones and frequently creates new ones
-Movies, TV shows, ports of old PC games, VR and mobile are good to grow the fanbase (even if most of them don't buy the console) and generate extra profit
So I think they should continue doing basically the same they had planned to do:
-Continue growing their internal teams, adding manpower to make more GOTY candidate and winners
-Continue acquiring partners (gamedev/porting/outsourcing studios) who previously did work for them with exclusives, that may help grow in new areas or genres or that will support the main teams
-Merging Plus and Now, throw on top hundreds of games more from all their generations (even if PS1/PSP/PS3 are cloud only) and add a new tier available worldwide that would be PS Now without cloud gaming, so would include all the PS2/PS4/PS5 games that can be downloaded. So a bas Gamepass like tier
-Release Spartacus (the cloud gaming tier) on smartphones, tablets, smart tvs and open it to a few contries more
-Reveal and release PSVR2 solving many of the issues PSVR1 had
-Try to solve the chip shortages issues asap and build new factories to manufacture a shit ton of consoles once chips became available
-Release GOTY candidate games like Horizon 2, GT7 and GOWR and show the ones for H2/next year
-Release PC ports of old big exclusives like GoW and Uncharted 4 and show the ones for H2/next year (I assume Spider-Man 1, TLOU)
-Release movies and TV shows like the Metal Gear, Uncharted and TLOU ones and announce new ones (GoW, Horizon)
-Keep supporting eSports with the Tournaments feature, EVO and getting -sometimes exclusivity- on FGC games
-Keep releasing big 3rd party exlusive and keep signing many more
-Help the indies and their relationship and conditions with Sony (Yoshida is working on it) regarding the costs, amount of paperwork needed to publish and store visibility issues
Now instead of being realistic, on a more fanboy way regarding acquisitions I'd buy in this order:
1) Capcom (+Dimps for Street Fighter) (current top games and movies, tons of classic IPs, legacy classics for PS Now)
2) Kadokawa (From Soft, manga/anime IPs, IPs like Sekiro or Tenchu and many small Japanese studios and games)
3) Sega (Yakuza, Persona and tons of classic IP, legacy classics for PS Now)
4) Kojipro (games + anime + movies)
5) Square Enix (with proper management they can do great things, tons of classic IPs, legacy classics for PS Now)
6) ARC System Works (more 1st party FGC, to use their anime IPs on fighting games)
7) Quantic Dream (I love their games, can't wait for the Star Wars one)
8) Supermassive (loved Until Dawn, make a sequel)
9) If the first Firewalk/Deviation/Haven game is great and sells, buy them
10) Give a 2nd party to Ember Lab and help them grow. It the game is great a sells, buy them
11) Hire the remaining former Psygnosis / SCE Liverpool / Evolution / Bizarre Creation staff that was there at least leads/top senior and now are at Lucid and Codemaster, send them to Firesprite to make brand new Wipeout, Motorstorm and Rollcage games with the plenty of former Psygnosis/SCE Liverpool/Evolution/Bizare Creations staff that already is there
-Even adding ABK to MS gaming division and assuming all their games continue on PS (that won't happen), their revenue will be smaller than Sony's game division, Tencent and Sony are still bigger than them
-Sony consoles have 2x the userbase of MS as they did last gen
-Merging Plus and Now, Spartacus will start having 2X the subs than Gamepass
-Sony sold over 1700 games for their console, more than any other console in gaming history
-Sony PS4 exclusives won a ton of gotys and like half a dozen of them sold over 15-20M
-Sony doesn't need to spend dozens of billions buying IP, they have a ton of successful ones and frequently creates new ones
-Movies, TV shows, ports of old PC games, VR and mobile are good to grow the fanbase (even if most of them don't buy the console) and generate extra profit
So I think they should continue doing basically the same they had planned to do:
-Continue growing their internal teams, adding manpower to make more GOTY candidate and winners
-Continue acquiring partners (gamedev/porting/outsourcing studios) who previously did work for them with exclusives, that may help grow in new areas or genres or that will support the main teams
-Merging Plus and Now, throw on top hundreds of games more from all their generations (even if PS1/PSP/PS3 are cloud only) and add a new tier available worldwide that would be PS Now without cloud gaming, so would include all the PS2/PS4/PS5 games that can be downloaded. So a bas Gamepass like tier
-Release Spartacus (the cloud gaming tier) on smartphones, tablets, smart tvs and open it to a few contries more
-Reveal and release PSVR2 solving many of the issues PSVR1 had
-Try to solve the chip shortages issues asap and build new factories to manufacture a shit ton of consoles once chips became available
-Release GOTY candidate games like Horizon 2, GT7 and GOWR and show the ones for H2/next year
-Release PC ports of old big exclusives like GoW and Uncharted 4 and show the ones for H2/next year (I assume Spider-Man 1, TLOU)
-Release movies and TV shows like the Metal Gear, Uncharted and TLOU ones and announce new ones (GoW, Horizon)
-Keep supporting eSports with the Tournaments feature, EVO and getting -sometimes exclusivity- on FGC games
-Keep releasing big 3rd party exlusive and keep signing many more
-Help the indies and their relationship and conditions with Sony (Yoshida is working on it) regarding the costs, amount of paperwork needed to publish and store visibility issues
Now instead of being realistic, on a more fanboy way regarding acquisitions I'd buy in this order:
1) Capcom (+Dimps for Street Fighter) (current top games and movies, tons of classic IPs, legacy classics for PS Now)
2) Kadokawa (From Soft, manga/anime IPs, IPs like Sekiro or Tenchu and many small Japanese studios and games)
3) Sega (Yakuza, Persona and tons of classic IP, legacy classics for PS Now)
4) Kojipro (games + anime + movies)
5) Square Enix (with proper management they can do great things, tons of classic IPs, legacy classics for PS Now)
6) ARC System Works (more 1st party FGC, to use their anime IPs on fighting games)
7) Quantic Dream (I love their games, can't wait for the Star Wars one)
8) Supermassive (loved Until Dawn, make a sequel)
9) If the first Firewalk/Deviation/Haven game is great and sells, buy them
10) Give a 2nd party to Ember Lab and help them grow. It the game is great a sells, buy them
11) Hire the remaining former Psygnosis / SCE Liverpool / Evolution / Bizarre Creation staff that was there at least leads/top senior and now are at Lucid and Codemaster, send them to Firesprite to make brand new Wipeout, Motorstorm and Rollcage games with the plenty of former Psygnosis/SCE Liverpool/Evolution/Bizare Creations staff that already is there
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