CD Projekt Red is ripe for that taking

[Remember_Spinal]

Its only a matter of time, so decide should sony buy the last surviving major independent WRPG company who also happens to have a pc store front or let someone else snatch them up by the end of the year?

A new report from Business Insider Poland paints a grim picture for CD Projekt: the company's value has cratered by over 75% since just before the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. A business that once boasted a market capitalisation of over 40 billion Polish złoty—briefly becoming the most valuable games company in Europe—is now worth less than zł10 billion.

In simpler terms, this basically means that the reception of Cyberpunk 2077 and CDP's subsequent firefighting of the problems has shorn off 5 years' of the company's overall value.

I’ll let you know now, CDPR will not have the funding to take them all the way to the end of Witcher 4 development. If they do the game will be severely under funded and rushed out due to desperation. They will most likely seek an investment through a 3rd party, and that will most likely result in outright buying the company. Right now, its very likely Embracer, NetEase, and Tencent are planning on acquiring over 200 studios this year. Very possible CDPR is apart of that.

Positives for Sony

• A WRPG dev that can rival the popularity and sales potential of Elder Scrolls
• A PC Storefront they can repurpose for their Playstation PC Storefront
• A popular multimedia IP, two of them, thats if they can secure the tv/movie rights for witcher and cyberpunk
• A good mobile studio developer
• A Eastern European Studio (Polish) that they can use to expand in Europe
• They are currently dirt cheap as you can see in the article above (CD Projekt - $1.98 Billion)

Positives for CD Projekt Red

• Signing with sony instantly repairs their reputation
• Saves them from worrying about funding, bad management, being slaves to the polish government
• Gives them more time to make better games, aren’t depending on shipping asap to keep the lights on
• External studio support, less pressure on internal staff
• Due to rebuilding their reputation it will be easier to hire staff, i doubt anyone is dying to work there to work on Witcher 4 in the above conditions
• They get to keep their licensing, versus what could possibly happen if all the above dont come to fruition
• Working for Sony is probably better than the alternative, considering most studios claim Sony gives them complete freedom

I will bet that by the end of the year someone purchases them.

 

[kyliethicc]

would be such a waste of money

 

[Remember_Spinal]

would be such a waste of money

People only say that because of the way cyberpunk launched. In an alternative universe cyberpunk is managed much better and those 14 million sales are doubled by now.

Likewise, no one would have shrugged their shoulders at them after the release of witcher 3 and all the award winning expansions. I still feel like there is no other studio out there that can do Bethesda style rpg games better than they can.

 

[kyliethicc]

People only say that because of the way cyberpunk launched. In an alternative universe cyberpunk is managed much better and those 14 million sales are doubled by now.

Likewise, no one would have shrugged their shoulders at them after the release of witcher 3 and all the award winning expansions. I still feel like there is no other studio out there that can do Bethesda style rpg games better than they can.

They have like 1000 employees. Waste of money, and even worse - adding bloat.

I also have no idea why people want so much consolidation.

And since I own a PS5, I can already play their games. Sony buying them adds nothing for me.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

They have like 1000 employees.

Like Bungie.

People want consolidation because the competition made sure we can’t play 90% of western RPG’s on our console. Who’s to say they don’t buy BioWare once the Activision deal goes through?

Sony need to fill the gaps that are filling up from what Microsoft is doing

 

[Muddasar]

Like Bungie.

People want consolidation because the competition made sure we can’t play 90% of western RPG’s on our console. Who’s to say they don’t buy BioWare once the Activision deal goes through?

Sony need to fill the gaps that are filling up from what Microsoft is doing

Larian Studios would be a better buy.

A lot cheaper too.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

Larian Studios would be a better buy.

A lot cheaper too.

They are pc centric, the thing most people here hate. Very high odds they would even release a pc version of their game before a console version, like whats currently going on with age of empires IV.

CDPR’s style of rpg is much more in line with what Sony does than Larian. Where its very cinematic and flashy plus they already co-develop on pc and console

 

[Muddasar]

They are pc centric the thing most people here hate. Very high odds they would even release a pc version of their game before a console version, like whats currently going on with age of empires IV

True but I don’t see why that would be an issue once acquired. Sony will be calling the shots.

CDPR would cost billions to acquire.

Realistically after Bungie I only see Sony buying one more billion plus dollar acquisition.

Rather Sony spent that on Square Enix and get a cheap WRPG team like Larian.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

True but I don’t see why that would be an issue once acquired. Sony will be calling the shots.

CDPR would cost billions to acquire.

Realistically after Bungie I only see Sony buying one more billion plus dollar acquisition.

Rather Sony spent that on Square Enix and get a cheap WRPG team like Larian.

Realistically the price sony would pay for CD Projekt Red right now would be a steal. This how how they currently rank in the market.

Market cap of Sony and possible M&A targets​

Sony - $101.79 Billion
EA - $34.42 Billion
Take 2 - $20.16 Billion
Konami - $7.11 Billion
Capcom - $5.51 Billion
Square Enix - $5.38 Billion
Ubisoft - $4.91 Billion
Sega - $3.45 Billion
Kadokawa - $3.09 Billion (parent company of FromSoftware)
CD Projekt - $1.98 Billion

It would cost Sony a 3rd of the price to purchase CDPR as it would Square Enix or Capcom. Sony has damn near already invested their total marketshare in Epic over the last two years. There is no way its more realistic for sony to spend 7-8 billion on a japanese publisher than it is for them to spend 2-3 on CDPR, considering witcher 3 alone has sold over 40 million copies. I don’t think the combined sales of square enix’ s biggest releases of the last 4 years amounted to that much.

And Larian is even more niche, they have sold maybe 1.5 million copies of Divinity 2 which is their breakout hit. Thats great for a kickstarted sequel of a game but for a company like Sony it’s peanuts. Its the same strategy Microsoft used to snatch up Activision/Blizzard only on a micro level. The company is hurting so they don’t command a premium on top of market value.

The Witcher 3 is still the best WRPG released of the last generation and i refuse to believe it was a fluke because it had what amounts to almost two sequels in expansions since it released. Both Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine could be full on games if they wanted them to be an they are better written and playing than the main campaign

 

[kyliethicc]

Like Bungie.

People want consolidation because the competition made sure we can’t play 90% of western RPG’s on our console. Who’s to say they don’t buy BioWare once the Activision deal goes through?

Sony need to fill the gaps that are filling up from what Microsoft is doing

Sony buying Bungie did nothing for me. Nothing changes for us as players. Your dream of a Sony with like 10,000 employees making 100 games at once will just result in lower quality games. It’s an impossible task for management. And on top of that, it’s a bunch of devs/pubs centralized into one, which is often bad for the art form.

And BioWare hasn’t made a good game in like 10 years lol

 

[Remember_Spinal]

Your dream of a Sony with like 10,000 employees making 100 games at once will just result in lower quality games. It’s an impossible task for management.

Huh, I’m not the one proposing they buy square enix, ubisoft, capcom, take two. Etc. I made a case for them buying a publisher the size of bungie who are currently working on two games, with one of them being a mobile card game.

Nothing i said relates to them absorbing thousands of employees with thousands of projects. In fact, i feel very strongly that sony would not purchase a publisher bigger than Bungie which is why CDPR makes sense

Its also very likely that in the case that they do buy a bigger publisher they will stay multiplatform (which people here will hate) and remain mostly untouched by SIE. Which will be just as ‘boring’ as Bungies acquisition was.

 

[kyliethicc]

Huh, I’m not the one proposing they buy square enix, ubisoft, capcom, take two. Etc. I made a case for them buying a publisher the size of bungie who are currently working on two games, with one of them being a mobile card game.

Nothing i said relates to them absorbing thousands of employees with thousands of projects. In fact, i feel very strongly that sony would not purchase a publisher bigger than Bungie which is why CDPR makes sense

Its also very likely that in the case that they do buy a bigger publisher they will stay multiplatform (which people here will hate) and remain mostly untouched by SIE. Which will be just as ‘boring’ as Bungies acquisition was.

You’re either saying you want Hermen Hulst to have an extra 1000+ employees to pay and manage, which is a terrible poison pill to swallow just so Witcher 4 isn’t on Xbox. Or you want it to be like Bungie, which is that case literally nothing changes for you when you buy Witcher 4. And that could still end up stretching Sony’s resources and focus too thin.

 

[Dr Bass]

I don’t want Sony or Microsoft buying any more companies. This is not normal.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

You’re either saying you want Hermen Hulst to have an extra 1000+ employees to pay and manage, which is a terrible poison pill to swallow just so Witcher 4 isn’t on Xbox. Or you want it to be like Bungie, which is that case literally nothing changes for you when you buy Witcher 4. And that could still end up stretching Sony’s resources and focus too thin.

I don’t want Sony or Microsoft buying any more companies. This is not normal.

I mean, the point is is that they both are and will. Both Phil Spencer and Jim Ryan were very vocal that there are more coming. The only reason people are speculating and getting whipped up into a fervor is because its happening.

And yeah, I’d rather see Sony get a WRPG studio for the simple fact that the entire genre has been consolidated to one platform and like i said in the OP there are more benefits to buying a dev in Poland other than just getting Witcher.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

EA - $34.42 Billion
Take 2 - $20.16 Billion
Konami - $7.11 Billion
Capcom - $5.51 Billion
Square Enix - $5.38 Billion
Ubisoft - $4.91 Billion
Sega - $3.45 Billion
Kadokawa - $3.09 Billion (parent company of FromSoftware)
CD Projekt - $1.98 Billion

Yes at this price they should get it fast before MS gets them. Along with Square, Capcom and From

Actually, I was in the AccountNGT discord a few months ago and someone there said Sony was in talk with CDPR. Probably all BS but still the rumor was out there already

And since I own a PS5, I can already play their games. Sony buying them adds nothing for me.

MS will get them 100% then and make another Wrpg exclusive. They are not stopping.

 

[kyliethicc]

Yes at this price they should get it fast before MS gets them. Along with Square, Capcom and From

Actually, I was in the AccountNGT discord a few months ago and someone there said Sony was in talk with CDPR. Probably all BS but still the rumor was out there already

MS will get them 100% then and make another Wrpg exclusive. They are not stopping.

Eh I don’t care.

The Witcher 3 was an average game. Forgettable story and sub-par combat. I never got the hype.

And CyberPunk looks like it’s pretty mediocre, tho I haven’t played it.

Won’t anytime soon either since it launched broken and unfinished.

 

[Deleted member 140]

If they could combine the wonderful worlds and characters from CDPRs games with the level of polish and incredible visuals from first party Sony titles...

 

[Bryank75]

They have like 1000 employees. Waste of money, and even worse - adding bloat.

I also have no idea why people want so much consolidation.

And since I own a PS5, I can already play their games. Sony buying them adds nothing for me.

Like Bungie but labor is way cheaper in Poland due to cost of living etc.

 

[Deleted member 223]

2B is still too high imo for them but it's much much cheaper than when they were overvalued.

I would have to be in the room looking at their financials, the state of the studio, their current/future project to be really sold for $2 Billion.

 

[Muddasar]

After paying 3.6 billion for Bungie there is no chance CDPR will go for anything less considering it's Western developer and the amount of interest from other parties.

Only place Sony has no competition is Japan and realistically can get a publisher for a good price since the likes of Microsoft have no chance of getting one cause of Japanese laws.