That is exactly what I was thinking too
Square Enix Makes Strategic Investment on Cloud Gaming Platform Blacknut
Square Enix has made an investment in B2B2C Cloud Gaming Platform Blacknut. The investment was made to prepare for the future.
wccftech.com
they help them to build the cloud infrastructure
And Blacknut was one of the auspicious omissions from Microsoft's 10-year-deal COD offerings. To the point where it kind of became a meme (Jezz GMG reference x3).
Cool more people get the chance to play a great game.
Those people already had the chance to play that great game for the past 13 years, for the other platforms it was available on during that time.
If there was someone genuinely refusing to play it on PS or PC out of spite, just to maybe finally get it on Xbox, they weren't ever genuinely interested in the first place.
well if Sony really lets one of their closest 3rd party allies slip away from then then sure we should trash on Sony. But this news by no means indicates that, and people are already freaked out.
I agree that it doesn't necessarily indicate it. But, I think it feeds off of other news and events we've seen transpire with Microsoft & Xbox the past few months, certain narratives of which they have been very vocal in driving control of discourse-wise online. Things that play into optics that don't necessarily do Sony any favors.
The fact we aren't seeing equivalent announcements or moves from Sony to more strategically secure 3P content that their platform would benefit from, is a bit telling. I'm not even talking acquisitions here; taking up more strategic partnerships or doing some key investments, or bringing back some legacy IP working with solid developers, doesn't require them to wait until November. They don't require an M&A expert hire.
They could be doing that stuff right now, and announcements in quick order. Stuff to show they want to solidify content legacy and strike strong chords with the enthusiasts in the fanbase, stuff that shows they are valuing their past (not just their past, but legacy stuff of 3P that was vital in helping define PlayStation as a brand) in ways that matter.
There's plenty there they could be doing that doesn't require an immediate publisher or even developer acquisition, and they could've been doing that many months ago. They haven't though, which is why we don't have announcements, and that's starting to get rather concerning.