As the thread title says; what should Sony do now that the acquisition is more or less inevitable?
How should Sony respond to the ABK acquisition, now that it is imminent?
- Thread starter Bryank75
- Start date
-Acquire square enix
-Invest up to 20 percent stock buys of capcom
-Buy castlevania off of Konami
-Look for next “from software” of up coming developers
-Increase stock percentage of from software and/or buy what’s left
-Invest a hefty amount into either EA or Epic
-Acquire a western rpg studio
-Invest up to 20 percent stock buys of capcom
-Buy castlevania off of Konami
-Look for next “from software” of up coming developers
-Increase stock percentage of from software and/or buy what’s left
-Invest a hefty amount into either EA or Epic
-Acquire a western rpg studio
Double down on what made them so prominent during half of the ps3 era and all of PS4 era which is focusing on great sp games with good mp components, growing their inner studios to several teams each (so one company is working on two or three diff projects) and investing and buying studios they have had good relationships with.
Acquire Firehike Studio, Firetalk Studio, Firestrike Studio and Firehawk Studio.
D
Deleted member 223
Guest
Fire Jim/Herman. Kill PC ports. Downsize GAAS push. Start acquiring and dealing. Rectify release clauses. Remake the whole marketing dept top to bottom. Start planning a soft coup at Bungie.
The obsession with in house gaas is a huge mistake. They should publish already established teams new gaas instead of wasting first party talent on chasing a trend. Besides the last of us remake, naughty dog will be Mia this generation because they spent some much time on factions only for it not to work out.
They’re good for now but their current direction is questionable. They have no rpg studios and are counting on marvel ips as big selling points for the foreseeable future. I think a gaas studio is already established from say South Korea or something makes sense but Sony needs to keep certain Japanese publishers close too.
They should’ve been locking down key partners in the interim that ms was stuck fighting regulators but instead they’ve tripled down on gaas none sense and acquiring 10 people studios.
They’re good for now but their current direction is questionable. They have no rpg studios and are counting on marvel ips as big selling points for the foreseeable future. I think a gaas studio is already established from say South Korea or something makes sense but Sony needs to keep certain Japanese publishers close too.
They should’ve been locking down key partners in the interim that ms was stuck fighting regulators but instead they’ve tripled down on gaas none sense and acquiring 10 people studios.
I don't think Bungie needs a soft coup; they're successful at GaaS for a reason. But I agree with most of the rest you mention. Unsure what to make of Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst; they obviously have experience for pumping up the short-term revenue and profits but they may not have the best vision for long-term growth and self-sufficient stability of PlayStation.
Also think they need to do more with communicating with the community, like bringing back PlayStation Experience, and maybe having an official weekly PlayStation podcast. Microsoft's astroturfing strategy of installing influencers throughout gaming media may be slimy AF, but it's also been to their benefit in controlling a lot of public narratives, like with this ABK acquisition at current.
Sony don't need to stoop down to MS's level, but they should consider doing more in connecting with the fanbase than they currently seem to be doing.
TBH they are not gonna respond the way we want.
The gloves were off when Bethesda was purchased. And they done nothing really. Bungie was a minimum.
If Sony are smart ( Which Im not calling them ) they will go for PUBLISHERS that Xbox is interested in. Otherwise we all know now, its free buying for MS. They will be buying publishers year after year and if you think fair play or monopoly or courts are gonna stop them you are naive.
Fuck buying Square, Ubisoft etc. MS doesnt care about them and the games are mostly on PS.
Depends what you want to lose to MS. Mortal Kombat? Witcher and CDPR next projects? Yakuza, Persona, Sonic? Because MS is gonna buy them next.
FromSoft would be smart but doubt Sony is gonna do anything and they arent even a publisher…
The gloves were off when Bethesda was purchased. And they done nothing really. Bungie was a minimum.
If Sony are smart ( Which Im not calling them ) they will go for PUBLISHERS that Xbox is interested in. Otherwise we all know now, its free buying for MS. They will be buying publishers year after year and if you think fair play or monopoly or courts are gonna stop them you are naive.
Fuck buying Square, Ubisoft etc. MS doesnt care about them and the games are mostly on PS.
Depends what you want to lose to MS. Mortal Kombat? Witcher and CDPR next projects? Yakuza, Persona, Sonic? Because MS is gonna buy them next.
FromSoft would be smart but doubt Sony is gonna do anything and they arent even a publisher…
They need to stop fucking around with live service games and show us their first party games.
Its pretty easy to understand why they want a Gaas Hit. Something half of Fortnite or Apex Legends could be easily enough profits to fund most PS studios and there future projects. It would make more profits then there big hits together
They basically need one of the Gaas games to be a hit and a couple to do well for big success
Doubt Capcom would sell because they want to keep it in the family.
But if Sony is Smart they woud invest to gain 10-20% of publishers like Capcom, Square, Konami IP, Sega, CDPR etc etc whoever to at least secure they won’t lose those games to MS in the future. Because that is going to happen, MS gonna slowly buy them all
FromSoft should of been bought years ago
D
Deleted member 223
Guest
Lock Marvel/DC Superheros as much as possible. PlayStation needs to be the "superhero" console. Aka start dealing with Disney more seriously. Start dealing with Warner Gaming more seriously. Get something from the Star Wars IP that's not an old as remake with a no name studio. The problem now is not so much getting the IP rights even... it's who's going to develop it? Sony is undermanned.
Wishlist: Fromsoft, CDPR, Larian, Ubisoft (Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, A-Creed, The Division - key shooter IPs) and Warner Gaming with IP right deals for 2 decades +. Settle for half of that least. Konami IP's bought and paid for. Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania as a AAAA J/WRPG hybrid is a most. Contra on the backburner for an AAA FPS - studio unknown. Konami is in the gutter now, no better time to buy those IPs.
Kill PC ports, redirect all development resources to ensure that the release schedule on PS is consistent and there is a stream of first party exclusive content that i's punctual. Every single dev should be focused on making either content, or speeding the development process of titles for PS. Any division of labor with PC are wasted resources. It's a matter of prioritizing the golden goose or chasing peace regime dreams of endless cash in a non-peace regime. If MS acquires ABK, SIE will be massively undermanned for content release. Third party deals ain't gonna cut it nor are they a long term solution - they're a stop-gap measure that assumes status quo. The second the status quo changes they're ineffectual and prohibitive - as MS figured out when they fell from grace.
Bungie will have to brought to heel, at least releasing on Xbox pending the end result of COD. You know damn well MS will do shenanigans with the IP no matter the promises. There is no such thing as unilateral disarmament. You have to meet fire with fire. It's the human way - everything else is an illusion. One side imposes their will on the other. Business are no different as long as humans man it.
The war is for the western audience that consumes FPS and WRPGs. The two most popular ones - go figure. It's a strategic play.
MS has more or less, if the deal passes, and there is no divestiture, cornered the WRPG market, and taken a huge chunk of the FPS market.
SIE's marketing department needs to go, top to bottom. The control by MS of the gaming media in the West has to be challenged - it's crystal clear during this merger process that it's rotten to the core and MS has a firm control of it. It's dirty, it's pay to play and all of it in between. It's human corruption - yes, welcome to reality. It has to be done. Find the personal willing to get dirty and device the strategy to do so. MS has clearly done it with their team. Adapt or sink.
And for the love of God don't waste time and resources buying Square Enix. Opportunity cost is knocking, every cent, every second counts.
Wishlist: Fromsoft, CDPR, Larian, Ubisoft (Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, A-Creed, The Division - key shooter IPs) and Warner Gaming with IP right deals for 2 decades +. Settle for half of that least. Konami IP's bought and paid for. Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania as a AAAA J/WRPG hybrid is a most. Contra on the backburner for an AAA FPS - studio unknown. Konami is in the gutter now, no better time to buy those IPs.
Kill PC ports, redirect all development resources to ensure that the release schedule on PS is consistent and there is a stream of first party exclusive content that i's punctual. Every single dev should be focused on making either content, or speeding the development process of titles for PS. Any division of labor with PC are wasted resources. It's a matter of prioritizing the golden goose or chasing peace regime dreams of endless cash in a non-peace regime. If MS acquires ABK, SIE will be massively undermanned for content release. Third party deals ain't gonna cut it nor are they a long term solution - they're a stop-gap measure that assumes status quo. The second the status quo changes they're ineffectual and prohibitive - as MS figured out when they fell from grace.
Bungie will have to brought to heel, at least releasing on Xbox pending the end result of COD. You know damn well MS will do shenanigans with the IP no matter the promises. There is no such thing as unilateral disarmament. You have to meet fire with fire. It's the human way - everything else is an illusion. One side imposes their will on the other. Business are no different as long as humans man it.
The war is for the western audience that consumes FPS and WRPGs. The two most popular ones - go figure. It's a strategic play.
MS has more or less, if the deal passes, and there is no divestiture, cornered the WRPG market, and taken a huge chunk of the FPS market.
SIE's marketing department needs to go, top to bottom. The control by MS of the gaming media in the West has to be challenged - it's crystal clear during this merger process that it's rotten to the core and MS has a firm control of it. It's dirty, it's pay to play and all of it in between. It's human corruption - yes, welcome to reality. It has to be done. Find the personal willing to get dirty and device the strategy to do so. MS has clearly done it with their team. Adapt or sink.
And for the love of God don't waste time and resources buying Square Enix. Opportunity cost is knocking, every cent, every second counts.
Last edited by a moderator:
Short term, do nothing. Sony is the market leader selling twice as much as MS. Spencer has said it clearly: There's no individual game, as big as it might be, that will make a gamer jump ship. Besides I don't think MS will take away Activision/Blizzard biggest games from Sony. The money makers have a heavy online component. Community is key. Those games that are larger than life, like COD, Diablo and more will remain on Playstation. MS is not that interested on list wars, they want to leech revenue from Sony. But they need the host alive and healthy to do so.
They might use the smaller IPs to release new games as Xbox exclusives to put them on GP. Games like Crash, Spyro and others.
Mid term they should cut the crap and cancel stuff like Project Q and those new GaaS for everything but Bungie. Bungie is your tried and true GaaS factory, let them focus on that. Naughty Dog and other Single Player studios have no business wasting time in online games. Those require a constant stream of content. Lots of manhours wasted. The number and quality of SP games will suffer, there's no way around it.
They might use the smaller IPs to release new games as Xbox exclusives to put them on GP. Games like Crash, Spyro and others.
Mid term they should cut the crap and cancel stuff like Project Q and those new GaaS for everything but Bungie. Bungie is your tried and true GaaS factory, let them focus on that. Naughty Dog and other Single Player studios have no business wasting time in online games. Those require a constant stream of content. Lots of manhours wasted. The number and quality of SP games will suffer, there's no way around it.
Agreed. Except Ubisoft
They’d better be off buying Warner Games because MS is gonna come after Mortal Kombat next. And probably CDPR and Sega. At the very least invest in those company for a share so they don’t lose IPs in the future because MS is coming after them all
Pretty sure Epic is more in bed with MS then Sony.
Definitely Square Enix, maybe Cyberconnect, developers they worked closely with like Nihom Falcom. I'd say Sega but all they need from them are Atlus I'd say Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio but that studio is going downhill.
Idk what’s gonna happen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Game Pass does a Netflix. The effects on Sony won’t be felt immediately, we will see it in 5 or so years. I wonder if Sony is now gonna start doing real acquisitions or just keep buying small studios no one has ever heard of. They can’t keep relying on The Last of Us, God of War and Marvel Games & de-makes. They need diversity. I’m sort of happy that we may see new FPS games to challenge COD in the future.
People absolutely have short term memories, and forget how much garbage Microsoft has released. The Xbox 360 had a 55% hardware failure rate. They couldn't care less about the consumer.
I’m not saying this will happen, but these acquisitions could see Microsoft single handedly destroying Western game development as we know it. Remember EA buying out BioWare? They have never recovered. Redfall scares the hell out of me, because Arkane was known for its hits, gets bought out and all of a sudden releases the worst junk they’ve put out.
Again, I’m not trying to be a fearmonger, but the potential is there. The future of gaming is already altered with the acquisitions they’ve made. I’m crossing my fingers that Starfield makes me feel a lot more confident in Microsoft’s management. I loved Obsidian but The Outer Worlds was a serious let down for me, as well. So yeah, I’m a little nervous.
People absolutely have short term memories, and forget how much garbage Microsoft has released. The Xbox 360 had a 55% hardware failure rate. They couldn't care less about the consumer.
I’m not saying this will happen, but these acquisitions could see Microsoft single handedly destroying Western game development as we know it. Remember EA buying out BioWare? They have never recovered. Redfall scares the hell out of me, because Arkane was known for its hits, gets bought out and all of a sudden releases the worst junk they’ve put out.
Again, I’m not trying to be a fearmonger, but the potential is there. The future of gaming is already altered with the acquisitions they’ve made. I’m crossing my fingers that Starfield makes me feel a lot more confident in Microsoft’s management. I loved Obsidian but The Outer Worlds was a serious let down for me, as well. So yeah, I’m a little nervous.
Thing is MS/Xbox isnt buying just an indiviual game. They are buying libraries of huge IP’s and will keep doing so.
They will. Plus they will put there games on gamepass
i never understand why folks dont want sony to invest in live service.
COD is live service, SIE made $1.8 billion on it alone last year. Live services needs to be a focus for SIE going forward. If they get a 1st party live service game that catches on they will be better off, that includes us and the devs that make single player games in-house for sony.
Where do you think some of that live service rev will go?