Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions

[Playstation Sucka]

You said walkmanned but even during 360 PS3 sold a lot they won't be walkmanned but they may become dependent on someone else for their business profitability or turnover henceforth them investing in gaas also they should look into a publisher like Embracer which sounds shit but they got workforce they are cheaper and they got big IPs

 

[gokuss4]

Maybe playstation will merge with Nintendo

 

[Playstation Sucka]

Maybe playstation will merge with Nintendo

Regulators will reject it on the go

 

[Eternal_Wings]

I am predicting nobody from America will be able to buy a Japanese publisher. Sega said they are not interested (politely). Capcom said and mentioned Microsoft, they would decline.
Koei is niche, so I don’t see them getting bought. Bandai is too big, they are massive toy maker. Doubt anyone from America will try to buy them. Let’s be real if Square Enix looks to sell, they would want the purchaser to be Japanese. If Square ever looks to sell it will be Sony, there is no doubt. Konami doesn’t want to sell, because similar to Capcom owned by a family. They also have hotels, cafés, resorts and pachinko halls. So unlikely someone would approach them. Second you know A COMPANY NEEDS TO BE WILLING TO SELL? Hostile takeovers are being blocked fast in Japan.

 

[Puff]

I hate to say it but I feel like we are witnessing the slow, inevitable consolidation of the games industry in the same way it happened to movies. Microsoft being the monopolist that they are have opened the floodgates. All other American big tech are going to buy a publisher now to take a stab at gaming and of course it’s going to fail.

I think it’s too little too late for Sony to try and keep up with the big boys now. It’s unbelievable they couldn’t see this was the inevitable future and started to plan accordingly securing key ip from partners, whatever that would look like. Best Sony can hope for is the Japanese government blocks Japanese publishers from being bought but Microsoft will use the US government to strong arm them too. Sony is just going to stay the course, but a small studio and try to make them be the next big thing but worse yet because it will be a gaas game nobody wants.

Worse yet for Sony this generation has been a wash in establishing new ip to make up for lost ones. Most of Sonys out out has been sequels and remakes. Also now regulators are aware of how well they are doing compared to Microsoft. Again, in instead of getting their own house in order preparing for the inevitable future, they decided to complain and bring attention to themselves.

Best they can do now is probably invest like 10-15 percent in Japanese publishers but even that seems like a fever dream at this point. We’re well past Sony will buy SE as a reprisal, especially now with the new ceo cozying up to MS. Sony sat on their laurels and decided to chase trends instead of locking down key partners and content.

I hope it’s not to little too late and the new ceo guy has his head in the right place but I wouldn’t be shocked if PlayStation is about to get walkmanned.

ur right either Sony make big moves quickly or get out of the gaming Business. I believe they waited to long to react to changes. It might be to late

how are you supposed to keep up with something like that?

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[Playstation Sucka]

ur right either Sony make big moves quickly or get out of the gaming Business. I believe they waited to long to react to changes. It might be to late

how are you supposed to keep up with something like that?

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Aren't you guys a little to pessimistic don't look at msft business vs playstation business that doesn't makes sense
Playstation just needs to revive their old IPs like Killzone, resistance, infamous and socom
Msft is using the hybrid approach of what sticks to the wall so they want revenue from every facet of the gaming business
Sony knows this too so they should give priority to their consoles and acquire more notable first party studios
Or just buyout bigger IPs like Warhammer 40k and Dungeon and Dragon based IPs

 

[Abdizur]

I have no problem with Sony buying devs (nor it matters that much to me, because founding from second party or first party is the same).

I do have a problem if Sony strategy would be instead of create was to take away from others.

I prefer Sony founding stuff like Rise of Ronin, I would have a problem if they bought CDPR just to remove The Witcher from Xbox, so the console warriors make a list to brag about it.


And yes, if Sony strategy is to buy something like Square just to remove games like Dragon Quest from Nintendo, and all the other smaller games that have a audience on Switch, I will have a huge problem with it.
If their strategy is to expand to South Korea and China, and bring new creators and new games, than I will give them massive credit for it.

Before the ZeniMax Media and Activision-Blizzard-King acquisitions happened? Sure. Let's buy some small AA studios and try to make them successful. But now?

Those days are gone. Consolidation will happen. Sony would be foolish to ignore the signs and just keep doing what they did in the PS3 and PS4 generation. This industry is changing and Sony has to spend big money to keep popular IPs in the PlayStation ecosystem. Sega will be next (if people like it or not) and more publishers are getting gobbled up by Big Tech.
If you look at big successful IPs, Microsoft and Nintendo are running circles around Sony these days. So Sony can't just buy Ember Lab and hope that they are going to make another Uncharted or Horizon in 10 or 15 years. Time is running out and Sony is already struggling to release enough games every year. They skipped last year for a showcase and this year's showcase was terrible because almost nothing was ready to be shown besides some CG trailers for Sony's live-service games. All they have is Spider-Man 2 and MLB The Show. Next year? 3rd party collaborations for Rise of the Ronin (an IP they don't own), a timed-exclusive Final Fantasy 7 game and Helldivers 2. AAA games take longer to develop and Sony clearly does not have enough studios these days to keep up. And there aren't many independent AAA studios out there to buy. Sony is a platform holder and all they have this year, if we are being honest, is Spider-Man 2 (Again: An IP they don't own. An IP they will "lose" in a few years) while Microsoft is buying multiple publishers and some of the biggest most popular IPs in the whole world.

This industry is consolidating. With or without Sony. If you "like" it or not. So Sony can join the race and secure some IPs (which means buying a publisher) or they can watch how the competition buys everything. So for Sony's sake, I hope they are willing to spend a few billions for at least one publisher. Because right now their future looks grim. Even though the PS5 is selling well right now. But in 10 years? Successful companies plan for the next 10 years. It's the reason why Sony said they are "planning to push PlayStation beyond consoles" with PlayStation PC and PlayStation Mobile. So let's hope they know what they are going to do next.
Let's not end up like Columbia Pictures or Sony Music's Walkman. Let's not be late... AGAIN.

 

[Bryank75]

I have no problem with Sony buying devs (nor it matters that much to me, because founding from second party or first party is the same).

I do have a problem if Sony strategy would be instead of create was to take away from others.

I prefer Sony founding stuff like Rise of Ronin, I would have a problem if they bought CDPR just to remove The Witcher from Xbox, so the console warriors make a list to brag about it.


And yes, if Sony strategy is to buy something like Square just to remove games like Dragon Quest from Nintendo, and all the other smaller games that have a audience on Switch, I will have a huge problem with it.
If their strategy is to expand to South Korea and China, and bring new creators and new games, than I will give them massive credit for it.

I don't think anyone would mind if an acquired company continued shipping games on Nintendo... Nintendo did no harm to the PS ecosystem.

For the others... I'd like to parrot a Phil Spencer phrase "case by case basis" and I think most people understand now what that means.

General comment about situation;

Xbox now has more than enough studios, Sony shouldn't be worried about a company that has gone out of its way to harm their most important business. They have every right to respond in kind or even take it further IMO.

 

[gokuss4]

Before the ZeniMax Media and Activision-Blizzard-King acquisitions happened? Sure. Let's buy some small AA studios and try to make them successful. But now?

Those days are gone. Consolidation will happen. Sony would be foolish to ignore the signs and just keep doing what they did in the PS3 and PS4 generation. This industry is changing and Sony has to spend big money to keep popular IPs in the PlayStation ecosystem. Sega will be next (if people like it or not) and more publishers are getting gobbled up by Big Tech.
If you look at big successful IPs, Microsoft and Nintendo are running circles around Sony these days. So Sony can't just buy Ember Lab and hope that they are going to make another Uncharted or Horizon in 10 or 15 years. Time is running out and Sony is already struggling to release enough games every year. They skipped last year for a showcase and this year's showcase was terrible because almost nothing was ready to be shown besides some CG trailers for Sony's live-service games. All they have is Spider-Man 2 and MLB The Show. Next year? 3rd party collaborations for Rise of the Ronin (an IP they don't own), a timed-exclusive Final Fantasy 7 game and Helldivers 2. AAA games take longer to develop and Sony clearly does not have enough studios these days to keep up. And there aren't many independent AAA studios out there to buy. Sony is a platform holder and all they have this year, if we are being honest, is Spider-Man 2 (Again: An IP they don't own. An IP they will "lose" in a few years) while Microsoft is buying multiple publishers and some of the biggest most popular IPs in the whole world.

This industry is consolidating. With or without Sony. If you "like" it or not. So Sony can join the race and secure some IPs (which means buying a publisher) or they can watch how the competition buys everything. So for Sony's sake, I hope they are willing to spend a few billions for at least one publisher. Because right now their future looks grim. Even though the PS5 is selling well right now. But in 10 years? Successful companies plan for the next 10 years. It's the reason why Sony said they are "planning to push PlayStation beyond consoles" with PlayStation PC and PlayStation Mobile. So let's hope they know what they are going to do next.
Let's not end up like Columbia Pictures or Sony Music's Walkman. Let's not be late... AGAIN.

Do you think if sony acquire Ea will help them secure their future when the cod deal ends afterc10 years

 

[Bryank75]

Also in the entertainment industry they are now talking about Comcast (Universal) buying WB... (which would obviously effect gaming)

Comcast have 7 billion in cash, total.

Yet we have to hear on the daily how Sony is broke and hasn't got enough cash to buy anyone big etc etc, this isn't just fanboys either, this is much of the media saying the same thing.

Sony have nearly 16 billion in cash and can access several forms of other financing. The issue with Sony is that they are incredibly conservative and move very slowly. It's not that they can't do it... it's that they don't have a culture of big aggressive moves.

If ever there was a time for them to put culture and tradition aside and just throw a "Mike Tyson" gut punch, it's now.

 

[Edmund]

@thicc_girls_are_teh_best @Abdizur and @Bryank75 said it way better than I could.


So @Angie do you still think that Sony should take it in the a** and let MS buy up everything and not retaliate. And that we all should boycott Sony if they dare buy up any dev or publisher and make their games exclusive?

I apologise for coming on too strong.
I'm just really baffled by your thinking. What if Nintendo acquired a dev or pub. Are you going to throw your switch out the window and boycott Nintendo like you said you would boycott PlayStation if they bought a dev/pub?

 

[DForce]

I hate to say it but I feel like we are witnessing the slow, inevitable consolidation of the games industry in the same way it happened to movies. Microsoft being the monopolist that they are have opened the floodgates. All other American big tech are going to buy a publisher now to take a stab at gaming and of course it’s going to fail.

I think it’s too little too late for Sony to try and keep up with the big boys now. It’s unbelievable they couldn’t see this was the inevitable future and started to plan accordingly securing key ip from partners, whatever that would look like. Best Sony can hope for is the Japanese government blocks Japanese publishers from being bought but Microsoft will use the US government to strong arm them too. Sony is just going to stay the course, but a small studio and try to make them be the next big thing but worse yet because it will be a gaas game nobody wants.

Worse yet for Sony this generation has been a wash in establishing new ip to make up for lost ones. Most of Sonys out out has been sequels and remakes. Also now regulators are aware of how well they are doing compared to Microsoft. Again, in instead of getting their own house in order preparing for the inevitable future, they decided to complain and bring attention to themselves.

Best they can do now is probably invest like 10-15 percent in Japanese publishers but even that seems like a fever dream at this point. We’re well past Sony will buy SE as a reprisal, especially now with the new ceo cozying up to MS. Sony sat on their laurels and decided to chase trends instead of locking down key partners and content.

I hope it’s not to little too late and the new ceo guy has his head in the right place but I wouldn’t be shocked if PlayStation is about to get walkmanned.

It's possible that they have an acquisitions lineup.
I don't believe it would be a good idea for them to go after a major publisher while trying to get the ABK deal blocked. Remember when the PlayStation Japan Twitter account accidentally leaked Bluepoint acquisition? They officially announced the deal months later. We were also unaware of the Bungie acquisition and that was announced almost two weeks after the ABK deal. We might not hear an announcement soon, but I think we should just give them time just to see how they respond.

 

[VillaiN]

Also in the entertainment industry they are now talking about Comcast (Universal) buying WB... (which would obviously effect gaming)

Comcast have 7 billion in cash, total.

Yet we have to hear on the daily how Sony is broke and hasn't got enough cash to buy anyone big etc etc, this isn't just fanboys either, this is much of the media saying the same thing.

Sony have nearly 16 billion in cash and can access several forms of other financing. The issue with Sony is that they are incredibly conservative and move very slowly. It's not that they can't do it... it's that they don't have a culture of big aggressive moves.

If ever there was a time for them to put culture and tradition aside and just throw a "Mike Tyson" gut punch, it's now.

Not only that, they have up to 20 billion in short term assets which can be sold over night for cash. They might sell banking arm for 10 billion. Just this fiscal year ll be most profitable ever, 10 to 15 billion in net profits.

As u said, way too slow and conservative.

 

[Thunderstorm__]

I hope Sony spend money wisely, no need to buy big publishers just for the sake of it. Hopefully, they will buy whatever they deem necessary. It’s never about the IPs, it’s about how you develop those IPs.

 

[Edmund]

Jim Ryan's successor better be a really smart man. Smart and ruthless.

 

[Dabaus]

Also in the entertainment industry they are now talking about Comcast (Universal) buying WB... (which would obviously effect gaming)

Comcast have 7 billion in cash, total.

Yet we have to hear on the daily how Sony is broke and hasn't got enough cash to buy anyone big etc etc, this isn't just fanboys either, this is much of the media saying the same thing.

Sony have nearly 16 billion in cash and can access several forms of other financing. The issue with Sony is that they are incredibly conservative and move very slowly. It's not that they can't do it... it's that they don't have a culture of big aggressive moves.

If ever there was a time for them to put culture and tradition aside and just throw a "Mike Tyson" gut punch, it's now.

With the yen bending so low against the dollar, doesn’t that help Sony become more profitable since they do so much business in the US?

 

[Abdizur]

Do you think if sony acquire Ea will help them secure their future when the cod deal ends afterc10 years

At the moment regulators wouldn't allow Sony to acquire a big publisher like EA.
And regarding Battlefield.... the IP is in shambles right now. Respawn is taking over EA these days, because they did a great job with Titanfall, Apex and the Star Wars games. Let's see what they will do with Battlefield. Maybe they can "save" it. But right now it wouldn't make much sense for Sony to even try getting EA. Too expensive and as I've said already... the regulators wouldn't allow it.

Sony should try to get one of the smaller pubs. Square-Enix or Capcom.
Square-Enix: Some good IPs, huge talent pool in Japan, access to more mobile devs, finally some games in the RPG genre, a big & successful MMO, finally some good AAA dev teams/studios that make games for japanese/asian gamers too.
Square-Enix's stock price is low these days. Perfect timing.

 

[Bryank75]

With the yen bending so low against the dollar, doesn’t that help Sony become more profitable since they do so much business in the US?

In that sense, it does but all components are bought in dollars now, so it won't be quite as beneficial as it was many years ago....from what I understand.

Also, I am curious whether Sony keeps its 'cash on hand' in yen, dollars, euro or some other currency.... because it could have been devalued if it was in Yen from one quarter to another.

I think a Japanese publisher would be very attractive now due to the weakness in Yen. It might be a good time to buy.

From a financial standpoint, Bandai Namco is by far the best choice for Sony to buy. their revenue annually is over 7 Billion and their profits are around 1 billion. While a behemoth like TakeTwo is less, at 5 billion revenue and they have incurred annual losses recently...so no profit.

If they did buy Bandai, it would propel them up to around 35 billion revenue and 2-3 billion profits annually and result in a lot of efficiencies in publishing, licensing, music, movies etc.

So, although I don't trust that leaker on Twitter...it seems like a great choice....Bandai are a quiet giant. They also own Dimps with Sony, so then Sony would have full ownership.

So for 13 billion, you are getting a company that is massively outperforming TakeTwo, who are valued at over 22 billion and would cost up to 30 billion.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

So @Angie do you still think that Sony should take it in the a** and let MS buy up everything and not retaliate. And that we all should boycott Sony if they dare buy up any dev or publisher and make their games exclusive?

I apologise for coming on too strong.
I'm just really baffled by your thinking. What if Nintendo acquired a dev or pub. Are you going to throw your switch out the window and boycott Nintendo like you said you would boycott PlayStation if they bought a dev/pub?

I don't think she meant it that strong. Like an angry boycott because they bought a studio. I don't get that vibe at all from any of her posts. Maybe you took it too literal?

In that sense, it does but all components are bought in dollars now, so it won't be quite as beneficial as it was many years ago....from what I understand.

Also, I am curious whether Sony keeps its 'cash on hand' in yen, dollars, euro or some other currency.... because it could have been devalued if it was in Yen from one quarter to another.

I think a Japanese publisher would be very attractive now due to the weakness in Yen. It might be a good time to buy.

From a financial standpoint, Bandai Namco is by far the best choice for Sony to buy. their revenue annually is over 7 Billion and their profits are around 1 billion. While a behemoth like TakeTwo is less, at 5 billion revenue and they have incurred annual losses recently...so no profit.

If they did buy Bandai, it would propel them up to around 35 billion revenue and 2-3 billion profits annually and result in a lot of efficiencies in publishing, licensing, music, movies etc.

So, although I don't trust that leaker on Twitter...it seems like a great choice....Bandai are a quiet giant. They also own Dimps with Sony, so then Sony would have full ownership.

So for 13 billion, you are getting a company that is massively outperforming TakeTwo, who are valued at over 22 billion and would cost up to 30 billion.

Bandai is cheaper than I thought but besides From games and Tekken, their games are anime and niche. They don't sell that much. They don't even own From so it feels like a useless purchase. Am I missing something? Stuff like Dragon Ball and One Piece doesn't move the needle at all.

 

[Abdizur]

I don't think she meant it that strong. Like an angry boycott because they bought a studio. I don't get that vibe at all from any of her posts. Maybe you took it too literal?

Make this make sense... in 2023.
In an industry that is consolidating. In an industry where the direct rival already acquired two publishers for almost $80 billion and wants to buy another japanese publisher in the near future.

Protip: It doesn't make sense.
The floodgates are open. Eat or be eaten.