Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions

[mibu no ookami]

Agree fully permanent exclusive fromsoft games will bend the knees of PC players to make alot of them to buy PS console.

Neither Bloodborne nor Demon's Souls forced PC players to bend the knee. They'll simply play other games and you eschew significant sales revenue. If anything I would leverage FromSoftware games exclusively on a PC storefront.

Sony does needs to bolster its first party Japanese/Asia content or they’ll get left behind by Nintendo.

Japan is a shrinking market. Sony is making investments in South Korea and China, but I think they recognize the difficulties and cost of trying to develop in Japan. They failed to invest in Japan in the 90s and early 2000s and it's extremely difficult to do so now.

I don’t think they will acquire Capcom, Capcom games lean western with really only Monster Hunter being massive in Japan.

Capcom is one of the companies that would make the most sense to buy. Monster Hunter isn't the only popular game they have in Japan. Resident Evil and Street Fighter are both popular as well. I could imagine an F2P Online Mega Man EXE game being popular there.

There are also capcom IP that other SIE studios could utilize like Insomniac making Mega Man or a power stone like PS All Stars.

Square Enix would be a decent buy but they would have to acquire the Dragon Quest franchises otherwise I don’t believe Square Enix alone is enough to remain relevant in Japan/Asia.

No matter how you look at it, it's one of the worst buys you can get. You already have essentially every Square Enix game that releases, so the only change would be foreclosing on Nintendo, which would only impact the profitability of the subsidiary. Don't think it helps you in Japan at all.

FF16 and Rebirth just came out and neither did amazing numbers in Japan. Japanese gamers are far more into F2P games like Genshin and Honaki Star Rail and even Persona (dollar for dollar, yen for yen if you will).

Sega would be bad they would be cheap & they have a family universal ip w Sonic that’s has traditional games, mobile games & is expanding into movies & animation aswell as parks. So Sonic could be Sony Mario like character but smaller in relevance. Sega also has Rovio/Angry Birds & seems to have a heavy mobile push using its legacy ip. Sega also owns Persona, Yakuza & Jet Set Radio some notable fun game franchises w potential to crossover with tv shows, animation & parks

Sega is a pretty decent choice.

Phantasy Star has a lot of potential in the future as does Persona. An Online Persona game I think would be extremely successful.

I'd rank them as following considering cost

1. FromSoftware
2. Sega
3. Capcom
4. Namco Bandai
5. Square Enix

If I was Sony I would only consider the top two here.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

I am starting to believe someone here is going to have mental meltdown when Sony should end up buying Square Enix.

 

[Nhomnhom]

We need to start a GameStop like meme to buy Sony shares and take control, stop them from buying Paramount. keep physical media alive and protect key studios.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Square Enix has tanked to $3.61B

Square Enix (9684.T) - Market capitalization

As of May 2024 Square Enix has a market cap of $3.61 Billion. This makes Square Enix the world's 3211th most valuable company according to our data.

companiesmarketcap.com

It matches Totoki's recent words exactly.
"Popular IP is very expensive and competitive, we need to acquire them at the right value..."
I am starting to have high hopes, that Sony has been waiting for an opportunity like this.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Square Enix has tanked to $3.61B

Square Enix (9684.T) - Market capitalization

As of May 2024 Square Enix has a market cap of $3.61 Billion. This makes Square Enix the world's 3211th most valuable company according to our data.

companiesmarketcap.com

It matches Totoki's recent words exactly.
"Popular IP is very expensive and competitive, we need to acquire them at the right value..."
I am starting to have high hopes, that Sony has been waiting for an opportunity like this.

Sony: "too expensive... Paramount for $26B on the other hand with all that debt and losing money... we can flip their IPs and turn all their real state into parking lots, that is going to take us to the next level."

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Sony: "too expensive... Paramount for $26B on the other hand with all that debt and losing money... we can flip their IPs and turn all their real state into parking lots, that is going to take us to the next level."

I am still convinced that Paramount will not happen. But on the other hand, Square Enix stock has been falling for a while. It doesn’t seem to recover, also not with recent announcement to do more Multi-platform. If the stock continues to fall, shareholders will push for a sale. Remember exactly same majority of shareholders both share...

 

[Evilnemesis8]

But on the other hand, Square Enix stock has been falling for a while. It doesn’t seem to recover, also not with recent announcement to do more Multi-platform. If the stock continues to fall, shareholders will push for a sale. Remember exactly same majority of shareholders both share...

All of this might be possible, but it'll take awhile I feel.
It would take this trend to continue for awhile longer for that to be considered.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

$3.56B now

Square Enix (9684.T) - Market capitalization

As of May 2024 Square Enix has a market cap of $3.56 Billion. This makes Square Enix the world's 3227th most valuable company according to our data.

companiesmarketcap.com

 

[Evilnemesis8]

I expect this to continue for awhile, Square Enix has no new release till Dawtrail in July.
Both Visions of Mana and DQ3 HD-2D still don't have a concrete release date.
Not that I think Visions of Mana is going to do anything, it doesn't even have a Switch version for some reason.

 

[Dabaus]

In hindsight this was a pretty good E3 showcase from sony:

 

[TigerFang]

I posted in the wrong thread

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Square Enix market value has now tanked to $3.44B
It wouldn't surprise me, if Sony is waiting until it drops to $3B.

Square Enix (9684.T) - Market capitalization

As of May 2024 Square Enix has a market cap of $3.44 Billion. This makes Square Enix the world's 3261th most valuable company according to our data.

companiesmarketcap.com

 

[Nhomnhom]

Square Enix market value has now tanked to $3.44B
It wouldn't surprise me, if Sony is waiting until it drops to $3B.

Square Enix (9684.T) - Market capitalization

As of May 2024 Square Enix has a market cap of $3.44 Billion. This makes Square Enix the world's 3261th most valuable company according to our data.

companiesmarketcap.com

They are waiting until it goes up to $26B like paramount.

What are Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest compared to the likes of Mission Impossible, Scream, GI Joe and Sponge Bob?

 

[Dabaus]

Brilliant point:

 

[Puff]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[Nhomnhom]

Brilliant point:

Nah, that is just a stupid take. Of course they would try to expand to other markets.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Better than Paramount.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Imo they definitely need to invest more in Japan. There is definitely a desire by the fans for Sony to produce in-house Japanese games.
On the PlayStation channel, thr following Japanese and Asian games have views:

Japanese games trailer on PlayStation YouTube channel:

Silent Hill 2 Remake - 250k views
Dynasty Warriors: Origins 300k views
Monster Hunter Wilds - 1.1m views
Infinity Nikki - 1.7m views

Asian Games trailer in PlayStation YouTube channel:

Where Winds Meet - 330k views
Ballad of Antara - 210k views

My suggestion would be buying:

JP GAMES (Hajime Tabata) after an successful partnership (rumoured XDEV collab)

FurRyu many former Squaresoft employees plus the coming title Reynatis looks pretty promising. It has influence from Verum Rex.
The trailer on YouTube has 400k on the PlayStation YouTube channel, despite it was revealed on Nintendo Direct (100k views on Nintendo YouTube channel). Talent is there, with budget thru could create magic

Lastly thry should try to buy out Team Ninja from Temco. I am confident if Sony offers a big enough bag for Team Ninja plus the Nioh & Rise of the Ronin IPs, thru will sell them. Team Ninja is resonating very high with PlayStation and their games selling in the millions on PS. $2-3B would be enough imo.

 

[TigerFang]

Imo they definitely need to invest more in Japan. There is definitely a desire by the fans for Sony to produce in-house Japanese games.
On the PlayStation channel, thr following Japanese and Asian games have views:

Japanese games trailer on PlayStation YouTube channel:

Silent Hill 2 Remake - 250k views
Dynasty Warriors: Origins 300k views
Monster Hunter Wilds - 1.1m views
Infinity Nikki - 1.7m views

Asian Games trailer in PlayStation YouTube channel:

Where Winds Meet - 330k views
Ballad of Antara - 210k views

My suggestion would be buying:

JP GAMES (Hajime Tabata) after an successful partnership (rumoured XDEV collab)

FurRyu many former Squaresoft employees plus the coming title Reynatis looks pretty promising. It has influence from Verum Rex.
The trailer on YouTube has 400k on the PlayStation YouTube channel, despite it was revealed on Nintendo Direct (100k views on Nintendo YouTube channel). Talent is there, with budget thru could create magic

Lastly thry should try to buy out Team Ninja from Temco. I am confident if Sony offers a big enough bag for Team Ninja plus the Nioh & Rise of the Ronin IPs, thru will sell them. Team Ninja is resonating very high with PlayStation and their games selling in the millions on PS. $2-3B would be enough imo.

Agreed

Presence in China / Japan / Korea is very welcome.

although I think they own Rise of the Ronin & Nioh IPs

 

[TigerFang]

The current market cap of Square enix is around 3.7 billion USD, but one more thing to mention is that they have 1.4 billion in cash reserves / cash on hand.

So the actual value of them as a whole is 5.1 billion, and the whole value of the company is where the premium is calculated from.

So if a Sony offered a deal with a 30% premium to shareholders of SQE, it would be 5.1 billion times 1.3 = 6.6 billion USD.

Now I don't think Sony would want to spend more than half their Allocation on Square (even if square wanted to sell) while this early in the mid term plan, even though I think Square is worth it.

I wasn't aware Square 1.4 billion in cash reserves.

 

[RE4-Station]

The current market cap of Square enix is around 3.7 billion USD, but one more thing to mention is that they have 1.4 billion in cash reserves / cash on hand.

So the actual value of them as a whole is 5.1 billion, and the whole value of the company is where the premium is calculated from.

So if a Sony offered a deal with a 30% premium to shareholders of SQE, it would be 5.1 billion times 1.3 = 6.6 billion USD.

Now I don't think Sony would want to spend more than half their Allocation on Square (even if square wanted to sell) while this early in the mid term plan, even though I think Square is worth it.

I wasn't aware Square 1.4 billion in cash reserves.

Buying Sqaure and paying for Monster Hunter exclusivity after Wilds (There is still a chance Wilds could be a PS5 timed seclusive in Japan only.) would be the way to go for Sony. It's not 2014 or 2017 when Capcom was looking to sell and I doubt Nintendo would ever want to pay what ever they needed to get Capcom and I doubt Microsoft want to make another video game publisher purchase after the mess buying activision brought to them.
Also Sony should fund Capcom into making a PlayStation All-Stars sequel