Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions

[Dabaus]

At this point Sony may as well make a
Move because at some point someone may come with a counter offer now that the cat is out of the bag. Not saying sqaure would accept but things can happen.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

At this point Sony may as well make a
Move because at some point someone may come with a counter offer now that the cat is out of the bag. Not saying sqaure would accept but things can happen.

Hope not. The only which could counter offer is Tencent. But I don’t think they will. If SQEX wants really to be part of Sony, then they will accept their offer regardless.

 

[nominedomine]

At this point Sony may as well make a
Move because at some point someone may come with a counter offer now that the cat is out of the bag. Not saying sqaure would accept but things can happen.

Maybe that's what Sony wants, we don't know. They already have FFXVI, FFXVIIR2, Forespoken and a bunch of other games, the pressure is not on Sony to do anything.

 

[Dabaus]

Maybe that's what Sony wants, we don't know. They already have FFXVI, FFXVIIR2, Forespoken and a bunch of other games, the pressure is not on Sony to do anything.

Sony wants to be outbid on square from another buyer?

 

[nominedomine]

Sony wants to be outbid on square from another buyer?

Maybe? They already have all the key games for the next many years anyway, maybe someone else stepping in and putting a stop to the madness going with the SE leadership is benedictional to Sony. As long as it's not MS or Nintendo why should Sony see it as a bad thing?

 

[Dabaus]

Maybe? They already have all the key games for the next many years anyway, maybe someone else stepping in and putting a stop to the madness going with the SE leadership is benedictional to Sony. As long as it's not MS or Nintendo why should Sony see it as a bad thing?

If someone is important enough to them to lock down games for many years then surely they have a vested interest in their ownership? That’s like saying yeah me and my girl have a good thing going on and we love each other but I really don’t care if she married someone else.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Maybe? They already have all the key games for the next many years anyway, maybe someone else stepping in and putting a stop to the madness going with the SE leadership is benedictional to Sony. As long as it's not MS or Nintendo why should Sony see it as a bad thing?

Yeah of course Sony would do something that unfavourable to themselves. Then comes a company like Tencent which don’t like Sony and will forbid to make exclusives. Hell no, if there’s someone to lock up once and for all, it will be SQEX. If they do, they will never have to fear to lose them. Then they could move on to the next company to build up a good relationship and maybe trying getting closer to Konami for example.

 

[Muddasar]

Hope not. The only which could counter offer is Tencent. But I don’t think they will. If SQEX wants really to be part of Sony, then they will accept their offer regardless.

Tencent being a Chinese company can't fully buy a Japanese company like Square Enix. I believe Square Enix is on a protected list of Japanese companies.

At best they could buy a stake.

Only a Merger with a Japanese company or a total buyout from a Japanese company is realistically possible.

 

[Hezekiah]

Firstly... my actual expectations are low under Jim Ryan. I expect Iron Galaxy, Lucid Games and Camoflaj and NONE of those excite me... I think they are shit.


I would say 2 large companies that make the most sense to me on multiple levels are;

1. WB / Discovery - An incredibly pricey option (Approx 40B) but would make Sony one of the two biggest film companies in the world, it would give them control over many incredible IP's that can be used across film, TV and gaming.
Mortal Kombat is an important piece of any esports / FGC overarching strategy.
Lego games have massive reach in terms of demographics and is a huge money maker....

2. Epic - Also quite pricey, lays a foundation and expands the reach of Sony owned gaming stores.... playerbase potentially increases to 250+ million.
PSPlus can be integrated into Epic Game Store.... thus increasing subscription numbers.
Unreal engine control is a huge ace in the hole and safeguard against incoming competition from larger tech companies.
A huge range of developers and existing deals come with Epic Games.
Fortnite profits would all come straight to Sony and would be used to have digital events and concerts.

How much would Epic cost? Surely out of reach for Sony.

 

[nominedomine]

If someone is important enough to them to lock down games for many years then surely they have a vested interest in their ownership? That’s like saying yeah me and my girl have a good thing going on and we love each other but I really don’t care if she married someone else.

I think the whole worry about exclusivity will be long gone in a few years anyway, things seem to be going into that direction pretty fast. It wouldn't make any sense for any company to buy SE and remove those key games from PlayStation anyway (anytime soon at least).

 

[Bryank75]

Would like to say that Bungie should have been pretty obvious after Sony's play for Leyou / Digital Extremes failed.

Sony wanted the Warframe crew and it was the cheap alternative to Bungie, then when that fell through (Thank god) they were left with only one strong option.... Bungie themselves. They probably didn't want to pay quite that much.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

Would like to say that Bungie should have been pretty obvious after Sony's play for Leyou / Digital Extremes failed.

Sony wanted the Warframe crew and it was the cheap alternative to Bungie, then when that fell through (Thank god) they were left with only one strong option.... Bungie themselves. They probably didn't want to pay quite that much.

obvious in retrospect but people only gush over the surface level reasons why companies get acquired. They only thing of the immediate direct to consumer benefits you get which is software.

 

[CloudStrife]

I think the whole worry about exclusivity will be long gone in a few years anyway, things seem to be going into that direction pretty fast. It wouldn't make any sense for any company to buy SE and remove those key games from PlayStation anyway (anytime soon at least).

Agreed. The majority of SE fans are also PS owners. Any other company would 100% have to allow games to continue to be developed on PlayStation for it to be worth it.

 

[Shmunter]

Any decent simcade studios out there?

 

[Bryank75]

Any decent simcade studios out there?

Not that Im aware of unless someone wants to buy a whole publisher or the pub is willing to sell the studio and franchise.

Nacon for instance.

 

[Yurinka]

Sony wants to be outbid on square from another buyer?

In big acquisitions the important thing isn't who outbids. When there are multiple companies who can pay enough, the decisions is what else in addition to the money that candidate can offer to help the company achieve its goals and grow.

Sony can help them in AAA development and marketing area, specially in their main platform (PS). Plus Sony is also interested on bringing their console IPs to mobile, as SE does (very successfully). Sony can help them also with cloud gaming, and with bringing their IPs to cinema/tv shows/anime/etc., can help them expand in markets where they want to grow like central and south America, or in new areas like AI. And well, they both are Japanese and have basically the same main shareholders, which helps.

Tencent instead would offer them other benefits, like helping them in China etc.

Any decent simcade studios out there?

I'd say no. Mostly because racing game sales are focused on a few IPs from major publishers: MK, both Forza, GT, Need for Speed, The Crew and maybe I forget maybe something else, but EA owns Codemasters.

But if it helps, Firesprite has a lot of former Evolution, Liverpool Studio and Bizarre Creations staff, with some more left at Lucid (and most of the other ones at Codemasters).

 

[Eternal_Wings]

This outbid argument is nonsense. Who should outbid them? Where were the counter offers for Bethesda or Activision Blizzard???
That’s not how business works, big companies usually don’t interfere with each other regarding acquisitions. Only uneducated trolls think buying an public-traded company, is like doing an auction on Ebay. I am to 100% if Sony buys SQEX, that there will be no other offers.

 

[Dabaus]

This outbid argument is nonsense. Who should outbid them? Where were the counter offers for Bethesda or Activision Blizzard???
That’s not how business works, big companies usually don’t interfere with each other regarding acquisitions. Only uneducated trolls think buying an public-traded company, is like doing an auction on Ebay. I am to 100% if Sony buys SQEX, that there will be no other offers.

In the case of Sony and SE, or any japanese company for that matter, if any other company not in japan made a counter offer it could be looked at as a hostile takeover from outsiders.

 

[LightBolt]

Square Enix is gonna happen so it's a case of when and not if..

 

[Dabaus]

Square Enix is gonna happen so it's a case of when and not if..

Ill believe it when I see it. With that said i hope its true.