Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions

[Eternal_Wings]

Every time a dev doesn't release on xbox and releases on ps, the mental asylum escapee xbox fanboys instantly go to "oh it must be sony exclusive deal"

Hard to accept for them that some devs don't see the xbox platform as worth it.

Damn read this article.

Xbox has an embarrassing Square Enix problem

And it's not just that one publisher, either – there's still a big issue Xbox needs to address, Activision Blizzard takeover or not.

www.vg247.com

They are doubting Sony will acquire Square Enix and hope Xbox repair relationship with Square Enix
Only a Xbot would write such article in frustration.

They will get a mental meltdown when Sony announces the acquisition of Square Enix after ABK.

 

[Deleted member 417]

Remedy? Would that fit with Sony? Alan Wake exclusive?

 

[Yobo]

Remedy are good but I feel like they lost their edge awhile ago

Max Payne 2 is one of the most underrated games ever. Everything since has just felt safe and a bit uninteresting

 

[Bryank75]

Remedy? Would that fit with Sony? Alan Wake exclusive?

They would probably fit but I don't think they are necessarily what Sony need.... they would just be more of what Sony has already got (Sony's are the best in the biz though)
I was a big fan of Control and I think Remedy could definitely create some awesome games and could maybe take on a license though if Sony did go for them.

I think all the companies we discussed many times previously are the best...

Top 3 being: Capcom, Square and Kadokawa

Capcom are my top pick with all things considered.... bringing a very tightly run company with very high quality, legendary IP's, can help push PlayStation in Japan and worldwide..... Street Fighter for EVO, Monster Hunter as a highly popular ongoing / live service style game, Resident Evil and Devil May Cry and many other top single player games.
Buy first because they would probably be Microsofts top pick in Japan if they ever went for a developer there.

Kadokawa second due to how their games are blowing up, to weaken PC / Steam and Xbox in one move and make PlayStation a must buy for all PC and Xbox people.

Square third due to their loyalty to Sony, the selling of their western IP's makes them very unpalatable to Microsoft and other publishers and the few IP's they now have are very dependent on PlayStation audience.

All of the above companies properties have massive cross media potential.

Outside Japan... CDPR & IOI are my top picks but Remedy would be there too....

 

[Yurinka]

They would probably fit but I don't think they are necessarily what Sony need.... they would just be more of what Sony has already got (Sony's are the best in the biz though)
I was a big fan of Control and I think Remedy could definitely create some awesome games and could maybe take on a license though if Sony did go for them.

I think all the companies we discussed many times previously are the best...

Top 3 being: Capcom, Square and Kadokawa

Capcom are my top pick with all things considered.... bringing a very tightly run company with very high quality, legendary IP's, can help push PlayStation in Japan and worldwide..... Street Fighter for EVO, Monster Hunter as a highly popular ongoing / live service style game, Resident Evil and Devil May Cry and many other top single player games.
Buy first because they would probably be Microsofts top pick in Japan if they ever went for a developer there.

Kadokawa second due to how their games are blowing up, to weaken PC / Steam and Xbox in one move and make PlayStation a must buy for all PC and Xbox people.

Square third due to their loyalty to Sony, the selling of their western IP's makes them very unpalatable to Microsoft and other publishers and the few IP's they now have are very dependent on PlayStation audience.

All of the above companies properties have massive cross media potential.

Outside Japan... CDPR & IOI are my top picks but Remedy would be there too....

I think Remedy, IOI or CDPR aren't a Sony target because I think they have super well covered the narrative driven AAA single player 3rd person action adventures, both linear and open world.

Sony seems more interested to grow via acquisitions in areas where they aren't very strong or don't have 1st party presence and that would help them grow their audience. In areas like multiplayer, GaaS, PC, mobile, eSports, VR or top genres that they don't dominate as could be shooters, fighting games or horror.

They also want to grow in Asia, particularly in countries like China, Korea and Japan. So a company with great results in the areas where they want to grow (MP, GaaS, PC, mobile, eSports, VR or the top genres they don't dominate) would be a good candidate.

I think the best fits for Sony's priorities to grow are people like Capcom, MiHoyo, (parts of) Square Enix, NC Soft, Netmarble, CyberAgent, FromSoft/(parts of) Kadokawa, Devolver, Annapurna or if weren't as too expensive as they are Riot, Epic, Valve, Bandai Namco, Garena, Nexon, PUBG corp/Bluehole or Netmarble. Or well, new studios with key people who worked in certain key projects from these companies. As you mention, having IPs with crossmedia potential would be a great plus.

In addition to this, I think they'll continue acquiring support/porting/AAA-ish VR studios plus eSports / multiplayer / etc related non-gamedev companies.

 

[Yobo]

They would probably fit but I don't think they are necessarily what Sony need.... they would just be more of what Sony has already got (Sony's are the best in the biz though)
I was a big fan of Control and I think Remedy could definitely create some awesome games and could maybe take on a license though if Sony did go for them.

I think all the companies we discussed many times previously are the best...

Top 3 being: Capcom, Square and Kadokawa

Capcom are my top pick with all things considered.... bringing a very tightly run company with very high quality, legendary IP's, can help push PlayStation in Japan and worldwide..... Street Fighter for EVO, Monster Hunter as a highly popular ongoing / live service style game, Resident Evil and Devil May Cry and many other top single player games.
Buy first because they would probably be Microsofts top pick in Japan if they ever went for a developer there.

Kadokawa second due to how their games are blowing up, to weaken PC / Steam and Xbox in one move and make PlayStation a must buy for all PC and Xbox people.

Square third due to their loyalty to Sony, the selling of their western IP's makes them very unpalatable to Microsoft and other publishers and the few IP's they now have are very dependent on PlayStation audience.

All of the above companies properties have massive cross media potential.

Outside Japan... CDPR & IOI are my top picks but Remedy would be there too....

Yeah these would be the best. I don't think Sony gets away with two Japanese pubs though, and frankly the only two important ones

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Yeah these would be the best. I don't think Sony gets away with two Japanese pubs though, and frankly the only two important ones

I think Square Enix is the most likely announcement Sony will make when Activision Blizzard gets approved. If Sony would also manages to get Capcom after a couple of years, this would be their best outcome.

 

[AshHunter216]

I think Square Enix is the most likely announcement Sony will make when Activision Blizzard gets approved. If Sony would also manages to get Capcom after a couple of years, this would be their best outcome.

I think getting Square would be a decent answer for Zenimax. They would have to ensure some of their live service games are a success and maybe get closer to Epic and fortnite to help fill the COD hole though.

 

[Zzero]

I think Remedy, IOI or CDPR aren't a Sony target because I think they have super well covered the narrative driven AAA single player 3rd person action adventures, both linear and open world.

Sony seems more interested to grow via acquisitions in areas where they aren't very strong or don't have 1st party presence and that would help them grow their audience. In areas like multiplayer, GaaS, PC, mobile, eSports, VR or top genres that they don't dominate as could be shooters, fighting games or horror.

They also want to grow in Asia, particularly in countries like China, Korea and Japan. So a company with great results in the areas where they want to grow (MP, GaaS, PC, mobile, eSports, VR or the top genres they don't dominate) would be a good candidate.

I think the best fits for Sony's priorities to grow are people like Capcom, MiHoyo, (parts of) Square Enix, NC Soft, Netmarble, CyberAgent, FromSoft/(parts of) Kadokawa, Devolver, Annapurna or if weren't as too expensive as they are Riot, Epic, Valve, Bandai Namco, Garena, Nexon, PUBG corp/Bluehole or Netmarble. Or well, new studios with key people who worked in certain key projects from these companies. As you mention, having IPs with crossmedia potential would be a great plus.

In addition to this, I think they'll continue acquiring support/porting/AAA-ish VR studios plus eSports / multiplayer / etc related non-gamedev companies.

Pubg Corp is part of Krafton. They have interesting stuff, mostly PC focused, and have expanded recently.

 

[Nhomnhom]

I think Remedy, IOI or CDPR aren't a Sony target because I think they have super well covered the narrative driven AAA single player 3rd person action adventures, both linear and open world.

Sony seems more interested to grow via acquisitions in areas where they aren't very strong or don't have 1st party presence and that would help them grow their audience. In areas like multiplayer, GaaS, PC, mobile, eSports, VR or top genres that they don't dominate as could be shooters, fighting games or horror.

They also want to grow in Asia, particularly in countries like China, Korea and Japan. So a company with great results in the areas where they want to grow (MP, GaaS, PC, mobile, eSports, VR or the top genres they don't dominate) would be a good candidate.

I think the best fits for Sony's priorities to grow are people like Capcom, MiHoyo, (parts of) Square Enix, NC Soft, Netmarble, CyberAgent, FromSoft/(parts of) Kadokawa, Devolver, Annapurna or if weren't as too expensive as they are Riot, Epic, Valve, Bandai Namco, Garena, Nexon, PUBG corp/Bluehole or Netmarble. Or well, new studios with key people who worked in certain key projects from these companies. As you mention, having IPs with crossmedia potential would be a great plus.

In addition to this, I think they'll continue acquiring support/porting/AAA-ish VR studios plus eSports / multiplayer / etc related non-gamedev companies.

If this is true we are probably past the golden age of Sony games already and it's going to be mostly downhill from here. Too much focus on GaaS/PC/mobile/eSports is not what I want from PlayStation at all and probably not what they are good at making.

I think Sony should look for the middle ground when it comes to their GaaS strategy, things like Factions, Gran Turismo and From Software games where online still plays a big role but still are traditional console games that appeals to their core users.

 

[Yurinka]

If this is true we are probably past the golden age of Sony games already and it's going to be mostly downhill from here. Too much focus on GaaS/PC/mobile/eSports is not what I want from PlayStation at all and probably not what they are good at making.

I think Sony should look for the middle ground when it comes to their GaaS strategy, things like Factions, Gran Turismo and From Software games where online still plays a big role but still are traditional console games that appeals to their core users.

Sony said that to expand in these areas (GaaS, PC, mobile) won't be at the expense of their efforts on consoles and SP non GaaS console games. The opposite, they are also growing in this other traditional area, and on top of that they'll grow in PC/mobile/GaaS/etc. Sony has been growing all their internal development teams, plus acquired new ones, plus acquired support teams. So don't worry, the focus will continue on traditional SP games like GoW, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Horizon, Uncharted, etc.

GT7, MLB, Destiny 2, TLOU Online are part of their GaaS projects. GaaS are around a third of the games they have under development.

Nothing leads to think they'll go downhill. The opposite, pretty likely they'll become more popular than ever thanks to this approach. More players will play their games and more revenue will be made.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Sony said that to expand in these areas (GaaS, PC, mobile) won't be at the expense of their efforts on consoles and SP non GaaS console games. The opposite, they are also growing in this other traditional area, and on top of that they'll grow in PC/mobile/GaaS/etc. Sony has been growing all their internal development teams, plus acquired new ones, plus acquired support teams. So don't worry, the focus will continue on traditional SP games like GoW, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Horizon, Uncharted, etc.

GT7, MLB, Destiny 2, TLOU Online are part of their GaaS projects. GaaS are around a third of the games they have under development.

Nothing leads to think they'll go downhill. The opposite, pretty likely they'll become more popular than ever thanks to this approach. More players will play their games and more revenue will be made.

Remains to be seen, so far I'm underwhelmed by the lack of new games or even announcements of upcoming games specially when it comes to new IPs.

Where is the next Uncharted game going to come from? Dreams has kept Media Molecule occupied for 10 years yet it hardly looks like Sony cares about it. Team Asobi didn't have anything for PSVR2 and neither did London Studio.

I'll give Sony the benefit of the doubt until the "E3" showcase. PlayStation still looks great in comparison to most other publishers but I expect more from Sony at this point.

 

[Bryank75]

I've been thinking a lot about things in the area of Japan....

I think Square unloaded their western IP's for a reason but that reason may NOT have been to be acquired, in fact I think it may have been to make them far less attractive to western companies looking to buy.... now if MSFT bought, all they would get is a few IP's that are basically only successful due to PlayStation and Nintendo and depend on a Japanese audience.

Sega have been falling apart in many areas, the important figures behind Yakuza are gone, Sonic sells low numbers and the Persona games are dependent on PlayStation for the most part.

With Sony buying EVO, the success of RE 7, 8 and Remakes and how massive Monster Hunter has become, I think Capcom is the MUST BUY for Sony in the short to mid term.

Easier said than done, with their value hitting an all time high but I think even 15 billion is worth it for Capcom TBH.

I think Sony could do a deal with Square to buy a big chunk of their shares and put someone on their board, just to protect them further..... a deal paid in shares possibly.

 

[Zzero]

I've been thinking a lot about things in the area of Japan....

I think Square unloaded their western IP's for a reason but that reason may NOT have been to be acquired, in fact I think it may have been to make them far less attractive to western companies looking to buy.... now if MSFT bought, all they would get is a few IP's that are basically only successful due to PlayStation and Nintendo and depend on a Japanese audience.

Sega have been falling apart in many areas, the important figures behind Yakuza are gone, Sonic sells low numbers and the Persona games are dependent on PlayStation for the most part.

With Sony buying EVO, the success of RE 7, 8 and Remakes and how massive Monster Hunter has become, I think Capcom is the MUST BUY for Sony in the short to mid term.

Easier said than done, with their value hitting an all time high but I think even 15 billion is worth it for Capcom TBH.

I think Sony could do a deal with Square to buy a big chunk of their shares and put someone on their board, just to protect them further..... a deal paid in shares possibly.

If its not to actively please Sony then the Eidos properties were sold, no subterfuge here, for the exact reason that Square gave- that a decade on they've only lost money. They kept Just Cause and the indie publishing deals (the two successes) and sold everything else to the highest bidder. And yeah, for "less than it was worth" but since it had only been losing them money since acquisition it was perhaps better to just eat the loss and zero them out.

I also suspect that the deal Embracer made with Amazon has been mis-reported, with Amazon spending 600 million on Tomb Raider, but with that cost including the actual cost of the show, which can't be cheap, and marketing it, rather than just a check for the rights.

 

[Bryank75]

If its not to actively please Sony then the Eidos properties were sold, no subterfuge here, for the exact reason that Square gave- that a decade on they've only lost money. They kept Just Cause and the indie publishing deals (the two successes) and sold everything else to the highest bidder. And yeah, for "less than it was worth" but since it had only been losing them money since acquisition it was perhaps better to just eat the loss and zero them out.

I also suspect that the deal Embracer made with Amazon has been mis-reported, with Amazon spending 600 million on Tomb Raider, but with that cost including the actual cost of the show, which can't be cheap, and marketing it, rather than just a check for the rights.

Hmm that all makes sense... maybe both could be right! Or maybe yours is more reflective of their intentions.... I hope we are able to tell by how things unfold.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

I've been thinking a lot about things in the area of Japan....

I think Square unloaded their western IP's for a reason but that reason may NOT have been to be acquired, in fact I think it may have been to make them far less attractive to western companies looking to buy.... now if MSFT bought, all they would get is a few IP's that are basically only successful due to PlayStation and Nintendo and depend on a Japanese audience.

Sega have been falling apart in many areas, the important figures behind Yakuza are gone, Sonic sells low numbers and the Persona games are dependent on PlayStation for the most part.

With Sony buying EVO, the success of RE 7, 8 and Remakes and how massive Monster Hunter has become, I think Capcom is the MUST BUY for Sony in the short to mid term.

Easier said than done, with their value hitting an all time high but I think even 15 billion is worth it for Capcom TBH.

I think Sony could do a deal with Square to buy a big chunk of their shares and put someone on their board, just to protect them further..... a deal paid in shares possibly.

Honestly Sony should secure both: Capcom and Square Enix. This two are the most important pubs in Japan and also have globally big followers. Sony could have gotten them, but no they rather had to fight off this deal. But it’s still not too late. Sony should aggressively spend money, even more when Activision Blizzard goes through. Spending $17B should be no problem for Sony.

 

[Dabaus]

For what it’s worth, Colin moriarity thinks Sony, or a consortium of Japanese companies including Sony, will consolidate the Japanese market. That’s just his prediction nothing he’s heard.

 

[AshHunter216]

Sony need to do what they need to in order to ensure that they don't lose access to some of their most important partners, whether it be through acquisitions or investments.

 

[Bryank75]

For what it’s worth, Colin moriarity thinks Sony, or a consortium of Japanese companies including Sony, will consolidate the Japanese market. That’s just his prediction nothing he’s heard.

Was that on the last podcast? You have a timestamp?

I'm subbed to him and in his discord but I don't want to bother him directly.... he's probably busy.

 

[Dabaus]

Was that on the last podcast? You have a timestamp?

I'm subbed to him and in his discord but I don't want to bother him directly.... he's probably busy.

Yeah it was. Conversation of of abk starts around 2 hours and they talk about what Sonys response could be. Colin made a great point that Sony kind of walks away with a lot even if they lose abk. They’re guaranteed 10 years, forced Microsoft to port it to switch for 10 years which will mess up development of cod, and by making such a huge stink about it Microsoft would probably be in the crosshairs if another acquisition is announced soon.

He did say he doesn’t think this investigation of the jftc will go anywhere. That’s all his opinion though.

Speaking of, I saw the Xbots at reee mocking this article but it does bring up good points. I do think it’s a riff on what Colin brought up but for some reason leaves out cod is teathered to the switch for 10 years:

Xbox has been played for a fool by PlayStation and Activision Blizzard

A reader thinks Sony will gain more from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard than Microsoft, as he lays out the problems ahead for Xbox.

metro.co.uk