I feel like theyve been saying this for almost 2 years now and have almost nothing to show for it.
Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions
- Thread starter Eternal_Wings
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I feel like theyve been saying this for almost 2 years now and have almost nothing to show for it.
OP
OP
True but this time I feel they made (finally) a resolve. They probably have given up on Activision Blizzard. It’s time to fight back for Sony and stop their whining about lost things.
Lol, I was the one who showed you that two or three weeks ago. But yes, Sony could buy the global publishing arm, if they were willing to sell and Sony had the money to buy. Of course, and this is just guessing, but Mihoyo would still own the rights and could send them elsewhere if they so chose.
I think Sony would be to buy full console exclusivity for their IPs, marketing and publishing rights in all platforms outside China to make sure MiHoyo don't sell them, even if the MiHoyo company continues being independent, Chinese and they handle their Chinese market and support Sony there.
But in any case, Genshin Impact is making a shit ton of money and have a huge growth. Meaning that their value must be too, too high and at the same time in a few years will be way higher. So stakeholders wouldn't want to sell now because their stocks will be way more valuable in a few years.
So I think it's pretty unlikely to see Sony buying MiHoyo or Cognosphere, or even getting a large minority share of stocks just for a few IPs. I think Sony will continue signing for 3rd party console exclusivity for the few games they think are worth it. Way more affordable for Sony, for a realistic pricing and still would be very profitable for them.
The fuck? Tie all those up in a "PSX" team for entertainment hardware like phones / and their support. PS/Xperia.
That's an accounting trick to grift profits from games, and recoup elsewhere. So much for that "One Sony" ethos a while back.
I was formatting this table to use in a future thread and I felt it would make sense to post here. This are the actual studios (meaning not port house, mobile or support) Sony will have to compete against Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, Blizzard and Activision.
10/17 are in the US/NA.
2/17 are in Japan.
5/17 are in Europe.
6/17 acquired from 2020 onwards.
| Name | Location/s | Acquired | Last Game | Next Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bend Studio | Bend, Oregon | 2000 | Days Gone (2018 - 71) ported to PC | ? |
| Bluepoint Games | Austin, Texas | 2021 | Demon's Souls (2020 - 92) | ? |
| Firesprite | Liverpool | 2021 | Horizon Call of the Mountain (2023 - 79) | ? |
| Firewalk Studios | Bellevue, Washington | 2023 | - | Concord |
| Guerrilla Games | Amsterdam | 2005 | Horizon Forbidden West (2022 - 88) | ? |
| Haven Studios | Montreal, Quebec | 2022 | - | Fairgame$ |
| Housemarque | Helsinki | 2021 | Returnal (2021 - 86) ported to PC | ? |
| Insomniac Games | Burbank, California & Durham, North Carolina | 2019 | Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021 - 88) ported to PC | Marvel's Spider-Man 2 |
| London Studio | London | — | Blood & Truth (VR - 2019 - 80) | ? |
| Media Molecule | Guildford | 2010 | Dreams (2020 - 89) | ? |
| Naughty Dog | Santa Monica, California | 2001 | The Last of Us Part I (2022 - 88) ported to PC | The Last of Us "Factions" |
| Polyphony Digital | Tokyo | — | Gran Turismo 7 (2022 - 87) | ? |
| Santa Monica Studio | Los Angeles, California | — | God of War Ragnarok (2022 - 94) | ? |
| Sucker Punch Productions | Bellevue, Washington | 2011 | Ghost of Tsushima (2020 - 83) | ? |
| Team Asobi | Tokyo | — | Astro's Playroom (2020 - 83) | ? |
| San Diego Studio | San Diego, California | — | MLB: The Show (anual multiple platform releases) | - |
| Bungie | Bellevue, Washington | 2022 | Destiny 2 (2017 - multiplataform) | Marathon |
10/17 are in the US/NA.
2/17 are in Japan.
5/17 are in Europe.
6/17 acquired from 2020 onwards.
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If we assume that TakeTwo would be denied for Microsoft...
Then Sony should go for Ubisoft, Capcom, IOI and Arc System Works IMO
Then Sony should go for Ubisoft, Capcom, IOI and Arc System Works IMO
OP
OP
Square Enix is right now more important. They also have currently a low market cap. They will buy them before they reach similar to Capcom market cap. Capcom is not running away, they can wait. But Square Enix definitely not.
Ubisoft:
XDefiant
Rayman
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown
Just Dance
The Division
FarCry
Rainbow6
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Assassin’s Creed
Ghost Recon
Watch Dogs
Splinter Cell
No need to buy SquareEnix. Sony should be going for Ubisoft
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If they buy Ubisoft I'm out, no more PlayStation for me, ever. I find it bad enough that some of their games already take too much inspiration from the awful Ubisoft gamedesign.
Pure trash. Depressing to even think half of Sony studios would be this bad.
Ubisoft:
XDefiant
Rayman
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown
Just Dance
The Division
FarCry
Rainbow6
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Assassin’s Creed
Ghost Recon
Watch Dogs
Splinter Cell
No need to buy SquareEnix. Sony should be going for Ubisoft
OP
OP
I doubt that Sony would be interested in a bloated mess like Ubisoft. Sony has already similar studios who are living the Ubisoft formula but in better quality. Let’s hypothetically Sony is interested in Ubi, I think the French would rather be bought by Microsoft. If I am not mistaken, Ubisoft and Microsoft have a close relationship. Nah Sony will not buy something like Ubisoft. Honestly Sega would be much more realistic than Ubisoft.
Capcom, CDPR, SE, Take Two are all much better fits.
Ubisoft is the definition of mediocrity and uninspired design. The aspects on recent Sony game that resemble Ubisoft games are the worst things going on in those games.
Studios are way more important than IP and Ubisoft has tons of bloat (not to mention their leadership is openly hostile to being brought out.) Just not a good buy unless you intend to cut a lot. Would be better to just buy one or two specific teams that you want.
Ubisoft:
XDefiant
Rayman
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown
Just Dance
The Division
FarCry
Rainbow6
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Assassin’s Creed
Ghost Recon
Watch Dogs
Splinter Cell
No need to buy SquareEnix. Sony should be going for Ubisoft
of course Sony or some other company would clean them a bit.
i think, actually they are very good buy, totally, even if you buy them for 5B and put extra 2B or more. it is worth. the legacy IPs, current IPs is way more valuable than Zenimax ever been, and that one costed 8,3B+ some billions for retention packages(unless they skipped it).
Its a much bigger company than Bethesda was, too, but the difference was Bethesda was almost all meat and very little fat (sorry Arkane and Machine Games, which aren't even bad studios,) with Ubisoft you would have to purchase a lot of things that you then don't have immediate use for. Would be better to just purchase a few studios and their IP, like Trackmania, Red Storm, Milan, Montpellier, Annency, that type of group.
I agree with the "If ABK is approved" part.
CDPR would be really important to have. With the guidance of Sony and incorporating them to the exchange between the Playstation Studios could also have a really positive influence on them.
With Capcom, Sony would also secure some really beloved IPs and franchises. Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Mega Man
Square Enix I would say could go either way. The relationship is already pretty good so deepening it could also be something to explore, besides a whole acquisition.
Securing these 3 should be possible in terms of financeability and also should have no regulatory troubles.
Again, I can only see this "if" the ABK acquisition goes through.
Should no ABK acquisition take place I also can see Sony just deepening the relationship to Square Enix.
A publisher like CDPR would be an answer to Bethesda no ABK.
If you look at the list I posted about studio you will see that close to 60% of Sony studios are in NA. To me that alone would justify expanding their development studios in Europe and Asia since PlayStation has global appeal.
Xbox is not nearly as popular as PlayStation but no even without ABK is probably already has more studios and possibility more employees as well. Why would Sony accept to be in such a vulnerable position and not leverage their massive market share advantage to fight MS now instead of 5 years from now?
OP
OP
You forgot Zenimax. They are much bigger than Square Enix. TES, Wolfenstein, Fallout are massive Franchises. Sony will buy Square Enix to counter Bethesda not Activision Blizzard. Sony has a huge gap for RPGs now that Microsoft gobbled all competent RPG devs up.
Sony made their resolve independently of the ABK outcome. This was a day after the PI was denied and Microsoft’s celebrating PR:
“We will continue to make strategic investments going forward, prioritizing intellectual property,” Totoki was quoted as saying.
Sony CFO - Hiroki Totoki