Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions
- Thread starter Eternal_Wings
- Start date
OP
OP
Take2 IPs have little to zero trans-media appeal. Aside GTA and Red Dead Redemption there is nothing of worth. Sony will never pay $30B for two IPs. Hence the name “TakeTwo“.Take two interactive
Capcom, Square Enix or Konami would be more appealing for Sony.
I disagree that they only have 2 IPs. They bioshock,mafia, LA Noir, GTA, borderlands, Max Payne, Red Dead
OP
OP
The franchises you mentioned except GTA & RDR have not really a global appeal. Take2 doesn’t own Borderlands, just the publishing rights. Gearbox owns them. You need to forget this. Sony ain’t buying Take2 or EA. They will make defensive buys but not in that scale of TakeTwo.
I never said Sony is buying them just that they have more than 2 IPs
Sony already have a glut of Western-based IPs even in-house between stuff like God of War, TLOU, Uncharted, Days Gone, Spiderman, Horizon etc. They don't really need very much more of that, especially stuff that isn't WRPG-based (which is why the CDPR talks make more sense from that angle). Sony can enter a strategic partnership with Take Two including things like GTA6 marketing rights and timed exclusivity content maybe like DLCs (exactly what Microsoft did in the 360 era, BTW. But Good Guy Phil™ would like to memory-hole people about that).
What Sony really need are more all-audiences IP with big trans-media appeal, and Japanese-centric big IP secured under their umbrella. Both of those will very likely include some form of 3P publisher M&A, but some would also include share purchases & investments through strategic partnerships, and a couple studio 3P acquisitions. They can probably expand Horizon into a legit WRPG and either partner with CDPR on that or hire people with that type of background to flesh out WRPG mechanics. If they were smart they'd also enter a co-development partnership with Larian on a DnD-based WRPG (since I'm becoming increasingly familiar with it, something based on the Dark Sun world would be refreshing).
Aside that, yeah, Sony need something that has the gaming & trans-media appeal of a Pokemon, or at least a Fortnite. That can either be done with a wholly in-house IP or an acquired IP that's cultivated successfully into such a thing. They also should do more with characters like Astrobot. Really they need to do more in-house AA games IMHO, and I think a lot of the Japanese IP out there would be a better fit for that type of stuff. Japanese developers are also generally more efficient with budget management and crafting quality out of smaller scope than their Western peers.
Just a six billion dollar premium is something Strauss zelnick would not agree to he would atleast ask 15 billion premium plus with the market cap so 40 billion or more is what you would see Take two sell for
Bioshock is a good brand but the creator is a Jaffe-level shithead who I wouldn't want to deal with if I were Sony. And without him, Bioshock will quickly lose its name value.
Edit: A yearvago I would have argued for buying S-E but they sold off two teams I liked and all of their releases this year, including FF have underperformed in sales. I'd probably scoop up some of the better China Hero teams if they could be had on the cheap. Maybe Gearbox, once again though, only if they can be had on the cheap.
Edit: A yearvago I would have argued for buying S-E but they sold off two teams I liked and all of their releases this year, including FF have underperformed in sales. I'd probably scoop up some of the better China Hero teams if they could be had on the cheap. Maybe Gearbox, once again though, only if they can be had on the cheap.
Last edited:
They could buy Square and then buy the relevant parts back off Embracer, since they are in a bit of trouble...
I think Square management needs a huge shakeup anyway.
I have no idea what Embracer wants to do anymore. They said that they wanted to pivot towards "future monetization potential" as in hit games, but at the same time they are talking about potentially selling Gearbox off. And lets be real here, Borderlands has a lot more potential than any of the shit Plaion pumps out. As far as I know all of the CDE studios have pretty much guaranteed income flows right now, Tomb Raider has the Amazon tie-up and the other team is getting a steady paycheck from Microsoft for "leading support" work. Now maybe Embracer would rather take the money and bet they could turn around other teams, but like I said, who knows. And, when it comes right down to it, if those are worth purchasing on their own then Sony could always just not buy Square and only buy CDE, or only buy Eidos. Bear in mind, I think potential Sony deals do not have much to do with Xbox at all and are more about building the perfect Playstation ecosystem as well as maybe being profitable on their own.
And, sadly, while many people here would think that means going out and buying more studios that match the output of their own, most publishers seem to take a different tack. In my opinion they are more likely to actively want a studio that is different from their current ones, instead of more of the same. In that sense Sony is strong in "Action" games, "Story" games and has put a lot of money into being strong at "AAA GaaS." Holes in that line-up, from my perspective, would be mobile games, kids games, metaverse titles and "2D indie" titles (a relatively generous grouping of metroidvanias, platformers, 2D shooters and the like.) So in that sense probably a mobile company next? And not one of the good ones either, those all cost too much. Unless they buy, like, DeNA or something, you know, a Japanese one. I could see them doing that.
OP
OP
I don’t know why some of guys don’t want Sony to buy a Japanese pub especially Square Enix. Would it hurt you if Sony would try to offer more variety? I am tired of western 3rd Person Action Adventures. Sony needs more different genre catered and who is better suited than a Japanese gaming company?
Sony won’t buy a western pub I am calling it now. Be it Sega, Square Enix or whoever, any Japanese pub could help them to bolster their portfolio in a positive way.
Sony won’t buy a western pub I am calling it now. Be it Sega, Square Enix or whoever, any Japanese pub could help them to bolster their portfolio in a positive way.
Last edited:
I recognise SE's importance to Sony, if lessoned after losing "Western SE". I personally think Capcom should be the prize. Assuming SE's a lock and Capcom continue not wanting to sell, I think WB are a dark horse for wider gaming/media integration throughout Sony/BraviaCore.
They already lost out on MGM's media library and other things, WB could benefit both PS and Sony for a smaller price than most.
They already lost out on MGM's media library and other things, WB could benefit both PS and Sony for a smaller price than most.
Do you mean the whole of WB? Its lost half of its market value since the merger, without really shedding too many assets (lots of productions cancelled, but its not like they sold off IP or business units.) From an M&A perspective thats probably good for would-be buyers, but bear in mind I am pretty sure Discovery took on a lot of debt in order to perform the so-called merger in the first place (it was really them eating WB.) It might face regulatory scrutiny as two movie studios merging, just like Disney did with the FTC's bungled case against them buying Fox but, well, that Disney case involved two bigger players and failed so it would probably pass muster here. And while certain individuals might knash their teeth at the concept of a Japanese company owning Superman, thats not how the law works in this country, generally. For those interested, WB is currently valued at about 25 billion dollars, while Sony is at 106 billion and would be expected to pay some sort of premium. At that point it would have to either be a true merger or financed through debt. On the plus side, films Spiderman can meet Batman now, triggering cooms or rage alternately depending on any one nerd's particular view of DC/Marvel mashups.
But perhaps you just mean the games business. While WB's games unit is very good, it is also probably not for sale at a reasonable price. We know for a fact that it wasn't a few years ago, which is why no-one ended up buying it despite the unit being very publicly for sale. Every WB game franchise, with the one and a half exceptions of Mortal Kombat and Lego (its all other people's IP but the real selling point seems to be the team's game formula and title output) is based on a different business unit's IP and they are not interested in permanently selling gaming rights to any of that stuff. A year ago I wouldn't have been suprised if WB fire-saled it all just to redirect funding into movies but with Hogwarts Legacy and the latest Lego title both tearing up the charts I think they stay in games for years to come.
I have feelings sony are preparing to buy take two interactive
If sony own gta then ms will never remove cod from any sony console
gta6 will break records
If sony own gta then ms will never remove cod from any sony console
gta6 will break records
The 2K CEO was very pro-Activision and he said something Iike "anything that is good for MS is good for the industry" or some shit like that. These people are so stupid at this point I wouldn't be surprised if they gave GTA6 to MS for free. The industry wants MS to succeed so badly.
They don't see the sales charts? Games are not selling on Xbox. They don't make money. Bethesda was destroyed.
American executives want American corporations in control of everything. Suffice to say, a US controlled industry is the worst possible outcome to consumers worldwide.
They just wanted to get rid of Activision just like EA & Ubisoft. It's not that deep.
And if it's as you described then that highlights a failure of Sony's end of every so called partner wants them to fail. Maybe they should work on 3rd party relations
Third party relations could be fine or even great at lower levels... the operational level, where a PlayStation third party relations expert calls / emails them and has good banter and organizes the games for marketing and PSPlus etc.
However that doesn't mean that executives / CEO's etc don't have a role to play in building the relationships, making the third parties feel like they are valued and a part of the plans and vision of the business. That's where I think Phil is way ahead of Jim, how many times have we seen jim visit Sega or Square or Capcom or do anything to build on the existing relations?
I don't remember much but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.