Sony's future and possible studio/publisher acquisitions

[Yurinka]

Who is this person? Seems like a random unknown Twitter user with no insider credibility, it's the first time I see this account. I don't understand why people in this thread give some credibility to this tweet.

We should stop giving credibility to any random unknown user from the interwebs.

Prolly not even about ms, most likely working to be more multiplat. It makes sense for them to both start being multiplat.

Doesn't make any sense for any of them to go multiplat, and we don't have any reason to believe that this meeting ever existed.

 

[Darth Vader]

If CMA blocks it, Microsoft will appeal and chances are that the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal will overturn it.

And the appeal will likely take more than the contractual date for completion, therefore dropping the acquisition.

Not true. CMA has had decisions go to the CAT and were overturned.

You really have no idea how these things work for huge deals like these.

 

[CloudStrife]

I have a feeling SquareEnix's value is going to increase quite a lot after next year. Hope Sony has already agreed to a deal with them for acquisition.

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

 

[DynamiteCop]

It's so odd that even now so many amongst you are under the deluded belief that just because you have money that something can be purchased... Things which are purchased were put up for sale, not approached.

Make the trek back to reality..

 

[SSfox]

The last interview with Hermen made it clear they don't plan to buy big publisher. Tho if MS x Acti deal wil go throught Sony need to rethink their plans imo

 

[Bryank75]

The last interview with Hermen made it clear they don't plan to buy big publisher. Tho if MS x Acti deal wil go throught Sony need to rethink their plans imo

I wonder why they hire so many M&A staff though...

 

[LightBolt]

Someone told @Eternal_Wings about Unseen working with PS i think... I can't remember who? hmmm

 

[Eternal_Wings]

The last interview with Hermen made it clear they don't plan to buy big publisher. Tho if MS x Acti deal wil go throught Sony need to rethink their plans imo

He didn’t worded: “They wouldn’t buy a publisher”. They bought Bungie not for PS Studios, because they are too big to integrate them. If Sony buys a publisher like Square Enix, then this will come from the top of Sony. Synergies are the key for Sony’s future big acquisitions. I am pretty sure we will see one buyout and they will get the same treatment as Bungie does.

And one more thing, Hermen Hulst has nothing to do with M&A. This is not his job. Lin Tao, Urata Keiichiro are responsible for acquisitions.

 

[Old Gamer]

I wonder why they hire so many M&A staff though...

They also need that to buy smaller devs.

 

[Yurinka]

The last interview with Hermen made it clear they don't plan to buy big publisher.

Link, please? I don't remember this and I'm interested to read the details.

And one more thing, Hermen Hulst has nothing to do with M&A. This is not his job. Lin Tao, Urata Keiichiro are responsible for acquisitions.

Hermen is in charge of PS Studios, so any company bought to be included into PS Studios must have been approved and maybe even requested by him. He also would be in the negotitations with these teams to write their future role in PS Studios, projects greenlighted, future plans for the studio (like growing their manpower etc) etc.

The M&A employees do the paperwork, negotiate the money stuff, and later integrate the new employees in the company etc. In non PS Studio SIE acquisitions Hermen isn't that involved but these acquisitions also should be coordinated with him and pretty likely also has influence.

As an example, he may be asked to by someone top in FPS, MP, GaaS and multiplatform games to better cover these areas and learn from them. And he may have agreed with SIE/Jimbo that acquired publishers will be under SIE but not under PS Studios and will continue publishing their games on the other platforms, even rival consoles day one. While PS Studios will continue focused on PS only games as top priority, as and something secondary to make some mobile games and to port a few mostly old games to pc.

Then the M&A staff scouted the market, found some potential candidates up for grabs and saw Bungie was the best fit in terms of pricing and what they could offer. Hermen and Jimbo gave the thumbs up, probably adapted them to their strategy and tweaked their strategy to fit them and the M&A folks did the negotiations and paperwork.

I wonder why they hire so many M&A staff though...

Because as Sony said multiple times, they will continue acquiring companies. They even hired for their legal team that big antimonopoly attorney who worked for people like Uber, which I assume means they plan to acquire not only small mobile and support studios. Sounds like they plan to make at least a big game acquisition, something bigger (I mean more expensive and with bigger market share) than Bungie.

 

[Yobo]

Goes on to say could be any Polish dev.

If their relationship with Sony hadn't been so toxic I'd say they are a perfect fit with the Sony first party DNA. Single player focused, successful and with an eye for movie and TV projects

I'd also be very sceptical that Cdpr want to sell now after their share price fell so far

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Link, please? I don't remember this and I'm interested to read the details.


Hermen is in charge of PS Studios, so any company bought to be included into PS Studios must have been approved and maybe even requested by him. He also would be in the negotitations with these teams to write their future role in PS Studios, projects greenlighted, future plans for the studio (like growing their manpower etc) etc.

The M&A employees do the paperwork, negotiate the money stuff, and later integrate the new employees in the company etc. In non PS Studio SIE acquisitions Hermen isn't that involved but these acquisitions also should be coordinated with him and pretty likely also has influence.

A publisher is a different story. When Sony buys Square Enix, then not only for Playstation. There are so many more things to consider. Square Enix will be bought because they have al lot of different synergies within all other Sony’s divisions. Music, movie, anime, manga, mobile gaming, GaaS, Hardware design.

 

[Yurinka]

A publisher is a different story. When Sony buys Square Enix, then not only for Playstation. There are so many more things to consider. Square Enix will be bought because they have al lot of different synergies within all other Sony’s divisions. Music, movie, anime, manga, mobile gaming, GaaS, Hardware design.

True, a publisher is different than a dev specially due things involved with their bigger size: in this cases regulators join the party, their relationship with the other console makers may get affected, if they have non-gaming stuff they may coordinate it with other Sony divisions or even figure out if they get rid of that part etc.

But in the case of Sony, Sony it's a bit of a mess because they have many companies inside their divisions that make many other things that are not from that division. As an example: Sony Music has several anime and videogame teams. In fact, PlayStation was born inside Sony Music.

 

[peter42O]

You really have no idea how these things work for huge deals like these.

You're right. I know very little and debating with my friend about it almost every day, I honestly don't give a shit. While my original predictions remain the same as I never change my predictions, at this point, approved or blocked, I just want the shit done with already so I can see what Microsoft does next and if it benefits me more than ABK.

With that said, I don't believe that there's any valid reason as to why the deal should be blocked because it's not going to change much if anything and what it may change is at least a decade or more away and even then, it's all a "what if" scenario. CMA according to their official website is supposed to look out for their consumers in the UK first and foremost. When it comes to COD, Microsoft would most likely make the multi-player free ala Halo Infinite or in time, like I believe, eliminate the online paywall which honestly, is old, outdated and obsolete especially if you're pushing cross-play with PC. Let's say the multi-player for COD is free. Campaign wise, I can't imagine that anyone would want to spend $60/$70+ on a 10 or so hour campaign as opposed to getting it for a $10 monthly rental.

I don't believe that losing COD exclusively would kill off Sony and/or PlayStation. That's just hyperbolic bullshit. PlayStation is huge and worldwide. Losing COD would result in some people in jumping ship but that's the entire point of exclusivity and is what Sony has literally built their dominance on over the last 25+ years. I have no problem with any of it. They're businesses and should do whatever they need to do in order to bring as many people into their eco-system as possible.

When it comes to PlayStation fans in general, I think it's more of simply not wanting anything to change. Not just the status quo of PlayStation being the dominant force that it's been for 25+ years but also, that these fans don't want to see Game Pass succeed and take off or to change gaming from the traditional model of what Sony does. Simply, people fear change. Back in 2018/2019, I was exactly the same and then Gears 5 released. And im thinking at that time, why am I going to spend $60 on it just to trade it in once I complete it when I could just play through the campaign which is all I care about to begin with for a cheap $10 monthly rental. Since then, my mentality and way of thinking with gaming has changed. I have adapted and will use Microsoft giving me their exclusives for a cheap $10 monthly rental to my advantage. And yes, the more development studios and/or publishers they acquire, the less games I have to buy. Of course, this only benefits me if what they're acquiring is of interest to me. With ABK, excluding Diablo IV which I would buy anyway if I have to, they have nothing of value for me. If anything, my main reason for wanting ABK is to see if Blizzard gets back to being great like they were back in the day and if the other studios develop other games instead of just working on COD every year.

While still also buying the timed/full console exclusives that I want to play day one on PlayStation 5 instead of waiting to see if/when they get released on Xbox Series X. In this regard, I understand Sony's argument because it does work. I'm proof of that but it's also contradictory of Sony because they simply want to be the only company that can do this and get away with it which is what I disagree with. Sony has built their entire brand around exclusivity. The worse part is that if Game Pass was on PlayStation and you can download the games, Sony refusing this in my eyes is a slap in the face of PlayStation consumers because you would literally be getting everything on one platform. Like, what is the problem? If anything, this would hurt Xbox because even I would question why do I own a Series X if I can download these games via Game Pass on my PlayStation 5? Outside of most likely not being able to use my Xbox One controller, I literally wouldn't have a single valid reason not to do this.

At this point, it's nothing more than entertainment watching CMA and Microsoft go back and forth.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Hermen Hulst lastest interview. Didn’t find any mention about not doing inorganic growth.

PlayStation will make more live service games, but won’t abandon roots, studio chief says

Hermen Hulst talks PC, mobile, combatting crunch and a whole lot more.

www.axios.com

 

[Yurinka]

Hermen Hulst lastest interview. Didn’t find any mention about not doing inorganic growth.

PlayStation will make more live service games, but won’t abandon roots, studio chief says

Hermen Hulst talks PC, mobile, combatting crunch and a whole lot more.

www.axios.com

Ok, so as I thought the "The last interview with Hermen made it clear they don't plan to buy big publisher" claim is wrong.

I don't remember him or anyone else from Sony claiming they won't buy a big publisher. But if they claimed it, I'd be happy to see the related link.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Ok, so as I thought the "The last interview with Hermen made it clear they don't plan to buy big publisher" claim is wrong.

I don't remember him or anyone else from Sony claiming they won't buy a big publisher. But if they claimed it, I'd be happy to see the related link.

You just need to see what Jim Ryan said in June 2022:

“The purpose of these investments is to increase our core strength at PlayStation Studios, but also to acquire expertise in areas of game development where historically we have not had a significant presence. The planned Bungie partnership is a great example of the latter."

"In terms of future M&A activity, the answer to that is we are not at all finished with our strategy of trying to grow PlayStation Studios inorganically."

“As we transition from our historic game development strategy to a much broader and much wider market reach than we enjoy today, it is very likely that inorganic stimulus will be required to help us to realize these dreams.

And to the extent that potential targets fit with our strategy, to the extent that potential targets allow us to accelerate the way in which we are able to deliver on our strategy, we will certainly consider farther M&A activity to add to our business portfolio."

Jim Ryan: PlayStation is 'Not at All Finished' With Acquisitions

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan during a business briefing said that PlayStation will continue to grow inorganically, [...]

www.vgchartz.com

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It's so odd that even now so many amongst you are under the deluded belief that just because you have money that something can be purchased...

Someone should tell this to Microsoft, then, or better yet Jez Corden. Y'know, the guy who's putting a gun to Sony & CMA's heads that if the deal doesn't go through, Microsoft will buy up all the 3P AAA games as Xbox exclusives instead?

It's...not like MS didn't have the $70 billion before, or haven't tried locking some of those games down prior to going after ABK or Zenimax. As we've seen with 3P publisher hesitancy to put games into GamePass of their own volition, it's not always about how much money you can throw at someone.

Things which are purchased were put up for sale, not approached.

Actually, it's a bit of both. If a company already has internal plans to sell, and are approached by a potential buyer, they will take the offer into consideration.

Companies looking to sell don't go posting the announcement on a bulletin board seeking applications; at most they may put fielders out there and be approached by board members or owners of other companies looking to buy to have talks and discussions over a period of time. That's how it works.

Make the trek back to reality..

Guide Jez Corden, Destin Legaire and Colteastwood safely...

I wonder why they hire so many M&A staff though...

Because they're probably considering it. I don't think buying publishers is Sony's preferred strategy, that's for sure, but if they see the tea leaves falling a certain way, they won't be against buying one if it means securing content for their platform into perpetuity.

That's what I think the difference between Microsoft and Sony is here: Microsoft prefer this strategy of buying out big publishers, that fits their style/plays to their strengths (excessively large amounts of cash and market value to make virtually any & every purchase they could want). Sony don't prefer that strategy (in large part because they lack the cash and market value of a Microsoft to fund such a strategy long-term or at such a large scale) but are willing to take those steps if things prove it necessary.

Personally I think that's what Herman was suggesting in the interview, not that Sony aren't in talks with a 3P publisher or two or aren't considering the option to acquire one. They just would definitely not be taking those steps if Microsoft hadn't already set a precedent with Zenimax & ABK, and haven't outright stated they plan to acquire more publishers in the future.

 

[TubzGaming]

Actually, it's a bit of both. If a company already has internal plans to sell, and are approached by a potential buyer, they will take the offer into consideration.

Companies looking to sell don't go posting the announcement on a bulletin board seeking applications; at most they may put fielders out there and be approached by board members or owners of other companies looking to buy to have talks and discussions over a period of time. That's how it works.

A multi Million Dollar company can not and will not have a big for sale sign up as it would make penitential investors back away or if they have shares sell them off. All sales at these sizes are almost always are only talks with CEO's etc, anyone under them likely has no idea that it is going to happen.
The only time you might know it could happen is if a company is publicly loosing money left and right, then you know they are up for sale or a future partnership.