Over the weekend, news broke that Sony is looking to double down on its philosophy of producing high quality, PlayStation exclusive titles with the PlayStation 5. With the next-gen console supposedly set to launch in late 2020, you can bet that the Japanese giant is incredibly busy behind the scenes, no doubt preparing itself for the important years ahead.
And now, a report from Japanese publication Nikkei -- as translated by Gematsu -- says that Sony is considering the acquisition of game development companies. In other words, it could be looking to broaden its already impressive team of first-party studios. This all comes from president and CEO Jim Ryan, who believes that "content is becoming more important than ever before". When you look at the PlayStation 4's list of exclusive games and their commercial success, it's hard to disagree.
With Microsoft strengthening its own suite of first-party developers thanks to a number of recent acquisitions, Sony's stance on buying up studios may have become more aggressive -- at least to some degree. That said, Xbox is still playing catch-up in that department, while PlayStation already has a load of top tier teams pumping out top tier games. Ryan is quick to emphasise this as well, saying "Sony Interactive Entertainment has 25 years of experience in the games industry and has big assets".
[source nikkei.com, via gematsu.com]
Comments 66
remedy could very well be on the cards.
insomniac would be great but i think they want to stay independent.
maybe from software than?
OK then let the games begin
personally i would love Sony to buy
*Square Enix
*Insomniac
that will do me
@jdv95 From Software is a no-go because unless Kadokawa Corporation is willing to give em up... but I’m sure FromSoftware is very profitable to them since From Software’s games really sell a lot of copies.
Sony is more likely to get companies that isn’t a subsidiary.
Buying 1st party developers would give sony more control onver game releases so they would never be in competition with one another.
Bluepoint and Housemarque seems like a lock, and Perhaps Remedy. But as wishful thinking Supermassive, Ready at Dawn, Insomniac, Atlus, and Kojima can fit at PS.
@FullbringIchigo Square Enix prob is unthinkable as they’re not doing bad financially plus has ways to stay away from hitting those lows... basically I don’t think the CEO & board will give up the company.
@LightingThor Atlus, no. They’d have to go thru Sega who isn’t bleeding money & Atlus is prob profitable to Sega as a company.
@Derpie1 no but they might do a partnership again like they did in the PS1 and PS2 days
@FullbringIchigo that’s possible but straight up owning Square Enix is unrealistic unless Square suddenly loses Billions of dollars to a point where they either get bought up or fall.
@FullbringIchigo i could the final fantasy games becoming PS exclusives again,but that's about it.
I think Kojima/Insomniac are definitely realistic & some other companies as well.
But I don’t expect Sony to go big w acquisitions as even with the amount of money Sony makes & has in the bank... they only have so much money/resources to work with & some of the bigger corporations will go hard on em if they even think about it...
@jdv95 prob Timed Exclusives similar to 7 Remake Episodes. I could see Sony controlling the platforms it goes on... like it’d prob also come to PC but that’s possibly it. If not Timed Exclusives.
Bluepoint games ?
@Derpie1 That’s why is wishful thinking, but like you said Sega ain’t doing to well commercially and if they keep going this path they might have to let something go.
Overkill/starbreeze for the payday series alone. Please!!!! Capcom too if possible, though I doubt it. Monster hunter saved them lol.
Insomniac games, kojima production, bluepoint, and house marquee should be a great addition to playstation first party family
Insomniac has to be one of them. If we're talking about real long shots but one that would be a great move... Sony goes to Sega and finds a way to acquire RGG Studios and with it the rights to Yakuza and Judgment.
@LightingThor actually I said they are not bleeding money.
But the reason Sega is doing alright isn’t because of thier main IP which is Sonic who only does ok sales wise... but because of Yakuza & Atlus particularly because of Persona.
@Cutmastavictory I think even before MHWorld... while they weren’t doing well... Capcom wasn’t in a horrid position/point where they could easily be bought up...
buy remedy.imsomiacs games.ready at Dawn.io interactive.suppermasive games.word up son
Everything LightingThor mentioned -
And to add, they should get some studios focusing on multiplayers, arcade racing and JRPGs...
Dream???
CD PROJEKT RED!!!
Edit:
Obligatory addition - HATE Jim Ryan...
My prediction
Sony Buys: Super Massive Games and/or Bluepoint Studios
Insomniac, Remedy and Kojima Keep making second party exclusives for PS5
M$ Buys: Platinum Games
Gets some second party exclusives from Japan probably from Sega
@FullbringIchigo What would be the point in Sony buying up SE though, even if they could? From a gamer perspective, that is.
They should of been doing this month's ago when Microsoft bought company's left and right also need to lock down some of the. Company's that have made exclusives
i'm gonna call that we will get some studio partnership announcements with the reveal of the ps5.
insomniac would be logical considering recent games,but i think they will want to stay independent. some games will be PS exclusives though.
kojima productions could work well. but future games will most likely also be on pc.
remedy would be great. but not untill after alan wake 2 has released (if that ever comes out).
bluepoint should be logical. but again they might refuse.
supermassive could work.
@kyleforrester87 point is you shouldn't look at it from a gamers perspective, you should look at it from Sony's, Square are a big well know company that is popular in Japan and even acts as publisher in that region for some American and European game developers (for example they published Call of Duty Modern Warfare in Japan)
buying them would not only give Sony big franchises like Final Fantasy or Tomb raider but also a stronger connection to western developers
remember Sony won't be buying any company for us, they will be buying them in order to appeal to more players and thus make more money, i'm under no illusion that they are doing anything for the players, every move they make is for them and them only, same with Nintendo and MS
in fact just imagine if MS brought Square that would give them a HUGE door into the Japanese market, which they have yet to crack, not only for beloved Japanese games but also for publishing too
@suikoden maybe they did that already but are only now talking about it.
@The_Great_WmR I don’t see Microsoft buying Platinum... but that’s me xD
Let's not forget that Sony have made enquiries about Insomniac previously, and were told 'no'. I guess there's no harm in asking again, and maybe the mountain of cash Sony have since made from Plus may help persuade them.
Sony should buy spider studio. Or deck 13.!
Mabye even Defiant Development,
@Paranoimia they might be able to cut a deal.
like any future superhero games they make will be PS exclusive. that includes not just spiderman but all marvel hero's.
their other games can be multiplatform.
At least it s more reliable than WSJ and a proper source
Why get rid of some in the PS4 days then SONY? Like the people who made DriveClub and MotorStorm + A few other they could of bought like the makers of The Order 1866. They were brilliant at what they did(Yep I liked The Order 1866 and the next one could of been Amazing) Oh well.
@Derpie1 the not saying that. Im saying before mhw they were trending down.
@FullbringIchigo I don't think every move is for Sony. But buying studios in this particular climate makes the most sense for Sony.
@shuvamg009 Perfect , Sony needs at least a good multiplayer Studio like Bungie or People can Fly but that might be too expensive.
@Derpie1 Sorry I misread that but yeah you’re right.
@Ridwaano Those are two studios that have great concepts in their games but can’t execute properly, but with Sony budget and direction they can definitely improve.
@FullbringIchigo Thats a good point I guess, but then if we're dreaming why don't they just buy up Microsoft and Nintendo and be done with the whole thing you know
Funny how fickle gaming fans are its bad when Xbox does it but when sony does its cool
@kyleforrester87 well i'm sure many would love to be able to just buy one machine to play everything
not sure what it would do for innovation in the industry though as it's the competition that helps it move forward
@FullbringIchigo well it would in principal be good for Sony, but yes I agree it’ll actually be detrimental to them long term, and probably that’d be the case if they got a company as big as SE under their belt, too. Better for everyone that SE stay, er, independent.
@kyleforrester87 true but even so i would love to see Square focus on just one system because they seem to do better work when they do
@Carl-G I would really like them to try to re-assemble the Evolution Studios team for a Driveclub sequel, whether it be on PS4 or PS5. It had a rough start, but in my opinion remains one of the best racers of the generation, and probably still the best looking. I've a feeling that may be one move Sony regret.
Still, it's easy for me to suggest re-assembling the studio... might well be that even if they tried, those concerned would tell them where to go.
Given that PS5 is backwards-compatible, it seems to make even less sense that they're turning off the servers next year.
@FullbringIchigo I dunno man, I don't mind a lot of what SE do but the problems seem to have started with the commercial failure of Spirits Within and the Enix merger.
@FullbringIchigo innovation!? That no longer exists... that’s a monopoly cus one system to play everything with nothing to combat it... lol
@Derpie1 that's what i said
"not sure what it would do for innovation in the industry though as it's the competition that helps it move forward"
do people actually read posts on this site anymore?
i said the same thing about microsoft.. buying studios for the sake of buying studios is not a sensible way to increase/improve your portfolio. growing studios like naughty dog, guerrilla, etc. organically so it can have multiple games in production at the same time whilst all projects still have access to the same expertise seems a more optimistic way to increase first party output. some of the studios mentioned might make sense (like insomniac), some don't (like remedy) but generally if studios are making quality games, they probably don't lack options to get their games published and therefore there's no incentive to lose their independence. if they're struggling financially and looking for a buyer, either they make really niche games, or pretty average ones, that have limited interest in the first place. if sony's interested in acquiring studios, it needs to look at where it's deficient, not just buy studios that can make inferior imitations of the same style of games made by its 'blockbuster' studios. aside from VR, it made one single exclusive FPS in the whole of the PS4 lifecycle. that's a massive failing imo, and just not good enough. it could have bought irrational games, and maybe we'd have had a successor to bioshock. it shuttered zipper interactive without even giving it a chance to develop on PS4.. MAG was a concept with a lot of promise, even if its execution on PS3 failed to live up to the ambition.
You know all of the Studio's people have named and No one Mentions Studios like Crytek Frozenbyte Devolver Digital and maybe even Konami
@FullbringIchigo I’m more like nah man say it as is... once it’s one platform... innovation is unnecessary for a corporation when ya got no reason to innovate...
But hey sorry if I’m being dumb w ya... who knows what Sony will do... as sometimes I’m even ?ing w Kojima Productions cus I feel Kojima would want independence... from any conglomerate.
@Areus I don’t think Devolver would wanna lose its independence. They’re a proud group that wants to do what it wants...
@Derpie1 Ninja Theory Said the same thing and look what happend i Think they should go after Crytek and Buy some of Konami's IPs or the company itself if they can
@Derpie1 yeah i imagine after what happened with Konami that Kojima would want to run his own show, so to speak
at least for now
@oatmealwarrior92 yes they are known for remaking Classic games like Shadow of colossus and other Ps1 & Ps2 era type games.
@FullbringIchigo plus despite my issues w Death Stranding I feel Kojima is really happy with making this game cus he has that sense of freedom.
I do hope one day he can make an actual reg movie tho...
@Areus Konami i think they won’t budge.
@LightingThor yes! You get it hopefully someone in sony headquarters get it too! ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀)🤙
@kyleforrester87 No competition would be horrible why would you bring your A game if you have no competition.
@Flaming_Kaiser did you read and understand all my posts before I answer you?
Maybe they shouldn’t have closed down a bunch of good studios
I guess Housemarque is quite likely then considering the recent visit.
@leucocyte "multiple games in production at the same time"
Lol, no. It was proven a thousand times that sony's management is incapable of running two projects with single studio at the same time. No matter how big you grow a single studio, they are gonna always work on a single game. You need separate studios for separate games.
To be honest I’d rather they didn’t buy any of the studios that are making games I currently enjoy. I’d much rather have second party games commission and have them grow there existing first party developers organically.
@snakemake - not true. the last of us and uncharted 3 were in development at the same time, as was lost legacy and the last of us 2. guerrilla developed killzone shadowfall at the same time as working on prototypes for horizon: zero dawn. it currently rumoured to be working on a shooter and a sequel to HZD. the games don't have to be in the same stage of development at the same time. it'd make sense that if games take 4 years to develop, the production cycles would be staggered, so that an actual product comes out every two years instead of every 4. at the minute, the studios are not quite large enough to do that.
@FullbringIchigo Insomniac, Square Enix, and Sucker Punch for me.
Also Naughty Dog just because .
Digital Extreme would be amazing but Sony has no use for a shooter MMO, especially one that is dominant on PC.
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