PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan Says You Should Expect More Acquisitions

Someone's scared spitless at Sony. What a panic move.

That's the way you do it! That's the way you debate!!!

Now give them Resistance or Killzone 😌

Sony buys Ubisoft.

Edit: I’m not saying I want this to happen, but with how Sony has handled business it would not surprise me. Of course, Ubisoft has to want to sell to Sony for that to happen. It wouldn’t surprise me if Microsoft bought Ubisoft either.

@Krysus Not how acquisitions of this nature work. This has probably been in the works for months.

Expect more acquisitions. And then Sony gets bought by Facebook. Uno reverse card. One acquiring will eventually become the acquired, as the ancient proverb goes.

If this means PlayStation or Microsoft (hell, anyone) buys Ubisoft and forces them to have a better work environment and to stop making NFTs, then I'm all for it.

I’m hoping for PlayStation to buy SEGA!

@Gunnerzaurus @Krysus Yeah the Bungie deal has reportedly been in the works for about half a year. Microsoft's moves might have sped things along in terms of announcements, but the bottom line is that deals as big as this don't happen in the space of a few weeks.

Ember Lab next!

The likes of Capcom, Square Enix et al should remain independent in my opinion.

Well it's save to say that the "Monopoly" prevention clause of the Activision purchase by Microsoft won't be going ahead then.

@Krysus You think so? This would have been in the pipeline for a few months at least. They wouldn't have just hashed this out in a week and a half as a response to Activision/CoD.

They gain an excellent FPS dev, a genre in which SIE have been more or less absent from for years, and they get to change the optics for once.
On the one hand you've got a platform holder who buys up massive publishers and locks large chunks of existing communities out of the games they follow (we think), and on the other you have another platform holder who buys a massive independent studio and tells them to keep making their games wherever the community following that game exists.

I've said a few times that I studied the crap out of PR in college, and I've wanted Sony to start making PR moves for a while.
And I love this move. Very very shrewd.

Feel free to disagree though. I'm not a fanboy. I just love when the big players make moves. Gonna make some popcorn and read about this for an hour.

@Krysus If this is Sony being scared then how scared is MS spending $80 billion in two years because they can't make any great games themselves besides Forza, Halo, and Gears?

I can see one of my biggest passions slowly turning into ****. Ok, maybe that's a bit too pessimistic but I don't like the way this is going and I fear it will have unwanted consequences for me.

If Sony is gearing up to acquire more studios I wouldn’t be surprised to see them acquire Square Enix given the working relationship the two companies have had over the years

@dschons I feel exactly the same way.

Jim Ryan x Hermen Hulst making big moves this generation

Confirmed Sony will buy Microsoft.

I hate how the gaming landscape is shaping. In a few years all will get is live service BS from these companies and nothing new coming from third party publishers because there all going to be bought out. Sony trying to duke it out with MS is also laughable. Even there purchase of Bungie is a joke. It benefited no Playstation gamer at all. They wanted them to help push all the live service games they have in development rn that are unannounced. Sony will lose this fight with MS in the end. I think there little purchases will just fuel MS to buy another publishers. The end is nigh people.

Yea I see people going to pretend Sony are the nasty predators and Ms is just defending themselves with their little muscles right. 😜😅 I’m sorry but Ms put those in motion with their publishers acquisition that started coupe years ago. It’s sad but don’t expect Sony just to wait to die.

"Bungie’s successful track record in multi-format publishing and live game services will assist us in realizing our ambitions to take PlayStation beyond the console and increase our potential audience. "

Microsoft did start an acquisition war with the Bethesda purchase so this does not surprise me in the slightest. Microsoft will get Ubisoft, Sony will get Square Enix, etc.

It's terrible that things have gotten this way but in the end Microsoft is to blame for all of this.

@Shepherd_Tallon Us editors have just been talking about this. The 'arms race' is definitely worrying when you really start to think about it — but the drama is unrivalled. God knows what'll happen as the year goes on.

Borderline dystopian stuff, but it's fascinating to watch.

@nessisonett oh my god , you’re a ***** prophet ! there won’t be a playstation6 you’re right , we’re getting the METASTATION ! playstation home will make a come back in the metaverse with VR !!!

We all see what’s happening in the streaming space like Netflix etc.

This is the only move that makes sense for traditional console makers to keep up. Lock in as much original content as you can to keep people subscribed. If Sony didn’t start doing this they’d only get left behind as a storefront leader and become like Sega etc when the inevitable streaming future becomes the norm.

Am I the only one that feels like Sony buying Sega(for Persona), or Square Enix(Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider) just makes sense. I know people don't like these big Acquisitions but I would love to see Sony buy one or both of them because a lot of their franchises are known as Playstation franchises.

@LilianaQuinn83 This is one of the biggest reasons Sony should buy Square Enix.

Feel like this is the most ambitious Sony have been in a generation? Stop me if I’m wrong.

Just saw @nomither6 ‘s comments get sniped before my eyes and it wasn’t even bad. I agree Jim Ryan is a money chaser.

Just want Apple to get Sony now. They can’t compete with Microsoft if this acquisition thing is the game they’re trying to play

@nomither6 I love how much the Metaverse is just crap Second Life.

Wonder if they'll have the balls to try and take a big one off the table? I don't really wanna see them take established IP and make them Playstation exclusive but I want someone to take Konami's library and actually use it.

What happens when the rich kids buy all the marbles?

That’s how you make a statement that leaves no doubt about your intentions. We can all be certain that destiny two will remain multi platform.

@Grumblevolcano Really? I blame Sony, MSFT, Tencent among others for this.

All of the exclusive 3rd party deals PlayStation has made over the years. Call of Duty exclusives, Destiny 2, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter , Spiderman, etc.

How many years has Xbox heard, they have no games!

Guess they were listening.

It happened in the food industry and also in the steel market the smaller companies got bought up.
Some deal independently but they are owned by the same company up the pipeline or management group in some cases.
This is nothing new in business.

Hopefully they don't click to fast, they might accidentally buy Microsoft.

As long as they don’t buy up IPs and lock them away from other platforms (the MS game plan) then I’m good. MS will leave them with no access to third party games if they don’t make some strategic acquisitions.

@theMEGAniggle yeah , i think one of the mods here is related to jim ryan or something 😂 but i can’t discuss about it any further it’s against the rules .

"Hope you guys enjoyed playing with friends regardless of console choice via crossplay... because we're gonna start making games exclusive again."

Sony buys WB Games

Hopefully we can also expect more pc ports

@nomither6 I was reading it then boom, vanished. Thought I was getting banned 😭

@Milt if anything, ‘Sony signs exclusive deal with Marvel and all Marvel games are exclusive to PlayStation and PC’ 🤯

Let's say Sony decides to acquire Capcom & Square Enix, in my personal opinion; any and all established IP's should remain Multiplatform, and if in the future Capcom & Square Enix decide they want to create New Original IP's, those I would keep just on PlayStation & PC. Do I think Sony will acquire Capcom & Square Enix? It's hard to say, I don't think they should have to, but Sony might be feeling pressured to do so simply to ensure Microsoft doesn't swoop in and nab them. However if Sony decide they want to stick to acquiring smaller studios they already have a close working relationship with, then I would be gunning for Ember Labs (Kena: Bridge of Spirits), TiGames (F.I.S.T), Annapurna Interactive (Stray, 12 Minutes, The Pathless & Solar Ash), Polyarc (Moss), First Contact Entertainment (Firewall: Zero Hour), Other Ocean Interactive (MediEvil Remake), Slocap (Sifu), Level 5 (Ni No Kuni, Yo-Kai Watch, Dark Cloud & Professor Layton), Koei Tecmo (Dynasty Warriors, Fatal Frame, Ninja Gaiden, Nioh & Dead or Alive), these are just some examples. Again I don't think Sony should have to acquire a Publisher like Capcom or Square Enix, but they might have to just to keep them out of Microsoft's hand, last thing I want is for great studios such as these to go the way of Rare.

@Jarobusa Tencent really were the harbingers of all this weren't they? Silently snapping up as many publishers as possible. I believe they currently have the most under the belt. Now that I think about it, Microsoft's acquisitions may have been reactionary and Sony's reactionary to that. Friggin Tencent is the puppet master behind the scenes.

I'm cool As long as we get some other type of games besides the cinematic third person shooter Sony has done for the past 20 games.

@ShogunRok Absolutely fascinating! It's not just the purchase itself, but the nature of it and the terms involved.
A console developer buys a massive studio, and then just tells them to continue as normal... "Here's a tonne of money. Now, go do whatever you want."
Nobody does that.

Now everyone will be asking MS what happens to CoD after 2024, and they won't want to look like the "bad guy" or whatever.

It makes me a little less worried too though - If it was to be the start of a trend where these guys just want the big IPs for their streaming services, but beyond that they leave them on whatever platforms they already exist, that might be the least bad outcome of the acquisition age.

@scottdevine48 yes. I think Sony being hot on remakes will mean if they buy Sega, we'll finally get a ninth gen Skies of Arcadia remake.

Ridiculous people getting mad at Sony as if they should sit idly by and be forced out of the industry.

@Jarobusa Even with timed exclusivity deals, it all started with Microsoft. Such as in the 360 era you saw stuff like all CoD DLC from 2009 to 2015 be Xbox timed exclusive.

@ATaco 100% agree. This all started with Tencent.

What would happen if Tencent made their own console?

Phil Spencer's latest words are true. He trusts Nintendo and PlayStation (true video game companies). But not sure about Tenecent, Facebook, Amazon, etc.

@Snake_V5 That And Final Fantasy 14 Which Humorously Enough Has Been a Playstation Console Exclusive For 3 Gens In a Row.

@Grumblevolcano Tencent is who started it. MSFT is just responding and now is Sony.

This generation is quickly becoming my least favorite, between the acquisitions by Microsoft and Sony it feels like this generation is all about buying talent instead of cultivating it.

Take Two and Rockstar would be the biggest upset or make the biggest dent. EA and Ubisoft might have more games but nothing would be more upsetting to see Red Dead and GTA to go exclusive.

@Shepherd_Tallon Its fascinating PR. Phil Spencer has taken EVERY opportunity to put Sony in a difficult position - oh why WOULDNT you launch your exclusives on your streaming platform day one, why WOULDNT you put them on pc day 1, we are not taking games from communities (then makes zenimax content exclusive). And then his half answers on activision and bethesda exclusivity.

Sony played him at his own game - oh by the way, you can play on your platform of choice - no change, have fun. Its great PR (no doubt sweetened from Sony's perspective by undoubtedly the regular piles of cash they will get from destiny on other platforms). And now the question is bound to be asked - well Sony released bungie games on xbox. Why will you not to the same on Playstation.

We edge ever closer to that future where i wouldnt be surprised to see the big 3 join forces (in some capacity) against the threats of apple, amazon and tencent etc. Microsoft dont care about xbox and hardware anymore - game pass is their brand and they just want those sweet subscriber numbers.

@PVTHudson Depends which Rockstar would be part of the deal. I have big concerns about their future - most of the creative minds that made them so special left over the past few years - they are a shell of their former glory sadly

Ember lab.capcom.square enix.remedy.vanilla ware.level 5..make it happen.word up son

I don't get it. You pay 3.6 Billions $ just to let be everything as it is?

@Krysus what you think they just went to bungie and handed over nearly 4 billion last week,in response to microsofts acquisition 😂😂 don't be daft son.

@Jarobusa a tencent console is actually rumoured to be in development

Remedy, DONTNOD, Bloober Team, IO Interactive, Kojima Productions, Quantic Dream???

@Greifchen well not really they can make an exclusive fps for ps only with the bungie label,also destiny will now carry the Sony studios moniker

Aquire Take Two

@Greifchen
No, there is a bigger issue. Facebook, google and apple are trying to buy these companies and take them from consoles. Xbox and Sony are trying to save console gaming. You can bet if Facebook bought bungie it would be off consoles

@Gunnerzaurus naw they worked it out over lunch on the back of a napkin.

@Rob_230 i said as soon as gamepass was announced, in a few years there will be no xbox console as such,there will only be gamepass as a service ,maybe they will sell a gamepass branded pad ,you will have gamepass on every single device ,thats microsofts vision.

@Krysus These acquisitions take many months and often even years to bring to fruition. You think this is a reaction to MS' purchase of Activision? That's not the speed at which these things work lol

It's all a drive for content. To be fair, in the TV streaming service space similar competition has led to some fantastic shows getting commissioned in the race for content. It also lead to some true garbage getting Green lit. Whatever the future holds, I hope there are great games funded and produced.

@playstation1995 if they lockdown capcom thats some serious competition.

What in hell is a transfer window?

IF it could be anyone, EA would be the big move. One of the Japanese publishers seems more likely though and between Capcom and Square… Capcom just had a record year and Square seems to be unhappy with how their every game is performing (and Avengers flopped hard), so if I had to bet, my money would be on the latter.

Not that I’d necessarily need Sony to acquire a big publisher and make their games exclusive. As long as the games I like aren’t locked away from PlayStation, I’m fine.

@Krysus
And what do you say about MS buying Bethesda and Activision instead of creating new blockbuster IPs on their own? Was that spineless and panic move too since they have been losing Playstation for the last 20 years and have been unable to create any new hit IPs since Halo, Forza, Gears?

@Shepherd_Tallon reference to Oldschool 😄

FromSoftware would be my first choice…

@OmegaStriver
Hell no. They are garbage. And I do not support buying whole publishers and making third party franchises exclusive regardless of who does it.

@hoffa007 😂😌

@Greifchen

That's because stupid people would make stupid decisions taking an already established IP on almost all platforms and make it exclusive. It's one of the biggest live service games on the market, there always future new IPs.

@QBGaming12

I am not a fan of consolidation or megacorporations in general, but I have long said the danger in Microsoft's big acquisitions is it shows nothing is safe. To keep Final Fantasy and/or Persona associated with PlayStation, it's entirely possible Sony might have to acquire them as timed exclusives and marketing deals clearly don't mean anything and certainly don't have any lasting value.

@Rob_230 I heard the same.

The console war between PlayStation and Xbox fans is mis directed. We all should be allies. What if Facebook and Tencent teamed up? Yikes!

Not that anyone cares what I think, but here's my 2 cents:

First of all - I don't like the acquisition. I didn't like the MS buy of Bethesda and Activision, and don't like this, even though I'm a Sony Pony.
But I guess given the circumstances and companies bigger than Sony being on a shopping spree, it makes sense for Sony to not look from the side, doing nothing.
Now, I'm sure that Sony has an idea of what MS was planning and planned to counter that in advance. They don't just go out and buy a company for 3.6 billion in a week's notice.
As already mentioned from a couple of people - they want to have their own games that can create a constant revenue on the PSStore.
I am not into MP games at all, but I'll be lying if I said I'm not exited about the new Factions which I plan on buying and playing.

However, all being said (and this is now the fanboy in me talking) - I just love how they announced this. A stupid blogpost on their blog which lately only game journalists read and then transfer the information over and flat out saying "we bought Bungie. They'll stay independent, do whatever they want, release wherever they want. Their games are staying multi-platform."
In 1 simple move, they made the MS "goodwill" they've been promoting lately look like *****. We know what happened with the Bethesda games, we have vague nonsense regarding the Activision games and given what happened with Bethesda, people assume that once the deal between MS and Activision is done, it's all exclusive. All of a sudden - Sony are the good guys that don't gatekeep 3rd party games. I love that!
I know that's not true, of course - Sony are not the good guys, neither are MS - they are both corporations looking for money. But I love this silly BS that's unfolding. And at the same time I hate it, because of all the acquisition it's never a good thing not to have competition and everything to be consolidated between a couple of companies.
In any case, I think there's no turning back at this point and this will only continue. So we'll just have to wait and see who will do the next move and what that's going to be.

@LilianaQuinn83 Sorry Sony wouldn't aquire Square, Capcom or Sega. Those are icky Japanese studios, Sony is only interested in Western studios. Maybe you have a problem with how I worded it but you can't say I'm too off the mark 🤷

Oh ffs! Really going great

@Krysus very juvenile response

It’s a shame it’s come to this but there you go.

If it becomes a free-for-all, I hope Sony get Square Enix and Sega. They’d be wasted on Xbox. Not too fussed about EA.

The only good thing about this one is… the more cards each ‘side’ has, the more likely/willing they’ll be to work together and keep some games multi-platform.

@Krysus You mean the deal that has been reported to be in negotiated for 6 months?

Soon this will end with a cesspit of a storm with all these buying outs, and the one who is going to get the short end of the stick? The dam consumer of course because will be forced to buy 2 consoles just to play the games we have been able to play freely on any console we wished in the past, this is just greed and capitalism!

Sure sony had 30 billion of cash to play with so capcom, sega, square enix or Namco next please

Though I'm sure they are all safe from western buyers so maybe sony will leave them alone and go for another Western company like Warner Bros, 2K or techland (dying light devs) or even CD project red

@Juanalf what do you mean by "icky"?
Square enix have one of the biggest portfolio of games around with tomb raider, hitman, dragon quest and final fantasy as the highlights

Bets:

Single Studios: Fromsoftware, Kojima-san (along with Silent Hill reveal), Arc systems and Techland.

Publishers: Capcom or Square.

@vapidwolf1. Imagine dragon dogma 2. And resident evil.oh yes.haha word up son

Not really surprised, though would prefer not to see all the smaller companies get eaten up.

@RevGaming. From software now that would be legendary.word up son

@TheCollector316 I wouldn't be surprised if Sony is already talking to Sega and Square, especially Square because their is a lot of history their as we all know. I only want Sega because of Atlus to be under the Playstation umbrella. Square just makes perfect sense in the long run.

I do understand that people don't like the mega corporations but it's just stuff that happens. Also Sony might still let the companies they acquire let their games be multi-platform just maybe timed.

I would really like Sony to finally Square or Sega. Or Both. Square is the bigger get.

@scottdevine48 I like Sega but their games don't pull that much.

@playstation1995 Hey man. They should follow the road of quality over quantity.

I'm so torn on all this. I despise the consolidation going on. every industry is down to 2 or 3 players being the entire industry. It feels like we live in a global Soviet republic. Pretty sure we lost the cold war.

On the other hand, MS and Sony buying up the industry is a far less dystopian future that Google/Facebook/Tencent/Amazon doing it and turning it into a hellscape of services we can't even recognize anymore. At least MS and Sony have firm roots and business dependency in the status quo structure of the industry as we know it and we know more or less what to expect from them. If we're going to have a world of gaming controlled entirely by 3-5 companies I'd much rather that world be MS/Sony/Ninty than Facebook/CCP-Tencent/Google-BigBrother.

A part of me dies inside every time I see another of these aquisitions, and a part of me cheers that more salvage was hauled before the the dumpster haulers get it.

Would be so much cooler if they just rebuy smaller 2nd partz studios and whatnot. Quantic Dream, gendesign. Those were the exclusive reasons only some years ago. And you buy them for millions only

@MidnightDragonDX at least with Sony you know they’re in good hands.

@Jarobusa Microsoft is the one that wanted to get publishers tho. At least with timed exclusives, you still get the game.

Minus SF5 and FF7 ofc.

This is the way the industry works now, for better or worse.

I love PlayStation but still cannot stand Jim Ryan.

@Milt Wasn't WB selling for 4B?
Bungie is almost worth that? LMAO

Due to history they share i think buying From Software would be awesome.

@JustPlainLoco Slocap could be good. A triple A melee sony style kind of game. They could also add a multiplayer on it. Put it on EVO.

@NEStalgia it’s only a matter of time before ‘Buy n Large’ comes along and snaps up everything anyway. Then we have to leave Earth on spaceships, whilst cute little robots compress our garbage into cubes and dance around to musical numbers from ‘Hello, Dolly!’

@Juanalf Icky? Capcom is better than all of those weak western publishers (except for Rockstar for T2, and Respawn for EA).

Don't tell me the almost 20m fans Monster Hunter pulls and every 10m each Resident Evil sales is not a big pull. That's no Icky.

WB could be good. I find them more up to par with quality.

Ubisoft lost everything it made them good.

They'll miss out on Squeenix and Capcom and be forced to buy Team 17.

@BritneyfR_ee LOL, I'm laughing while I cry.....

Maybe....it's all worth it for the cute robots, though...

With this purchase and the music rights Sony have bought this year Sony only has about $2B left in the bank from the cash in their last results. They can raise more but they are not a company to load up with debt historically. I would not expect any more buyouts of this level for the time being

@HotGoomba Anyone except Tencent or Netease

Sony buy Nintendo and merge... Snintendony.

@OmegaStriver Oh god... please no. Who the effin cares about that s**t show? All they got is AC and it's crap every year. Let Nintendo buy them instead.

@Learykal It could just by Nony. Or Sintendo. Maybe they can use that name and get back into the love motel business!

@QBGaming12 you are not alone. it makes too much sense. i would also include capcom in the trifecta of japanese publishers sony should strive to acquire. you honestly cannot go wrong with either of those three as they all bring 40 years of history, beloved IP and franchises to the table. that would be a game changer for sony's catalogue. make no mistake, if it's not sony, it will be microsoft, nintendo or tencent that snaps them up. they need to act NOW before they get left behind in the dust. and to add some context... sony could have purchased sega for the same asking price as bungie. i think it is insane just how expensive bungie is for a single IP. as far as history and influence on the industry is concerned, bungie is but a baby next to sega. destiny IP itself has been soured over the past few years as well so it is difficult to find a bright side to this acquisition.

The only one I’m bothered about it Sony snatching up Square Enix which I think would be a great protectionist move, especially with the Japanese laws against foreign takeovers.

@Porco I think when it comes to Sega the main thing Sony sees is Persona and Yakuza and that would make it well worth it for them. Sonic is huge as well(but the games haven't been good recently). It would be awesome to see the Phantom Thieves announce Playstation buying them.

Square makes the biggest sense because of Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Forspoken even.

Capcom would be huge because of Resident Evil and Devil May Cry which are basically synonymous with Playstation.

I think they acquire Square or Sega first, and then Capcom down the line if they ever want to be purchased.

Bungie does make sense because they are working on a new IP and at least Sony is giving them the freedom to decide what platforms to put their games on(for now). People crap on Destiny but it is one of the biggest and best shooters out their(from what people say). If their new IP is exclusive to Playstation and PC, and eventually gets put on Xbox then it's a good acquisition.

@ATaco I think Embracer Group might be the biggest in terms of studio amounts, They have bought and merged with a few big and small studios the past few years

Are they going to pick up good studios like Square Enix or keep buying these Dollar general studios? Sony needs to secure good stuff before MS does

I have a bad feeling CD Projekt RED could end up being a target soon enough. Placing my bets on MS being the one that acquires them. With Witcher 2 being on the 360 but not PS3 and the marketing rights to Cyberpunk 2077, it feels like they are closer to MS

@Col_McCafferty wouldn’t that be a monopoly? Buying devs is bad I thought , Especially ones that they haven’t worked with for years right ? Just trying to get the narrative right here. Don’t shoot the messenger. 🤠

@Learykal Nintendo will never sell. They can reskin Mario kart and sell 40 million , they have the handheld market on lockdown. Just ask PSP, so Nintendo is safe and a part of the big 3. Long live the big 3!

@Krysus damn. You really didn’t engage your brain before posting this one

@TooBarFoo they are currently in debt , but their PlayStation division isn’t. Sony is broken up into multiple divisions with most being in debt to barely profitable. Sony needs PlayStation money way more than Microsoft needs Xbox money. But I agree that they don’t have multiple Billions left to spend. Microsoft may not want to acquire another dev with the A/B deal looming but if they do I hope they get Sega. Keeps them away from Netflix , Facebook , Amazon and google.

@Rural-Bandit Bungie games won't be exclusive to Sony. People can question whether the value of the purchase of they're not, but that's what is being said.

You'll still get to play their games on an Xbox, I won't be able to play TES 6 on PS though.

One day I'll probably have no choice but to invest and Xbox or GP subscription service but we're not there yet.

I know you've been waiting since MS bought Activision blizzard to be able to scream "Hypocrites!" but I still you're way off.

This is the modern world though, everything is either Black or White, no shades of Grey allowed or acknowledged.

@QBGaming12 square makes a lot of money from Nintendo. Yes I know people forget about the 100 plus million switches. But in Japan they don’t. Those devs know that working with both Sony and Nintendo is worth more than just one of those.

@Rob_230 I think you're making a good point there about what the future might look like.
The Big 3 could make it difficult enough for the other potential players to break in to the industry if they wanted.
Keep some of the expected games console exclusive (your Uncharteds and your Halos and what have you), then share the truly massive online stuff around, but only with each other.
Make Meta and Amazon and the likes do the hard yards if they want to get in.

It's definitely something to keep an eye on.

@Teddie-bear CDPR would definitely choose Microsoft over Sony - based on history - and in particular the situation with Cyberpunk.

Interesting JR says more in the pipeline. That suggests talks are underway- fascinating to see how its all the western devs being gobbled up while Japan is relatively unscathed. Has to be a reason behind that (beyond Japanese buy out laws)

I guess this is all they have left to do in the video gaming industry? Seems more like a ploy to keep anyone else from ever trying to make a new console that isn't Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.

@SolarSailor At least NetEase didn't have something to do with the spread of Covid-19.

You're still right though.

I think Bungie was inevitable after China prevented Sony from acquiring Leyou. It sounded like Sony really wanted Warframe to capitalize on the f2p space. Now they get their chance, with Destiny.

@Col_McCafferty Buddy I follow politics I don’t need gaming for Hypocrites. Gaming is my fun outlet and believe it or not I’m not trying to be a jerk about the misuse word on here about monopoly. Rather than trying to show everyone just because you have social media don’t make everyone law experts, or football coaches or anything else someone goes alone and spews at. However Sony fans are the biggest cry babies but far from the biggest hypocrites. I am happy Sony and Microsoft are getting these companies away from Facebook and google, Tencent and Amazon. It keeps the big 3 as the major players in this industry longer. It’s our job to support the big 3 and keep them on top. Not fighting over what piece of plastic console we buy for our enjoyment. I hope Sega goes to Xbox next and Sony gets Konami’s IP’s to Castlevania etc etc.

I believe this is part of the $18Billion strategic investment that Sony announced last year 2021.

@Jarobusa Again MS started the 3rd party exclusive content with the Xbox360. 😉👍

@Rural-Bandit Who says you have to stop making games for another platform if you get aquired.

@playstation1995 people think capcom or square are who ms will go after next ,they're desperate for a slice of the Japanese Market, Sony should get in there first ,all resident evils ,final fantasy ,dmc,street fighter day one on game pass,that'll be game over man,game over.

@RevGaming I honestly think if dying light 2 reviews well Sony will go after them

These are the 3rd party companies that Sony should buy (in no order)
1. Square ENIX
2. Sega
3. Konami
4. Capcom
5. Namco Bandai

I would guess that From Software is going to be one of Sony's next acquisitions.

@Flaming_Kaiser no one at all. Minecraft says hello 😀

@vapidwolf1. Its not happening for Microsoft buying capcom square enix.japanese companies like that.no way.they are more associated with PlayStation anyways.sony is gonna buy more studios so thats a amazing thing.word up son

@PlayStationGamer3919 wouldn’t that be a monopoly? 🙄
Sarcasm to the A/B deal. I don’t think Sony has that deep of pockets and square and Capcom are really big in Japan , take a guess at who else is big in Japan? Nintendo Switch, they beat everyone there like a drum, square and Capcom aren’t going to easily leave that money on the table. Sega will be expensive. Microsoft money or they could stay to themselves. Konami is where I’m with you. They are wasting great IP’s that would be really great for Sony and their audience. That’s the one I would like to see happen and it would be a cheaper option and if done right the biggest and fastest return of money on that list.

@playstation1995 Microsoft won’t buy them but neither will Sony more than likely. When you mention a Japanese dev. Everyone seems to be forgetting a thing over there called NINTENDO SWITCH. It’s beating everyone over there like a drum. Square and Capcom aren’t just going to leave that money on the table when they can work with both Sony and Nintendo. Sony has no handheld, for that matter they barely had a handheld when they had a handheld, but those Japan studios aren’t inclined to leave the handheld market which is currently dominated by Switch.Word Up !

Barbie and more girlie games for PS5, please.

@vapidwolf1 They can make a cool open world co-op game for sony. Sony doesn't have those.

I think somebody will acquire them. Idk who, but somebody, if those reviews are 80 and above.

@Grumblevolcano i don't know where this ubisoft rumor is coming out of , they don't want to be bought. if people remember another company tried to force buy them , by buying a majority ownership in stock but was stopped.

My best guess for Sony's next acquisition is probably either Square-Enix or Konami.

Between Resident Evil and Monster Hunter over the past few years, Capcom finally dug themselves out of the hole they'd been in and are doing too well on their own to see any incentive to sell at the moment. If they DID sell, though, it would absolutely be to Sony.

Square-Enix, that's a tough one one because the Japanese side seems to be doing pretty well, but they've have been consistently dropping the ball with their Western devs that I just don't have a good sense of how their overall business is doing. FFVII Remake was a huge success and FFXIV is obviously killing it. Flip side, they effectively killed both Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, Avengers has been a disaster (despite selling well), and it seems like Guardians didn't move the needle at all (despite being very, very good). I don't know if it makes more sense for Sony to try and buy all of S-E, or just try and get Crystal Dynamics and/or Eidos Montreal out from under them.

Konami is the most obvious target, if only for the IP. We all know Konami are doing f**k all with some of the biggest properties in the medium, and they've been losing hundreds of millions on pachinko because of covid, though mobile seems to be doing well for them. Also worth noting that Konami own/operate a lot of other businesses well outside of the gaming space, like real estate services, business solutions, fitness centers, spas, etc. If anything, Konami Digital Ent. is likely dragging the whole business down, so I could see them just wanting to get out altogether.

I dunno, with how these corps are just throwing around huge amounts of money, there's really no way to tell and if the price is right, ANYONE is willing to sell.

@Rural-Bandit I would prefer the organic approach, but if MS is going to buy Ubisoft, you can't sit around.

How is the narrative sony leaving their games multiplatform and being pro consumer (not saying you)?

The thing is, corporations change their minds all their time. You can only control yourself.

@Rural-Bandit Sony debt is 10Billion. Not a lot. The trillion that appears on google is Yen. It's an error.

They'll buy Square Enix and stop them from their NFT BS.

@RevGaming yeah you got it right. It’s not crazy amount. But I don’t see them having huge pockets to keep spending billions. Good for them if they can, but I think smaller size deals will finish up 2022. Could be wrong tho friend. Never say never. The industry is changing almost daily these days.

@RevGaming agreed. But Sony has only made this deal multi platform, they have kept all their other deals for Spider-Man, final fantasy and street fighter Etc etc , to keep games off other platforms and bolster their line up. Personally that’s smart and sold them loads of games. Microsoft weds more exclusives and has to choose which ones to share and keep. See,s like they know single player games don’t have large community’s to break up. Hence Starfield and elder scrolls stays PC and Xbox , but COD and Minecraft have huge community’s across multiple platforms and it is smart for Microsoft to keep those multi platform. Single player games from Sony and Microsoft I expect to stay exclusive to get you to come into their ecosystems.

@Rural-Bandit. Ps5 is still gonna outsells Nintendo also.come on Japanese loves their handhelds but.sony is super popular everywhere.and myself i would pick PlayStation everytime.word up son

@Rural-Bandit Ubisoft, Square and Capcom are in their price range. They make 20B in revenue. Yeah it's not profit but I bet they'll make it back, especially how they handle their studios.

I'll never understand this belief that Apple will enter the console market. The only time they ever made noise about the console side was when Halo was a Mac only game and Microsoft bought Bungie from underneath Steve Jobs nose (it's known he raged about the deal happening).

They might have a large mobile market place for games but they've never really shown a desire to go out and make investments in that area. It's small change compared to other larger markets like film and tv. It won't happen

@Rural-Bandit

It's not sony's fault alone tho. Those publishers could've easily say no. The problem is that you guys never bought their games, some of you said it was Japcrap, and now with gamepass, you even buy less games. So more timed exclusive will def happen, but convince the publishers not to with your $.

Idk. Time will tell.

Can't say im excited after the Bungie buy.

You have got to laugh at all the drama, calls of panic from Sony and pitchforks aimed at PlayStation. They acquired ONE developer for $3 and half billion, that currently have ONE well known IP and it is suddenly an arms race!

Microsoft acquired over a DOZEN developers of multiple popular multi platform IPs for a combined $76 billion within a year or so.

Really?

@OmegaStriver

Well that would totally screw over Mario + Rabbids, and I dont want that.

Here is to Sony buys Deep Silver, that way we can get 4A studio and the Metro Franchise.

@playstation1995 Japan loves handhelds. Sony don’t have a handheld. Square, Capcom and all the rest have to decide if they want to leave all the money on the table that handheld gaming brings to the region. Likely and logically speaking they won’t leave that market. They will keep it and Sony for the console market, why have 1 when you can have 2? Plus can release on PC when you want and that has made both square and Capcom good money recently. Of course you would pick PlayStation, they don’t care what you and I would pick. They see 200 million users between Nintendo and Sony combined ,leaving one of those is loads of money. Not to mention Sony isn’t that deep in the pockets to grabs Billions worth all in one year. I’d expect smaller buyouts for Sony to round out 2022. Either way the big 3 are all heating up and bringing us great games. We win as gamers if we support them all and continue to keep Tencent, Facebook and Google away. Long live the Big 3.

@BusyOlf I mainly agree with you. As a apple super fan, and I mean super fan , i own every product they make. Love the ecosystem. That aside, I am on the side of you that why enter the market? They make more then the big 3 combined on mobile games. They never been a major player in games cause of the market share Microsoft had with PC. Now they would have to jump in a market with the Big 3 that are buying up all the major talent. But apple is the company that you don’t see their moves coming, they catch the competition off guard and they scramble to catch up if ever. Looking at you Microsoft with no phone. Looking at you Sony sitting on the Walkman and letting the iPod eat you out of the portable music market. Then everyone just try’s to throw something at the wall and apple smashes it and continues to grow. Could they do that in gaming, I’m not so convinced. Would I love it and buy it? Absolutely, just to have it and see what they brought to it from a design standpoint. But Amazon, Netflix and Google, of course Facebook & Tencent have all said and shown they want into the gaming pie of $200 billion a year in revenue. Apple won’t talk before they launch. They never did, they normally stealth their way into markets, keep their ideas and intentions internal. I think you are right even tho I wish they would.

@RevGaming most Japanese games aren’t my thing. Hence why I’m happy Microsoft bought all the western RPG companies. Gamepass has shown that subscribers buy games and lots of dlc. Putting more money into devs than just rent and play. I’d recommend you look into studios that said gamepass has made them more money. Gamers get 20 % off to purchase the game. Me, I try stuff on Gamepass sure, but as a gamepass member I bought digitally Halo infinite for $60. I’ll do the same for Gears 6, I use gamepass as a discovery, I’ll do the same for God of war. I don’t need to try these games. I find it funny that gamers pretend to be techy and cutting edge, yet hate progression of the industry. If video games were like phones we would all be using 2 cans tied to a string or at best a phone on the wall with a cord. Why not just stop at the cartridge? After all it was the CD that gave PS1 it’s true advantage, why have digital sales? Let’s all drive in our car to a store stand in line for a piece of plastic only to drive home to put it in our system to find out we have to download patches and the rest of the game, rendering the disk useless. Then game pass why allow people to pay monthly vs $60-$70 a game? Progression is the only thing this industry has in common with its past and yet I see everyone wanting to stunt it and not accept change.

Personally I think they should buy Square-Enix next, but I know it's far more likely they'll go after Capcom, Ubisoft, or even Konami.

@Rural-Bandit
"Gamepass has shown that subscribers buy games and lots of dlc"
Nope. Quite the opposite. Halo didn't even crack the top 20 npd sales.

The only people that made money were ones that weren't even going to make money anyways (starting indie studios).

Yeah progression to making games like bf2042.

Screw this, its bad for the industry.

I just hope they stay the hell away from SEGA.
I don't fancy them shutting down Atlus if SMT "only" sells 1 million copies. Or worse force them to abandon all creativity and only make Persona games.

@RevGaming Halo was the 2nd best selling keyword selling game of December, if you guess COD as number 1 you’d right. Has 20 million active users in the first month. Player engagement is key, these companies don’t need us to play money analyst, they have very smart people in place to make sure their doors don’t shut. Battlefield has never been good so not sure why you’d use that to downplay my progression of 30 years of the industry, but ok. I want everyone to enjoy their plastic console they choose to buy, I love all 3 of mine and wouldn’t trade them for anything. But progression and new ideas won’t stop. I’ll assume you don’t use Netflix so you don’t take sales away from movie studios? God forbid you used Spotify or Apple Music, that would take sales away from music studios. Glad you purchase all your media and carry cd’s in your car or even tapes. It’s always a good idea to stunt ideas and technology to make sure billion dollar and even trillion dollar companies aren’t offering you options that don’t make them money.

@Krysus they also invented time travel because they clearly went back months ago , and started this deal because they found out that ms bought activsion in the future.

@RevGaming This very PlayStation fan site ran the story with the December top sellers showing Halo and Forza Horizon 5 in the top 20, top ten if I recall. And MLB The Show 21 was Sonys best selling edition of their top selling series to date, while on Game Pass. And it's going to be on Game Pass again this year.

The narrative that people don't buy games on Game Pass isn't holding water. More to the point, both business models seem to be reaching different market segments in different ways even within the same ecosystem. The common internet narrative needs a rethink.

The difference is that Sony does not have to buy 19 studios so it has to spend much less. They already have the quality.

@twitchtvpat While there was a rumour, I'm looking at recent events instead. Rainbow Six Extraction is day 1 on Game Pass and Ubisoft+ is coming to Xbox but not PS so I think something is happening especially because of the latter point.

@Krysus
You clearly have no knowledge of this kind of thing. Lucky you're not Phil or Jim.

@Rural-Bandit Thats what i mean make money of the opposition while you keep selling your own exclusive games.

@Salt_AU Its simple Sony does not have a infinite amount of money this acquisition will start making them with next to no investments.

@Krysus cry some more dude. What kind of take is that? 😂

@OneWingedAngel in those 20 years you mention is not also true that a lot of those bigs games from Sony's are from studios they have themselves have purchased like Psygnosis, Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch, MM, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Bend Studio, the people that motor storm etc.

@NEStalgia and that’s my point against all the fanboys of all systems. They are spreading false narratives left and right. The Big 3 are all offering something different. I find it funny people think Gamepass puts no money into devs pocket, yet most those people probably buy used games. Which puts money in only the stores pocket. Not the devs. If they share games with their friends do they count that as a non sale and revenue stream to the dev? But somehow Gamepass and Spartacus will take money away from dev teams. I don’t think fanboys put much thought into their statements. They would be better suited to work a little over time at their job or even get a job and spend less time talking down the big 3 and making extra money to buy 2 or even 3 of the consoles and support the full industry. Might find out they like the other console and it’s games more than they think. Remember when cell phones went to $1000 dollars? What did the phone carriers do? They gave you payment options, buy the phone in full, or pay a monthly rate and get it now. All companies offer different ways to pay and engage. On Xbox you can buy the games physically, digitally, or Gamepass. The numbers are showing gamers are playing and spending money. The Big 3 are healthy and that’s what we should be taking from this Gen. He knows Halo was the 2nd best selling game in December, just chooses to not give his competitor any credit. That would give him the look of not being loyal to one brand.

Sweet. It'll be like the Avengers Endgame of industry consolidation.

Hopefully Thanos wins.

@Rural-Bandit Yeah, that's the particular inconsistency that I find unique to the PS fandom. The Nintendo fandom doesn't really engage too much in the whole Game Pass issue, other than wishing it would come to Switch, but the PS fandom has latched onto GP and its business model as this threat to gaming, without understanding how spending within the video game market actually works, how monetization on the model actually works, or really that the niche that buys a lot of Sony games is a tiny niche that doesn't represent the market at all. And as you said, the worst of it is a lot of the people that rail against GP hurting the industry or "giving games for free" are the same people that talk about selling their physical games, buying used, buying retail deep discounts, seemingly unaware that physical purchases net the industry a fraction of what digital purchases/rentals do because of the retailer cut/wholesale pricing

And people really don't seem to comprehend that investors would much, much rather have steady revenue streams they can predict to chaotic blockbuster releases after long expense periods. It's why recurring payments became a boardroom buzzword. Stable income is investor-friendly income. Why does PS+ exist, at all? That's why.

I figure Jim will figure it out eventually. He insisted it doesn't work for them, but of course he's going to say that while the current model is successful. The moment sales slip he'll be singing the praises of "new dynamic content access models to extend the reach of PlayStation to a larger market." Assuming Herman doesn't just go all in on a bunch of luke-warm success stories trying to clone popular GaaS games, which almost sounds like what they're doing.

If Destiny is ever on Game Pass again, though, I won't stop laughing.

I wouldn't mind if Sony bought Ubisoft... Could you imagine what they could do with the IP! they would probably bring back games that current Ubisoft won't touch because they like games that they could fill up with microtransactions. Also, I would like to see what PS Studios could do with something like Splinter Cell

@NEStalgia as a owner of all 3, which I know you know I own all 3 this is just for others reading this. PlayStation fans are the worse in many ways. They write things like Microsoft is buying a monopoly, yet Microsoft AFTER the A/B deal will be 3rd in gaming revenue behind Tencent and PlayStation. I heard people on here saying Microsoft is trying to put sony out of business. Yet all I hear last Gen was Sony is untouchable with their exclusives and in a league of their own. Then this Gen with the price hike to $70, well it’s ok cause sony exclusives are worth it, ok well did sony lose those exclusives? Cause if not they don’t believe in them as much as they said or they wouldn’t think PlayStation is doomed. None of the big 3 are doomed. Yes sony makes great games, thats why buy a PS console to play the exclusives, cause all my 3rd party games are played on Xbox. But I see so many industry wide false narratives from this bunch far more than on Pure Xbox and Nintendo life. Just wait until Microsoft starts buying more again, it’s going to get really bad again. I’m ready to start talking games and features and OS improvements to PS5 over false monopoly claims and game pass don’t make money, or how the switch sales don’t count cause it’s not a console or a handheld. It’s just really silly. A lot of great games are coming this year and it’s a great time to own more than one console to enjoy them.

I prefer the time when the discussion was about 'what game developer X is releasing next' to the current 'who is buying who'. Seems like the actual games is being moved to a minor role. But, as is being said, it is like transfer season. I guess the discussion will shift again when we get closer to the summer with the game developers presentations season.

@nomither6 fr would be cool

hey mods leak next state of play

@scottdevine48 sega will be bought by MS.

This console wars thing is getting out of control

@Rural-Bandit The revenue thing probably won't hold for long. If MS' trajectory keeps growing as it is, they may eclipse Sony (but probably not Nintendo) in gaming revenue. Nintendo just keeps expenses so low, yet remains so popular it's almost not possible for even titanic megacorps to beat them in cashflow.

But yeah, the narrative about perfect Sony with their perfect exclusives being a dominant force is both inward looking and disconnected from reality. "PS fans" were PS's market for the PS1 and the PSP. Even the PS3. But PS2, PS4, PS5, that's not even close to the real market. It's like the Zelda fans thinking they were the Wii market. They weren't. Or anywhere close. The Wii Sports and Cooking Mama people were the Wii market.

We may not love F2P MMO BR shooters, and sports annual cash cows, but that's the PS market. Even more than it's the Xbox market, that's the PS market.... You have to be a pretty hardened fan to honestly not see that the big multiplat generic games are the core of the PS market, and have been for quite a while.

The big difference between the 3 fanbases at this point seems to be that Nintendo fans are self-aware that they're inside a bubble. Sure they'll argue the bubble to death, but they at least know they're inside one, and that the casual market is the platform's primary market, not the core gamers. Xbox fans are just getting whiplash enjoying the ride because right now it's all sunshine with very little bitterness (for now anyway.) A lot of PS fans, the old school fans, anyway, are in a similar bubble as Nintendo fans, but don't seem to be as generally self-aware that they are, and mostly believe they're the majority of the market rather than a niche.

I'm a Knack and Gravity Rush fan.....I know I'm in a bubble in PS. But everyone else thinks Horizon is the reason everyone's going to buy a PS5. Spoiler Alert: MLB The Show 22 will outsell HFW by a landslide. And still won't catch up to FIFA and CoD. Miles gets up there, almost, and that has a Disney license attached.

@NEStalgia Bingo! Your logic and industry knowledge is spot on again sir. Although you missed Wii Fit to go along with cooking momma hahaha. PlayStation has had some great games. Their controllers are normally trash. I mean six axis is what came with a $600 dollar console. Laughable. But their controllers aside I enjoy PS, but I only buy like a hand full or so of games on it, and they are single player games that I beat once or twice and then I’m back to online games on Xbox or playing switch in bed. PlayStation fans seriously thought Xbox would never fight back and Netflix, google, Amazon, etc etc wasn’t coming for big buy out’s to get revenue. Every Gen there is new challenges, competitors and tech changing the way the business runs and looks. The only thing constant in the video game industry has been change. It’s a tech driven market and tech moves and changes fast. Most should just play games and leave the business side of it alone cause they can’t even properly identify what a monopoly is. Not trying to sound rude, but I mean truth of the matter people are speaking more out of fear, anger or jealousy than common sense and reason. One thing is for sure great games are coming and more change will hit the industry. Get into a different hobby if change is to much to handle and disrupts your enjoyment of games.