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Bungie: The potential downstream implications

MonarchJT

Banned
Betrayed Nintendo? Didn't Nintendo pull out of their joint venture and someone at Sony was fuming so made PS to basically be petty.
not really.Yamauchi realized that with the deal Sony would have had access to the distribution of all famicon games but given the possibility of releasing a twin system without the aid of cartridges but only with the CD-ROM they understood that Sony wanted to enter the market. Basically they would have helped a competitor to enter the market. So they abandoned the prototype built by Kuturagi and accepted a partnership with Philips. Sony didn't take it well and from those days the two companies didn't they look favorably upon each other. In revenge they used their music production and distribution skills in the video game industry and by doing this they attracted a lot of developers to whom they signed. exclusivity contracts so that you won't be able to go back to Nintendo anymore
 
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Pallas

Member
So...games like Starfield and the ES6 going exclusive isn't taking games away from other platforms?


So...Is that still the case? That latter part of your statement? Or did Sony walk that back? So what you are saying, is that companies can have bad practices/vision and later change it up so that it's good for everyone?

You guys trolled, bitched and complained about how Xbox “has no games” for years,
now that they are getting games, you want to whine because it’s not going to your particular plastic box.

It’s hilarious because overall their games are more available than the competition on the most platforms, but because it’s not your platform, big bad Microsoft.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
You bring up a good point. Sony didnt need to make a definitive statement like that so maybe they are being honest.

But these billion dollar purchases arent made with the intention of everyone getting along and singing kumbaya. This is about the fight for survival. If MS had bought Bungie they wouldve had CoD and the best FPS dev in the business. It wouldve been game over for Sony. So Sony had to do this to survive, but MS is in no such position. They can take the hit on CoD. They didnt spend $70 billion on COD just for content. they did it to force their way onto Playstation. Gamepass is their end game and gamepass isnt successful unless they get it on PS and Nintendo.

They both need each other to survive and they both hate that. They have no choice but to go for these acquisitions out of fear tencent or meta will pick them up. At the end of the day, if Sony lets MS buy Bungie and Take2, Sony is all but done. If MS lets Sony bungie and take2, it wouldnt matter if they have ubisoft, they wont be able to kill Sony and have to work together.

You are right in that they both might be going multiplatform but dont believe their lies. That might be in the future after the dust has settled.
 
You bring up a good point. Sony didnt need to make a definitive statement like that so maybe they are being honest.

But these billion dollar purchases arent made with the intention of everyone getting along and singing kumbaya. This is about the fight for survival. If MS had bought Bungie they wouldve had CoD and the best FPS dev in the business. It wouldve been game over for Sony. So Sony had to do this to survive, but MS is in no such position. They can take the hit on CoD. They didnt spend $70 billion on COD just for content. they did it to force their way onto Playstation. Gamepass is their end game and gamepass isnt successful unless they get it on PS and Nintendo.

They both need each other to survive and they both hate that. They have no choice but to go for these acquisitions out of fear tencent or meta will pick them up. At the end of the day, if Sony lets MS buy Bungie and Take2, Sony is all but done. If MS lets Sony bungie and take2, it wouldnt matter if they have ubisoft, they wont be able to kill Sony and have to work together.

You are right in that they both might be going multiplatform but dont believe their lies. That might be in the future after the dust has settled.
There is no point in Sony trying to fight a "console war" with MS anymore. The CEO himself said that they are expanding beyond the console. That era is over. It only lingers in dank and dusty basements where fanboys thump their chest over how much loss-leading hardware made of cheap plastic their favorite conglomerate sold.
 
You guys trolled, bitched and complained about how Xbox “has no games” for years,
now that they are getting games, you want to whine because it’s not going to your particular plastic box.

It’s hilarious because overall their games are more available than the competition on the most platforms, but because it’s not your platform, big bad Microsoft.

Jim Carrey What GIF
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
There is no point in Sony trying to fight a "console war" with MS anymore. The CEO himself said that they are expanding beyond the console. That era is over. It only lingers in dank and dusty basements where fanboys thump their chest over how much loss-leading hardware made of cheap plastic their favorite conglomerate sold.
No one is paying $3.6 billion on one studio and one game to go beyond console. There are literally dozens of studios they couldve acquired for that much.

Same goes for Activision and Microsoft. For $70 billion, they couldve got Capcom, SE, Take2 and Ubisoft. This isnt about content. It's about consolidation. It's about hurting your competition. EVERY business is about that. To deny that is denying reality.
 
No one is paying $3.6 billion on one studio and one game to go beyond console. There are literally dozens of studios they couldve acquired for that much.

Same goes for Activision and Microsoft. For $70 billion, they couldve got Capcom, SE, Take2 and Ubisoft. This isnt about content. It's about consolidation. It's about hurting your competition. EVERY business is about that. To deny that is denying reality.
You don't seem to understand. The consoles are irrelevant. They paid 3.6B for one studio so they could have a revenue stream of online multiplayer and a way to expand beyond console. You have the CEO of Sony Entertainment literally saying this in plain English. MS paid $70B so they have content to bolster Game Pass, and studios to generate content.
 

For those of you living under a rock, In what would seem an ironic twist of fate, Sony has purchased Bungie for a cool 3.6b, some interesting takes/facts:

  • Not a panic buy? Apparently a response to the Bethesda acquisition.
  • Sony actually has money to spend?
  • When is the last time Sony spent any kind of money like this? at once? On gaming?

Now, you're all probably wondering why I brought you here, and that's a perfectly okay question, please have a seat, drinks and snacks will be provided shortly.


The Microsoft acquisition of Activision came as a shock to many and led to a ton of questions surrounding exclusivity, followed by doomsday talk, much in a similar fashion to the purchase of Bethesda. The Bethesda purchase was surrounded by a lot of exclusivity questions which ultimately led Phil to take a stance of best, better, first, then ultimately, Starfield exclusivity to the XBOX ecosystem. Fast forward a year later, and here we find ourselves in another similar situation with Activision. Now, Phill has tried to pin down some type of statement regarding the availability of titles on different platforms going forward, but his messaging hasn't been the best and has led to speculation about what his words/tweets mean.

The Bungie purchase by Sony is really a message, a shot across the bow of Microsoft in two ways, 1. We just bought your darling child. 2. We are drawing our line in the sand regarding availability/exclusivity:

41NhME4.jpg



The message couldn't be any clearer, it's reminiscent of when Microsoft greenlit always-on DRM and horrible used game/sharing policies which didn't even see prime time because of the blowback. Microsoft ultimately did right, and never went live with that. The thing now, is Microsoft scooping up beloved IPs and making them exclusive, thus reducing access for everyone (If they actually do it).

Sony's messaging couldn't be clearer, and all it will take, to solidify this is the purchase of another large studio/publisher, like EA or T2, and, to adopt a similar stance on platform availability, at that point, Microsoft is really going to look like the bully, and I imagine they'll revise/take another stance on Bethesda.

It's one thing to buy Ninja Theory or Naughty Dog and make them platform exclusive, it's another to buy multi-billion dollar publishers/studios that are well established on multiple platforms and make them exclusive, it's disruptive, and my take is that if Sony pulls the trigger again, the calculus will be changed at Microsoft as a result.

Lol.

1.
The Bungie purchase is a really boring purchase. They may have ties to Xbox but no one really cares about the purchase. Its not like they have a load of IPs. I'd be more bothered by a purchase like capcom.

2. So when do we expect God of war and last of us. If your referring to the new purchases though.... PS can have these games... Just allow gamepass on the system
 

Ribi

Member
The Destiny franchise is tainted for me since the first time they showed it. Tried to be open world then saw the limits. It's like NMS without the redemption arc for me. Overpaid for a washed studio imo
 
Nobody ever says "the message couldn't be any clearer" unless they're trying to push something which is obviously unclear. Anything that is clear pretty much takes care of itself.
 

yurinka

Member
  • Not a panic buy? Apparently a response to the Bethesda acquisition.
No, it isn't a response and if someone is acquiring out of panic isn't Sony. Even with the ABK acquisition Sony game division will continue generating more revenue, their console userbase and game subs will continue being ~2X bigger than the MS ones. Plus seems that the ABK acquisition started in December and the Bungie one half a year ago.

  • Sony actually has money to spend?
Yes, they have more money but had a $18B budget for (not only gaming) acquisitions for the 2021-2023 FY period. Before the Bungie acquisition they spent ~4B, so they have a budget to spend ~10B more in a year or two (they always can rise that budget) and SIE is working on multiple gaming acquisitions more after Bungie.

  • When is the last time Sony spent any kind of money like this? at once? On gaming?
They never spent this amount of money in gaming. The gaming market grew a lot, so the prices of the studios and publishers even more. Outside gaming maybe some acquisition like EMI Music, Crunchyroll or something like that may be the most simiilar one.

Now, you're all probably wondering why I brought you here, and that's a perfectly okay question, please have a seat, drinks and snacks will be provided shortly.


The Microsoft acquisition of Activision came as a shock to many and led to a ton of questions surrounding exclusivity, followed by doomsday talk, much in a similar fashion to the purchase of Bethesda. The Bethesda purchase was surrounded by a lot of exclusivity questions which ultimately led Phil to take a stance of best, better, first, then ultimately, Starfield exclusivity to the XBOX ecosystem. Fast forward a year later, and here we find ourselves in another similar situation with Activision. Now, Phill has tried to pin down some type of statement regarding the availability of titles on different platforms going forward, but his messaging hasn't been the best and has led to speculation about what his words/tweets mean.

The Bungie purchase by Sony is really a message, a shot across the bow of Microsoft in two ways, 1. We just bought your darling child. 2. We are drawing our line in the sand regarding availability/exclusivity:

41NhME4.jpg



The message couldn't be any clearer, it's reminiscent of when Microsoft greenlit always-on DRM and horrible used game/sharing policies which didn't even see prime time because of the blowback. Microsoft ultimately did right, and never went live with that. The thing now, is Microsoft scooping up beloved IPs and making them exclusive, thus reducing access for everyone (If they actually do it).

Sony's messaging couldn't be clearer, and all it will take, to solidify this is the purchase of another large studio/publisher, like EA or T2, and, to adopt a similar stance on platform availability, at that point, Microsoft is really going to look like the bully, and I imagine they'll revise/take another stance on Bethesda.

It's one thing to buy Ninja Theory or Naughty Dog and make them platform exclusive, it's another to buy multi-billion dollar publishers/studios that are well established on multiple platforms and make them exclusive, it's disruptive, and my take is that if Sony pulls the trigger again, the calculus will be changed at Microsoft as a result.
MS messaging also has been very clear with Zenimax and ABK while saying they don't want to remove existing communities/IPs from PS and that they plan to continue supporting them there as they did with Minecraft. Some of them may be timed console exclusives, remember the Xbox CFO saying that their strategy for Bethesda is 'FIRST or better on Xbox'. It isn't the same with smaller acquisitions like Ninja Theory, they may remain exclusive forever.

Until now SIE integated all the acquired studios under PS Studios and made all their games exclusive for their consoles. But this changed with Bungie, now SIE will have two publishers under it (Bungie and PS Studios) and Bungie will remain multiplatform. This is a big change that opens the door to two new things for Sony that MS also does:
  1. Sony acquiring more publishers, keeping them with their own brand inside SIE without integating them inside PS Studios
  2. Allowing these publishers to continue publishing by their own, and in other consoles
Makes sense to don't dilute the well known brand of a big ass publisher, and they buy them because they make a lot of money so business wise doesn't make sense to remove a huge portion of the revenue they make in other platforms. First to recoup the investment and profit from it asap and second to expand their amount of potential customers beyond their own consoles, something needed due to current insanely high AAA budgets.

Sony and MS didn't make these acquisitions for exclusivity, they made them to turn them into revenue and profit in the long term. In the case of Bungie not only directly with the money of the products and services that Bungie will make, but also with the help they will provide to the PS Studios teams to make top, huge GaaS, MP, FPS and IPs. Plus Sony will also milk these Bungie IPs with movies, tv shows or even with games made by other studios if Jimbo wants it.
 
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Nobody ever says "the message couldn't be any clearer" unless they're trying to push something which is obviously unclear. Anything that is clear pretty much takes care of itself.

That's just my take on how messaging has come across, it's led to a lot of debate on these very forums about what Uncle Phil may have meant with various tweets/statements regarding the Activision and Bethesda purchases.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Show me that you have no idea about M&A and contracts without saying you have no idea about M&A and contracts.

You don't know what you are talking about.

Bungie chooses to believe Sony, but it's out of their control now. Jim Ryan spent months getting them to trust the vision, but all it takes is for Jim Ryan to be replaced by somebody who doesn't give a rats ass and it's blank slate.

You can't buy a company, own the company, and then actually not own the company. It's a gentleman's agreement, and there's no reason for Sony to go back on their word because the point is to get Bungie, not just their IP, they want the studio and therefore it's in their best interest to let them be Bungie.
 

Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
You guys trolled, bitched and complained about how Xbox “has no games” for years,
now that they are getting games, you want to whine because it’s not going to your particular plastic box.

It’s hilarious because overall their games are more available than the competition on the most platforms, but because it’s not your platform, big bad Microsoft.

Games that would’ve been released on the console anyway you dumbass….
 
Ahh Xbox wanted complete control and Playstation didn't... does this mean Playstation guud again and Xbox evool? :messenger_grimmacing_

I find it funny how you can attach "good" to a Corporation. Very few are even decent.
 
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ZywyPL

Banned
Except you can buy these games day 1 on their release on PC, or use Gamepass and cloud to play these on stuff like your phone or tablet.

I don’t understand your argument. Xbox isn’t taking games away.

Everyone's going multiplayform, looks like Sega saw the future long before the others ;D
 

For those of you living under a rock, In what would seem an ironic twist of fate, Sony has purchased Bungie for a cool 3.6b, some interesting takes/facts:

  • Not a panic buy? Apparently a response to the Bethesda acquisition.
  • Sony actually has money to spend?
  • When is the last time Sony spent any kind of money like this? at once? On gaming?

Now, you're all probably wondering why I brought you here, and that's a perfectly okay question, please have a seat, drinks and snacks will be provided shortly.


The Microsoft acquisition of Activision came as a shock to many and led to a ton of questions surrounding exclusivity, followed by doomsday talk, much in a similar fashion to the purchase of Bethesda. The Bethesda purchase was surrounded by a lot of exclusivity questions which ultimately led Phil to take a stance of best, better, first, then ultimately, Starfield exclusivity to the XBOX ecosystem. Fast forward a year later, and here we find ourselves in another similar situation with Activision. Now, Phill has tried to pin down some type of statement regarding the availability of titles on different platforms going forward, but his messaging hasn't been the best and has led to speculation about what his words/tweets mean.

The Bungie purchase by Sony is really a message, a shot across the bow of Microsoft in two ways, 1. We just bought your darling child. 2. We are drawing our line in the sand regarding availability/exclusivity:

41NhME4.jpg



The message couldn't be any clearer, it's reminiscent of when Microsoft greenlit always-on DRM and horrible used game/sharing policies which didn't even see prime time because of the blowback. Microsoft ultimately did right, and never went live with that. The thing now, is Microsoft scooping up beloved IPs and making them exclusive, thus reducing access for everyone (If they actually do it).

Sony's messaging couldn't be clearer, and all it will take, to solidify this is the purchase of another large studio/publisher, like EA or T2, and, to adopt a similar stance on platform availability, at that point, Microsoft is really going to look like the bully (Maybe not bully, but out of tune?), and I imagine they'll revise/take another stance on Bethesda.

It's one thing to buy Ninja Theory or Naughty Dog and make them platform exclusive, it's another to buy multi-billion dollar publishers/studios that are well established on multiple platforms and make them exclusive, it's disruptive, and my take is that if Sony pulls the trigger again, the calculus will be changed at Microsoft as a result.
Sony bought one studio mate, there is no megaton here like the Zenimax and even greater Activision deal. Sony have been taken for ride by Bungie that's all that's happened. It most certainly won't change any plans a trillion dollar company has with its own strategic plans. You've just written a whole load of guff.
 
Sony bought one studio mate, there is no megaton here like the Zenimax and even greater Activision deal. Sony have been taken for ride by Bungie that's all that's happened. It most certainly won't change any plans a trillion dollar company has with its own strategic plans. You've just written a whole load of guff.

All speculation/conjecture on my part, obviously. But, there is a larger picture at hand that I think you are overlooking/dismissing.
 

CuNi

Member
You don't know what you are talking about.

Bungie chooses to believe Sony, but it's out of their control now. Jim Ryan spent months getting them to trust the vision, but all it takes is for Jim Ryan to be replaced by somebody who doesn't give a rats ass and it's blank slate.

You can't buy a company, own the company, and then actually not own the company. It's a gentleman's agreement, and there's no reason for Sony to go back on their word because the point is to get Bungie, not just their IP, they want the studio and therefore it's in their best interest to let them be Bungie.

If company A says "We will sell to you, but only if we stay independent and can do our own thing" and the buyer agrees, legally on paper and the takeover happens, then he is bound to that agreement. It's not a "gentleman's agreement".
If Buyer then goes "you know what, fuck that promise!" then A can go back to the contract and legally sue the buyer for breach of contract etc. A contract ist binding, even after management changes. Even after you swap out the entire company with new employees, old contracts are still valid and can be enforced in court easily.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
If company A says "We will sell to you, but only if we stay independent and can do our own thing" and the buyer agrees, legally on paper and the takeover happens, then he is bound to that agreement. It's not a "gentleman's agreement".
If Buyer then goes "you know what, fuck that promise!" then A can go back to the contract and legally sue the buyer for breach of contract etc. A contract ist binding, even after management changes. Even after you swap out the entire company with new employees, old contracts are still valid and can be enforced in court easily.


The only contract is the sale. The rest is just an agreement.

Don’t you understand? How would such a contract even be enforced? Would Sony put Sony in court?

Or you’re thinking that current management would put Sony in court? Because even in that fantasy scenario the owner can just fire the management…

Don’t know what else to tell you, but you seem to think Sony paid 3.6 billion for the privilege of being Bungie’s friend.
 
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CuNi

Member
The only contract is the sale. The rest is just an agreement.

Don’t you understand? How would such a contract even be enforced? Would Sony put Sony in court?

Or you’re thinking that current management would put Sony in court? Because even in that fantasy scenario the owner can just fire the management…

Don’t know what else to tell you, but you seem to think Sony paid 3.6 billion for the privilege to be Bungie’s friend.

If there are terms to a sale, those are part of the sale?
If Bungie wanted it, signed and on paper, that they can stay independent and Sony comes chiming in being the bossy dad, then no. Sony would sue Sony. Bungie most likely would for Sony?
If Bungie demands to self regulate than Sony can't even dictate to them who to fire and who to hire lol. Sony can ask nicely for Bungie to add or remove board members, but if Sony agreed to not interfering with Bungies decision, once they start to demand or enforce changes, Bungie can absolutely sue?

I don't know what else to tell you, but if they signed on paper that they allow bungie to self publish and stay independent, then there sure are other terms in those agreements that haven't reached the light of day but I can assure you, It's not Sony being able to tell Bungie what to do.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
You don’t know how these things work, and that’s ok. You are mistaking a PR announcement for contractual obligations, and there’s really nothing else to say other than the structure applied will allow Bungie to operate as an independent studio within Sony. That might change in the future, or not, depending on how well things work out.
 
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TidusYuna

Member
I think that is an interesting take TS. So you are saying that Sony will make Microsoft out to be the bad guy by making some third party acquisitions like Bungie, but letting their games stay multiplatform for everyone who can previously play them, drawing a clear distinction between the two companies ahead of time. So that if and when Microsoft who purchased Activision/Blizzard and Bethesda makes games from these acquisitions exclusive, it will make them look bad for the industry and cause some backlash? Interesting.
bold-strategy-jason-bateman.gif

I wonder how this will play out. Also wonder if the acquisition of Bungie/Destiny for Sony and the acquisition Bethesda/Doom/wolfenstein, and Acitivision/Blizzard/CoD for Microsoft will effect sales in the 1st person Shooter genre. At this point, Microsoft/Xbox is thee 1st person shooter console (Halo, Doom, Wolfenstein, Overwatch, and Cod.) Sony currently has (Destiny, Killzone). The questions is, how are the 1st person shooter fans on playstation who made CoD the number one selling game going to respond. Are they going to jump over to the xbox ecosystem or is the possible lack of CoD/Doom/Wolfenstein/Overwatch or is this going to increase the popularity of other games on playstation like Destiny, Killzone or even a third person games like Last of Us 2 factions or a Socom (which is probably in production). Really interested to see how the market will respond Microsoft buying Bethesda/Activision/Blizzard/CoD and Sony buying Bungie and putting their support behind Destiny.



There is also the possibility that Jim Ryan and Phil Spencer (two corporate guys) have actually agreed to work together to pushing the industry towards consolidation before other tech companies get large publishers while also pushing gaming towards PC, digital and streaming services so neither corporation has to produce physical media anymore (which is cheaper for these companies and takes ownership away from consumers.) Sony's 3.6 billion dollar acquisition of Bungie can show they are committed to this gaas as well. They could be using the console wars to stoke emotions in order to take gaming to that battlefield. The purchase of Crash Bandicoot and Bungie has these fanboys looking to see which company can one up each other, basically gamers are rooting for industry consolidation without considering what that really means for gaming. I really hope I'm wrong.
 
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Ultraslick

Neo Member
Interesting move by Sony here.
Microsoft buys all these companies to build the value of game pass with the grand vision to force Sony to accept game pass onto their system. Essentially making every PlayStation into an Xbox. This game pass model is something Microsoft has indicated is going to keep the other major players like Amazon and google out of the games sector and presumably is a way to make money their way on other platforms and consoles.
This makes sense I guess.

Until it doesn’t. Sony buys Bungie and indicates they are shifting 3rd party somewhat.
Building content to sell a platform has done its job for Sony. They will be selling all the hardware they can make for the foreseeable future.

And now with this shift in tactic- they will instantly make money from PC and Xbox through destiny and other Bungie ip’s.
This will not slow their console sales And they don’t have to ram their version of game pass down Microsoft’s throat in order to do it.

Your move Microsoft.
 
Interesting move by Sony here.
Microsoft buys all these companies to build the value of game pass with the grand vision to force Sony to accept game pass onto their system. Essentially making every PlayStation into an Xbox. This game pass model is something Microsoft has indicated is going to keep the other major players like Amazon and google out of the games sector and presumably is a way to make money their way on other platforms and consoles.
This makes sense I guess.

Until it doesn’t. Sony buys Bungie and indicates they are shifting 3rd party somewhat.
Building content to sell a platform has done its job for Sony. They will be selling all the hardware they can make for the foreseeable future.

And now with this shift in tactic- they will instantly make money from PC and Xbox through destiny and other Bungie ip’s.
This will not slow their console sales And they don’t have to ram their version of game pass down Microsoft’s throat in order to do it.

Your move Microsoft.

It's weird you think MS is only playing in a Sony sandbox. You have Ninty, streaming services, mobile and giants like Apple, Amazon etc. MS don't care about Gamepass on PS, they'd probably look at it if it was offered but it's not any sole reasoning behind their multitude of strategies within gaming. You state "grand vision to force Sony to accept gamepass", they don't care and nor do they need that. Would it be a win? Yes for sure. Is it necessary? Fucking far from it.

Bungie is a good get for Sony, likely a very sore point in playstation's line up e.g. multiplayer GaaS FPS. There is also much to be shared and learnt from Bungie in terms of multiplatform/PC/publishing etc.

What we're seeing over say the next 10 years is the gaming equivalent of Netflix (gamepass), Disney (whatever Sony call their service) and other major players (nvidia, stadia, amazon, apple etc) vying to become the dominate gaming subscriptions that the market will support. Is that 2 services? Is that 6 services? I hope it doesn't splinter as far as the movie/shows streaming services has but only time will tell there. You used to own a movie and could play it at your friends house or give it a cousin or sell it. These days you will own nothing if you stop your subscription. Movie services don't even offer discounts etc when you buy a movie to own, nor do they share your ownership for the same movie title between services etc.

Gamepass has a better strategy in terms of its maturing but there is much to improve. Sony could perhaps innovate within this sort of offering or play making but I don't see them competing on straight up content nor at the scale the likes of Google or Amazon or Apple or Meta. Perhaps I'm wrong and Sony exclusives are enough to drive multiplatform subs. Current day Gamepass is far and away a better offering for myself via Xbox and PC, my family and the friends I play with.

This idea Xbox are looking for anything from Sony is silly. They can easily push gamepass and streaming to any service or partner or device e.g. with Nintendo instead of Sony or your phone instead of your console. They could also provide a mix of services e.g. Sony signed with Azure for some backend streaming stuff. Xbox can still care about their own platform experience and hardware right alongside all of the other market segments and offerings they're maturing now. GAF, and other media/posters, get this so very wrong time and time again. The market and the tentpole platforms are far more fluid these days. Microsoft has just been through a decade+ transition to an open platform, Azure has driven Linux services right along side core windows/SQL/server/office etc. Xbox and gaming are going through the same open sourced commercialisation process combined with what the movies/music industries have just been through with subs as well.
 
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ChiefDada

Gold Member
What we're seeing over say the next 10 years is the gaming equivalent of Netflix (gamepass), Disney (whatever Sony call their service) and other major players (nvidia, stadia, amazon, apple etc) vying to become the dominate gaming subscriptions that the market will support.

The Bungie acquisition seems to counter this idea. Sony is essentially acting as a holding company with its relationship to Bungie. Access to games are more traditional in nature and don't navigate players towards a specific subscription platform. I'm not saying you're wrong in the long-term, just that this particular transaction doesn't support the subscription future outlook.

I mentioned this in another thread, but if Sony is willing to make similar deals with other large 3rd party developers who value autonomy over $, Sony could have a considerable advantage over Microsoft and other $trillion companies who prefer a more active management approach with their targets.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I think based of that slide of "clarity", it says nothing about any future games or destiny 3.
Of course they want to keep thier destiny 2 cash flowing multiplatform for now.

It says "Destiny 2" on the header, not "Bungie".
 
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ChiefDada

Gold Member
I think based of that slide of "clarity", it says nothing about any future games or destiny 3.
Of course they want to keep thier destiny 2 cash flowing multiplatform for now.

It says "Destiny 2" on the header, not "Bungie".

I think all future iterations of Destiny will be multiplatform and Sony wants it this way. That doesn't preclude Sony from hiring Bungie to publish PS exclusive IP though.

Residuals from current and future Destiny(s) subsidize PS blockbuster IP, just as CoD has in the past. This is why I continue to say that Microsoft would be foolish to EVER make CoD exclusive, and why I don't think they will. Relying on game pass revenue to fund that quickly growing list of AAA IPs doesn't bode well for output quality imo.
 
ChiefDada ChiefDada yours is a fair point mate. My issue with that is things like this already existing in the framework and pipelines through ID@ xbox, gamepass and studio/publisher support from MS/xbox. The full gamut of commercial arrangements, deal tweaks, support, involvement, hands off and more are already being managed and offered. Games have already been delivered in a variety of ways. Phil has a few interviews stating as much from the first games arranged through Gamepass for example. Some are profit share, some balloon up fronts, some multi-plat, some not multi-plat, some staff help from MS/XBox and others basically just left alone.

This is before we even talk about things like Valve/Steam or Epic games store etc where there is potential for further developments. The PC support MS gives to studios in that market segment combined with Xbox now supporting PC further even really positions things like gamepass and xcloud out of the realms of what Sony can bring to the table in terms of deal making.

For my money gamepass via Steam or a buy out of Valve is far more likely from MS or one of the other major players trying to enter the market (not Sony). Ol' Gabe loves Microsoft and is probably starting to want to look at retiring I'd wager, enough coin behind a solid offer I reckon that's the big fish out there in terms of content, talent and subs in the future.
 
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Warablo

Member
Microsoft literally said the same thing as that Sony graphic. The games will be console + PC exclusive. Either for Sony or Xbox.

They can't come out and say it will be exclusive before the deal closes because it can disrupt the deal closing and its in bad taste. Even when it does close, they won't say it as clearly as you want.
 
I don't see how owning Destiny will make MS (owner of COD, WoW, Fallout, Elder Scrolls) shiver.

Not that it makes them shiver, it just makes them look out of tune with "Being good for the consumer". Now, we have Activision basically staying multiplatform with no major changes. I'm not saying Bungie is totally responsible for that, but it certainly didn't help Microsoft's desire to keep Activision exclusive to the "Xbox Eco-System" whenever Sony and Bungie were like "Ain't nothing changing! Available everywhere!"

If Bungie did decide to make their titles exclusive to PS, Microsoft could point to that and cry wolf to the FTC. But, it didn't happen. All that is required, is another studio acquisition by Sony, and a similar statement of platform availability by Sony and that will effectively halt any future exclusivity plans by Microsoft.

FTC to Microsoft: "All these big acquisitions, and you seem intent on taking content away from other platforms (The majority platform) what gives?"
 
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