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Sony has $10 billion left to spend on acquisitions through 2023

Infamy v1

Member
Bungie was a terrible decision for 4bil, keeping them independent and completely multiplatform. Like, holy shit. Could've spent that 4bil elsewhere. Bungie made out like bandits, the madlads
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
What are you talking about? Death Stranding was hated and people are still triggered it got that many awards. It was commercial flop. It's one of the games that looks the most uninteresting things ever created.

DS didn't break even after it was released on PC. They aren't self sufficient. They can be, but right now I wouldn't touch them. Lets see if he can finish that horror game and then we'll talk.
lol DS had the most critics and fan awards in 2019. The only people who are triggered are a vocal minority.

  • Death Stranding - 118
    • Media Outlets: 77 | Readers' Choice: 41
  • Resident Evil 2 - 93
    • Media Outlets: 63 | Readers' Choice: 30
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 85
    • Media Outlets: 71 | Readers' Choice: 14
And it sold 5 million units after hitting PC. A game made in 3 years by 85 devs. This is not a 1000 man team. How that is a flop is beyond me.
 

RevGaming

Member
lol DS had the most critics and fan awards in 2019. The only people who are triggered are a vocal minority.

  • Death Stranding- 118
    • Media Outlets: 77 | Readers' Choice: 41
  • Resident Evil 2- 93
    • Media Outlets: 63 | Readers' Choice: 30
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice- 85
    • Media Outlets: 71 | Readers' Choice: 14
And it sold 5 million units after hitting PC. A game made in 3 years by 85 devs. This is not a 1000 man team. How that is a flop is beyond me.
It was a flop. It broke even slightly before pc release. That's why it was the first big sony game to release on PC.

The other sony games are self funded on playstation platform alone. I'm just saying, he's not worth buying. Not yet.

I bet most people that defend this don't even like the game that much.

Somebody posted a gematsu article on this thread. Go see that or google break even and DS.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It was a flop. It broke even slightly before pc release. That's why it was the first big sony game to release on PC.
Nonsense. The game was announced as PC release before it even had a name. It was literally announced as a console exclusive and a PC version was announced immediately when the game was announced.

You seem to struggle with facts. A game that sells 5 million with such a small team doesnt need to sell 5 million to break even.
 

yurinka

Member
It was a flop. It broke even slightly before pc release. That's why it was the first big sony game to release on PC.

The other sony games are self funded on playstation platform alone. I'm just saying, he's not worth buying. Not yet.

I bet most people that defend this don't even like the game that much.

Somebody posted a gematsu article on this thread. Go see that or google break even and DS.
Death Stranding wasn't a flop, it's a game with great reviews on track to become Kojima's best selling game ever even if console exclusive. Both the game and the PC ports were profitable, the game was made by a relatively small team for a AAA game and relatively quickly. Kojipro and SIE seem happy with each other, Sony allowed them to port it, they worked together again on the Director's Cut, and according to Norman Reedus they are working on a sequel.
 

RevGaming

Member
Nonsense. The game was announced as PC release before it even had a name. It was literally announced as a console exclusive and a PC version was announced immediately when the game was announced.

You seem to struggle with facts. A game that sells 5 million with such a small team doesnt need to sell 5 million to break even.

It only broke even before PC I know it's not factually a flop, but compared to the other sony games it is and I don't think that's a lot of value to add on Sony WWS. It wasn't liked by the millions that played it (I can look for the completion rate on PSN give me a sec) so the sequel is expected to sell less, on top that the game might need a bigger budget to compete vs the bigger titles.

Now, if Kojima makes a banger of a horror game, I might reconsider.
 
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RevGaming

Member
Death Stranding wasn't a flop, it's a game with great reviews on track to become Kojima's best selling game ever even if console exclusive. Both the game and the PC ports were profitable, the game was made by a relatively small team for a AAA game and relatively quickly. Kojipro and SIE seem happy with each other, Sony allowed them to port it, they worked together again on the Director's Cut, and according to Norman Reedus they are working on a sequel.
Nobody wants a sequel lol. Screw that game. It was a waste if time for gamers and sony. Screw the reviews and the awards. They gave that to him because what happened to him under Konami. I don't believe for a second people want a sequel.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes

It only broke even before PC I know it's not factually a flop, but compared to the other sony games it is and I don't think that's a lot of value to add on Sony WWS. It wasn't liked by the millions that played it (I can look for the completion rate on PSN give me a sec) so the sequel is expected to sell less, on top that the game might need a bigger budget to compete vs the bigger titles.

Now, if Kojima makes a banger of a horror game, I might reconsider.
The article is based off of this neogaf thread which says the game was a financial success as early as May 2020. only 6 months after the game launched.


Basically he says Death Stranding was a financial success and made it's money back and then some. They are currently working on their next project under the surface.

Financial success != flop. Financial success is not barely breaking even.

I have no idea why you are trying to downplay a big creator like this. The game was a success by every metric. Sony needs to invest in talent. These big name directors like Kojima, Neil Druckman, and Christopher Nolan have their detractors but they also have hardcore fans who you NEED on your platform because they spend the most and are there day one for your console. Tenet made $340 million in the middle of the pandemic when half of the theaters were closed. It took movies a year and a half to put up numbers like that. Thats the power of big name directors.

Even if KOjima brings in a million users to the PS thats a million users who arent going to Xbox just because Phil bought cod and skyrim. When it comes to choosing between cod and kojima, they will pick kojima every time. Thats what talent gets you.
 

RevGaming

Member
The article is based off of this neogaf thread which says the game was a financial success as early as May 2020. only 6 months after the game launched.




Financial success != flop. Financial success is not barely breaking even.

I have no idea why you are trying to downplay a big creator like this. The game was a success by every metric. Sony needs to invest in talent. These big name directors like Kojima, Neil Druckman, and Christopher Nolan have their detractors but they also have hardcore fans who you NEED on your platform because they spend the most and are there day one for your console. Tenet made $340 million in the middle of the pandemic when half of the theaters were closed. It took movies a year and a half to put up numbers like that. Thats the power of big name directors.

Even if KOjima brings in a million users to the PS thats a million users who arent going to Xbox just because Phil bought cod and skyrim. When it comes to choosing between cod and kojima, they will pick kojima every time. Thats what talent gets you.
I don't see the talent there anymore.
 

assurdum

Banned
Lol. Bethesda was thinking of selling studios.

Besides BGS and iD, the others weren't sustainable.

Have you seen the leak of upcoming Capcom games?
I really don't follow you. Bethesda has a lot of more studios. Capcom it's just a single one. They could have valuable IP but I don't think they are remotely comparable in terms of size
 

RevGaming

Member
I really don't follow you. Bethesda has a lot of more studios. Capcom it's just a single one. They could have valuable IP but I don't think they are remotely comparable in terms of size
Capcom is divided by gaming divisions. Besides Fallout 4, every Capcom triple A game sold better than the rest of the Bethesda games (some of them being flops that sold 1m). If there are less employees and they sell more copies, who's better then?

I bet Capcom won't sell for 7.5B. Bethesda was on a decline and Capcom isn't.
 
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assurdum

Banned
Capcom is divided by gaming divisions. Besides Fallout 4, every Capcom triple A game sold better than the rest of the Bethesda games (some of them being flops that sold 1m). If there are less employees and they sell more copies, who's better then?

I bet Capcom won't sell for 7.5B. Bethesda was on a decline and Capcom isn't.
I don't think the whole value of the company it's just about how much more sell. Though I don't think it's not even true that every single capcom games sold better than any other Bethesda IP.
Anyway:
Capcom
Market Value (Feb-2022)
5,72 Billion USD
At least searching on Google. Don't know how much reliable is it.
 
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RevGaming

Member
I don't think the whole value of the company it's just about how much more sell. Though I don't think it's not even true that every single capcom games sold better than any other Bethesda IP.
Anyway:
Capcom
Market Value (Feb-2022)
5,72 Billion USD
At least searching on Google. Don't know how much reliable is it.
It's not just market cap, but we'll see. That saudi investment makes me think they invested because they think Capcom is next.
 
I don't think the whole value of the company it's just about how much more sell. Though I don't think it's not even true that every single capcom games sold better than any other Bethesda IP.
Anyway:
Capcom
Market Value (Feb-2022)
5,72 Billion USD
At least searching on Google. Don't know how much reliable is it.

if they were sold, chances are buyer will have to pay 40-50% premium, so around 8-9 billion.
that's totally out of Sony's league........had they not wasted their money on Bungie, it's a possibility, but now?? ...naaahhhh
 
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Tams

Member
Apple

That was hella easy. Doesn’t matter what you think, majority of “young gamers” are on iOS and android. 1. Because parents already have it and majority of those games are free. 2. It’s insanely easier and cheaper to get a kid an iPad or android tablet than it is a switch because it has coco melon AND Minecraft.

That was like, common sense.

If anything Apple and android is a bigger threat to Nintendo than said companies are to Microsoft.
Lol.

While mobile gaming is big and has grown the most (by a long way), it is not in a state to push Nintendo out of business.

There's simply too much crud there. That's something that hasn't improved over all these years of smartphones. And while Apple is trusted more by people than Google, they don't have the same reputation as Nintendo for, well, fun.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned

It only broke even before PC I know it's not factually a flop, but compared to the other sony games it is and I don't think that's a lot of value to add on Sony WWS. It wasn't liked by the millions that played it (I can look for the completion rate on PSN give me a sec) so the sequel is expected to sell less, on top that the game might need a bigger budget to compete vs the bigger titles.

Now, if Kojima makes a banger of a horror game, I might reconsider.

Kojima is the Rolls Royce of gaming. Not everyone has one. He's a historical figure in gaming and he'll be a massive get for Sony if he thinks he wants to be under a corporation. Also they would help him with his dream of making movies.
 

ksdixon

Member
Look at this timeline:
  1. Sony makes Street Fighter V exclusive plus gives an extra half a Billion to Capcom to fund their eSports
  2. During this gen fighting games went GaaS, skyrocketed their revenue and eSports
  3. The two top grossing PC games -and with the biggest userbase- of the last decade League of Legends and Dungeon Fighter Online announce they will have fighting games of their IPs, so will bring tons of players
  4. Sony implements the online tounaments feature and starts to make fighting online tournaments with prizes
  5. Sony buys EVO
  6. The guy in charge of Street Fighter V leaves Capcom to be the president of another company (now known as Lasengle)
  7. Sony guys a former Capcom guy to be in charge of their relationships with 3rd parties
  8. Sony buys that Lasengle company (happened two days ago)
  9. Sony buys Cap..
Is all of that timeline real? I know last parts about Ono are.
 

yurinka

Member
Is all of that timeline real? I know last parts about Ono are.
Obviously the 9 didn't happen, but the rest is real even if the order may not be perfect. Btw I had a typo in 7, I wanted to say:

7. Sony hires a former Capcom guy to be in charge of their relationships with Japanese 3rd parties

In fact Sony also hired more former Capcom staff like this guy who is now in charge of PlayStation Head of Global Portfolio.

But I was joking, many of these events are unrelated. EVO and fighting games aren't only important for fighting games. Way more games than the Capcom ones benefited from EVO and the PS Tournament online feature. Game companies hire people experienced from being in other companies. I may be wrong but I'd bet Yoshinori Ono joined his current company when Fate/Gran Order already was a hit and Sony bought the studio because of the success of the mobile game, not for him being there and pretty likely will want the studio to continue focusing on mobile games.

And well, I don't think Capcom has plans or reasons to sell the company, even if would be a perfect fit to acquire it and put it like Bungine under SIE but as a separate multiplatform business, who would be able to continue selling multiplatform games and even having busineses where Sony isn't interested like Pachinko, Pachislo or arcade.
 
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ksdixon

Member
Obviously the 9 didn't happen, but the rest is real even if the order may not be perfect. Btw I had a typo in 7, I wanted to say:

7. Sony hires a former Capcom guy to be in charge of their relationships with Japanese 3rd parties

In fact Sony also hired more former Capcom staff like this guy who is now in charge of PlayStation Head of Global Portfolio.

But I was joking, many of these events are unrelated. EVO and fighting games aren't only important for fighting games. Way more games than the Capcom ones benefited from EVO and the PS Tournament online feature. Game companies hire people experienced from being in other companies. I may be wrong but I'd bet Yoshinori Ono joined his current company when Fate/Gran Order already was a hit and Sony bought the studio because of the success of the mobile game, not for him being there and pretty likely will want the studio to continue focusing on mobile games.

And well, I don't think Capcom has plans or reasons to sell the company, even if would be a perfect fit to acquire it and put it like Bungine under SIE but as a separate multiplatform business, who would be able to continue selling multiplatform games and even having busineses where Sony isn't interested like Pachinko, Pachislo or arcade.
... Shouldn't they be? Just farming out game/anime ip for easy revenue back? So long as they dont pull a Konami and stop making actual games. Surely that'd make more sense than that rumored Sony theme park
 

yurinka

Member
... Shouldn't they be? Just farming out game/anime ip for easy revenue back? So long as they dont pull a Konami and stop making actual games. Surely that'd make more sense than that rumored Sony theme park
I'm the number one Capcom and Sony fan, if I was Jimbo I'd buy them and if I would be the Capcom CEO would sell it to Sony.

-Sony money would help grow the headcount of Capcom and highly help arketing all games
-Capcom would be delivering top games with sequels and new IPs
-Some dormant Capcom cllassic IPs would be able to be revided, some of them as smaller projects for PSVR2 or game subs
-Several Capcom IPs would get movie/tv show/anime adaptations handled by Sony

There's no rumored Sony theme park. Nintendo and Ubisoft are the ones working on theme parks.
 
Saudis have just purchased a stake in Capcom. Very unlikely now.
Bungie was a terrible decision for 4bil, keeping them independent and completely multiplatform. Like, holy shit. Could've spent that 4bil elsewhere. Bungie made out like bandits, the madlads
2.4 Billion. It wasn‘t a Insomniac games robbery. 1.2 Billion is basically for talent compensation. But it‘s 100% a revenue play. They are seeing all these Gaas (including Sony Music Japan’s Fate/Order) popping off. Seeing how Bungie doesn‘t fall under Playstation Studios, but under Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony is basically resurrecting…
Sony_Online_Entertainment_Logo.png

Basically exchanged Everquest, PlanetSide, Z1 for Destiny, (unannounced next title). That unannounced title must be fire.
 

yurinka

Member
Dafuq


I agreed with everything you said. Capcom and Sony vs all.
In fact Ubisoft already has VR stuff in a French theme park since many years ago, but as I remember they were working on a Ubisoft specific theme park that will be in Kuala Lumpur.

Btw Sega has resorts and Konami has gyms.
 
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Maxwell Jacob Friedman

leads to fear. Fear leads to xbox.
CDPR are one of the worst prospects by far

Capcom is family owned and Nintendo works very closely with them

From is owned by another conglomerate

lol
That means they are cheap, also much like MS wanting to fix the work culture in Activision, Sony could acquire them to build up their portfolio, build prestige but also build up their good will in the gaming community again
 

SSfox

Member
There is a very good opportunity now to buy PG studio, i'm sure they're not even that expansive, while they make some of the best games out there.C'MOOOOON Move YOUR ASS Sony.
 

samoilaaa

Member
That means they are cheap, also much like MS wanting to fix the work culture in Activision, Sony could acquire them to build up their portfolio, build prestige but also build up their good will in the gaming community again
build up their good will ? dont make me laugh
witcher series sold over 50 million copies and its one of the best rpgs ever made , cyberpunk even with the bugs and missing features sold 13 million in the first 10 days , and i guarantee you if witcher 4 releases tomorrow it will sell just as good as cyberpunk if not better
they dont need sony or anybody to help them build up their good will
 
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Maxwell Jacob Friedman

leads to fear. Fear leads to xbox.
build up their good will ? dont make me laugh
witcher series sold over 50 million copies and its one of the best rpgs ever made , cyberpunk even with the bugs and missing features sold 13 million in the first 10 days , and i guarantee you if witcher 4 releases tomorrow it will sell just as good as cyberpunk if not better
they dont need sony or anybody to help them build up their good will
And cyberpunk was also a global let down in terms of quality which the witcher has. They let their audience a stray and literally hid the game until release when they knew what a fucked up state it was. Sony even delisted it from their psn store because it was that bad. So yes they have a good reputation from witcher but all their good will went to shit when they released the dumpster fire version of a gamer that has YET to still be fixed and STILL doesnt have its next gen version yet.

They have to be VERY careful with their next game because buyers are going to be wayyyy for skeptical now, much like ala BF2042
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Jesus 10B seems miniscule. Still though, Sony could make some heavy weight purchases. If they get Capcom though, I'm going straight to the house and lighting every body up!! Lol
 

vivftp

Member
Jesus 10B seems miniscule. Still though, Sony could make some heavy weight purchases. If they get Capcom though, I'm going straight to the house and lighting every body up!! Lol

This is just part of a set budget for M&A that Sony Group set last year. Every 3 years they report a figure on what they expect Sony Group to spend on mergers & acquisitions over the next 3 years, and at that time they reported 18 billion dollars. It's not a hard figure that they HAVE to abide by, it's just a guide they provided to set expectations for the short term future. Out of that 18 billion there's about 10 billion left for the next 2 years.

Now if tomorrow Sony decided they wanted to drop 28 billion in an attempt to buy a company like Take Two or ViacomCBS, then they can do so just hunky dory.

But yeah, between Capcom, Square Enix and Kadokawa I expect Sony to make a move on at least one of them in the not too distant future. In an ideal world if Sony bought a multi-plat publisher they'd do the same thing they did with Bungie and keep them an independent entity under SIE who would be free to publish on other platforms. That way everyone wins - Sony gets all those valuable IP to use across their transmedia ambitions, other platform owners continue to get the games they expect, and the publisher gets a LOT more support to grow their business.
 
This is just part of a set budget for M&A that Sony Group set last year. Every 3 years they report a figure on what they expect Sony Group to spend on mergers & acquisitions over the next 3 years, and at that time they reported 18 billion dollars. It's not a hard figure that they HAVE to abide by, it's just a guide they provided to set expectations for the short term future. Out of that 18 billion there's about 10 billion left for the next 2 years.

Now if tomorrow Sony decided they wanted to drop 28 billion in an attempt to buy a company like Take Two or ViacomCBS, then they can do so just hunky dory.

But yeah, between Capcom, Square Enix and Kadokawa I expect Sony to make a move on at least one of them in the not too distant future. In an ideal world if Sony bought a multi-plat publisher they'd do the same thing they did with Bungie and keep them an independent entity under SIE who would be free to publish on other platforms. That way everyone wins - Sony gets all those valuable IP to use across their transmedia ambitions, other platform owners continue to get the games they expect, and the publisher gets a LOT more support to grow their business.

Square is already pretty much exclusive it seems. Sony should just put a ring on it. Final Fantasy is the biggest IP of anything, and they have great underutilized IP as well (Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Xenogears, etc). They have a massive GaaS with FF Online, and they provide RPGs as a counter to Bethesda being acquired.

Sony doesn't have as many exclusives with Capcom, and has probably a higher valuation relative to revenue. Capcom does have a bit larger global brands though, admittedly.
 

vivftp

Member
Square is already pretty much exclusive it seems. Sony should just put a ring on it. Final Fantasy is the biggest IP of anything, and they have great underutilized IP as well (Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Xenogears, etc). They have a massive GaaS with FF Online, and they provide RPGs as a counter to Bethesda being acquired.

Sony doesn't have as many exclusives with Capcom, and has probably a higher valuation relative to revenue. Capcom does have a bit larger global brands though, admittedly.

Yeah, Sony's closest with Square moreso than any other publisher both in terms of their games and their history. It'd make sense, but if it were to happen I would DEMAND it be conditional on one thing - that Bluepoint does a full ground-up remake of the original Deus Ex. If that ain't happening then scrap the whole deal I say!
:p
 

bender

What time is it?
Yeah, Sony's closest with Square moreso than any other publisher both in terms of their games and their history. It'd make sense, but if it were to happen I would DEMAND it be conditional on one thing - that Bluepoint does a full ground-up remake of the original Deus Ex. If that ain't happening then scrap the whole deal I say!
:p

Unrelated, but you mentioning a Deus Ex remake makes me wonder why Nightdive hasn't been scooped up.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Square is already pretty much exclusive it seems. Sony should just put a ring on it. Final Fantasy is the biggest IP of anything, and they have great underutilized IP as well (Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Xenogears, etc). They have a massive GaaS with FF Online, and they provide RPGs as a counter to Bethesda being acquired.

Sony doesn't have as many exclusives with Capcom, and has probably a higher valuation relative to revenue. Capcom does have a bit larger global brands though, admittedly.
Square Enix should come with two really good western studios in Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal. Eidos could make Sony a WRPG they are lacking. CD mucked up their last game, but they are a great studio.

I think the problem with Capcom and SE is that MS isnt interested in them. They are saving up for the online audience, and I bet they are going for either EA or Take2.
 
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