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Sony Group has $5.1 billion to spend on investments/acquisitions until 2024

YCoCg

Gold Member
Sony own Bad Wolf Studio?? Damn that one might pay off big as that's the studio that's took over Doctor Who!
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Limits their options quite a bit to none of the really big players, and likely not even something on the scale of Capcom/Square. I don't think they'll really use all of their alloted budget, to be honest. I'm thinking some smaller, tactical/strategic acquisitions.

Back to old tactics then.

7dkarx.jpg
 
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VAVA Mk2

Member
If the ABK deal closes, there will be plenty of reasons for Sony to buy a large publisher. I would not expect any big gaming acquisitions until after regulators have ruled on that deal.
How large of a publisher can Sony get for $5 billion?
 
Acting like Sony didn’t change to copy Xbox live (achievements, voice chat, custom profiles), and Gamepass(kinda).

You know they acquired like 3-4 studios in response to Xbox acquiring Bethesda lol.
That's wrong. Trophies are based on the rarity of what you do in a game. Achievements are gained when completing missions to collect points to add to your gamerscore.

Voice chat existed before game consoles received the feature. I cant give Microsoft credit for the natural progression of gaming. If you said party chat, you might have a point, although xbox party chats for COD and Halo served more of a vessle for online bullying, racism and mysogyny. So congrats for that.

Customizable static backgrounds? Really, who cares who did it first, but i'll give you that since Microsoft is a computer tech company.

Ps Plus and Ps Now existed years before Gamepass. They still exist now, just in different tiers. Games With Gold was copying Ps Plus, did you forget that?


How is Microsoft spending over 70 billion not a response to the dominance of Sony?
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
Sony own Bad Wolf Studio?? Damn that one might pay off big as that's the studio that's took over Doctor Who!
yup that was a while back. i think disney+ is showing it outside the UK. not sure why sony aren't doing it themselves.

bad wolf actually got its name from doctor who. in series 1 (2005) that is when bad wolf appears. it's been a while since i watched it but it's something to do with Rose and the Daleks.


now they are going to be doing series 14+ of doctor who!

bad wolf also done the His Dark Materials show which i loved. they done a great job of adapting the books.
 
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Brucey

Member
Back to old tactics then.

7dkarx.jpg
I'd like to see them reinvest that in their own studios, build out additional teams etc. New original IPs. Let them dream big. Of course any output would be several years away so if they need to spend and get games asap that's not an option. No reason they can't do both, using some of the profits from the games being sold by those existing teams.
 

Varteras

Member
How large of a publisher can Sony get for $5 billion?

A publisher acquisition probably wouldn't be restricted by a remaining budget plan. Hypothetically, Sony would have to get permission from the board to initiate such a large purchase and explain to them how they plan to do it. It would likely involve a combination of liquidation of some Current Assets (anything that can be converted to cash within a year), loans, and stock swaps. Technically speaking, Sony has the financial ability to buy companies like EA and T2. Assuming, as always, they wanted to sell.

But it becomes a question of how much they're willing to stomach. If they think the investment is worth it. That's before you even get into the confrontation with regulators. EA and T2 would just be too much in a lot of different ways for Sony to want to deal with. Buying companies that big comes with a ton of baggage. You end up buying a whole hell of a lot that you didn't really want just to get the few things you really did.

Acquisitions like that would wreak havoc on Sony's short term finances for sure and they'd have to hope it pays off long term. It would very likely push them to sell Non-Current Assets (anything they can sell but would take more than a year to do) just to make sure they stabilize. Sony may have well over $200 billion in total assets, but that doesn't mean they're eager, or willing at all, to sell large chunks just to get a couple popular IP for PlayStation and maybe one or two studios really worth a damn.

I don't see Sony going much higher than $10 billion for a publisher. In which case their ceiling is Square Enix or Capcom. SE, coincidentally, checks off a lot of boxes for Sony's stated strategies. Live services, mobile, and transmedia opportunities. That being said, Sony's better bet overall is to go after a lot of smaller, more easily purchased and absorbed companies that fit their plans and culture.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
If Sony acquire a publisher , they would keep it a secret until the last minute.

Remember the bungie acquisition? Who would have guess that huh?
We should not guess whether they acquired a publisher or not just because of the "budget", we wont know, and insider wont know as well.
 
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Varteras

Member
If Sony acquire a publisher , they would keep it a secret until the last minute.

Remember the bungie acquisition? Who would have guess that huh?
We should not guess whether they acquired a publisher or not just because of the "budget", we wont know, and insider wont know as well.

Well I don't think they're going to make any kind of plan known right now anyways. I can pretty much guarantee you if Sony has any sizable deals in the works, they are threatening families with Jim Ryan's personal ninjas to keep their mouths shut. They don't want to give Microsoft any ammunition in the ABK deal. They'll wait until that's over. I firmly believe that's why we've heard nothing since August about any acquisitions from them. Even that was a mobile developer no one had heard of.
 

EN250

Member
The only ones that "make sense" are Konami and Square Enix. But I don't think that will ever happen.

Konami is a shell of its former self, they have mobile games for Japan that are more "valuable" but on the global console gaming side they have nothing but IP ownership, MGS, PES they destroyed any potential it had and after years of FIFA domination, they tried a reboot with eFootball and failed miserably, Silent Hill, same as PES, never was able to compete on the same level as Resident Evil, Bloody Roar that's dead, Contra? Castlevania? Bomberman? you won't see anything big for these 3 franchises ever with current Konami
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Bungie was a private company though. You can't keep secret public companies.
hmm is it though? i dont see any rumors or insider info about Microsoft acquiring Acti/blizz before Microsoft announce 1-2 years ago?
 

Loxus

Member
If Sony acquire a publisher , they would keep it a secret until the last minute.

Remember the bungie acquisition? Who would have guess that huh?
We should not guess whether they acquired a publisher or not just because of the "budget", we wont know, and insider wont know as well.
Using Zee Entertainment Enterprises pending aquisition as an example, which dates back to 2021.

Sony spent $24B in one quarter back in 2021 on an unknown investment. Just saying.
 

Varteras

Member
Using Zee Entertainment Enterprises pending aquisition as an example, which dates back to 2021.

Sony spent $24B in one quarter back in 2021 on an unknown investment. Just saying.

They didn't spend $24 billion. They reallocated that money to their financial division. Their own bank in Japan. I know exactly what you're talking about because I made largely the same mistake you did last year. I looked over their balance sheet and assumed they used that money as part of their acquisition strategy. That wasn't the case. They shifted that money within the company to a specific division.
 
Sony should invest in smaller studios or middle sized studios around the world.
We need more diverse games where are games like motorstorm fun chaotic arcade racers.Where are games like railroad tycoon Or simcity building games
Where are games like savage moon tower defense games where are different Adventure games with rpg elements
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Yeah that was the plan. They overpaid 1 billion in bonus for most employees. To retain talent and motivation. At what price would you have brought Bungie?
Sony spent just $229mil to purchase Insomniac, who have thus far provided Spiderman, Miles Morales, Ratchet and Clank and soon Spiderman 2 and then Wolverine. I'd guess one more big DLC or AAA game too after those are all released.

They're not games I'm interested in personally, but I can see they are blockbusters for many and capable of bringing in crazy revenues.

So sub $1bil sounds about right for Bungie.
 

SaucyJack

Member
Whoever convinced Sony to spend 3.7 BILLION dollars on Bungie is an amazing salesperson.

The headline number is misleading, they didn’t actually pay $3.7 bn.

The deal is “worth” “up to” $3.7 bn when you include some fairly significant future retention bonuses (circa $1.2 bn IIRC) but these bonuses won’t count as part of the acquisition cost but will, in reality, be charged against Bungie's own post-acquisition profits.
 
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Sony spent just $229mil to purchase Insomniac, who have thus far provided Spiderman, Miles Morales, Ratchet and Clank and soon Spiderman 2 and then Wolverine. I'd guess one more big DLC or AAA game too after those are all released.

They're not games I'm interested in personally, but I can see they are blockbusters for many and capable of bringing in crazy revenues.

So sub $1bil sounds about right for Bungie.
Insomniac is around 400 people . Bungie have more than 800. Sony got them cheap. But they have invested a lot more than 229 millions in them and got them the Spiderman Ip that allowed them to have the results that they had in recents years. I love Ratchet, and want the next one as soon as possible. For Bungie I have never played their games too, but the price is fair when you consider that they will make a big part of that money just with Destiny 2 in the next few years. After all it is not my money they are using. Hope that it works anyway.
 

Loxus

Member
They didn't spend $24 billion. They reallocated that money to their financial division. Their own bank in Japan. I know exactly what you're talking about because I made largely the same mistake you did last year. I looked over their balance sheet and assumed they used that money as part of their acquisition strategy. That wasn't the case. They shifted that money within the company to a specific division.
If they shifted it, wouldn't cash on hand remain the same? Seeing that it's still within the company.

Balance Sheet also reflects it went into some kind of investment.
 
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Varteras

Member
If they shifted it, wouldn't cash on hand remain the same? Seeing that it's still within the company.

Balance Sheet also reflects it went into some kind of investment.

No. Because that money was no longer cash-on-hand. It was moved to their financial division for other uses. At that time, the pandemic had fucked with the global economy pretty bad and many currencies were weakening. Anyone just sitting on money not being used was watching each dollar lose value with every day. Also, a $24 billion investment or acquisition would not have gone unreported. They bought Crunchyroll for just over a billion and not only was that very much reported on, regulators even delayed the purchase while they looked into it possibly risking a monopoly in anime streaming, of all things.
 
i dont see any rumors or insider info about Microsoft acquiring Acti/blizz before Microsoft announce 1-2 years ago?
Aside ABK negotiations being quite short, nobody knew about the deal before it was announced. Deals don't leak. Even negotiations don't leak. Like Bethesda negotiations took years yet nobody leaked it at all.

So sub $1bil sounds about right for Bungie.
No, Bungie has Destiny and it is a very lucrative IP that generates recurring revenue. Their price is fair (after all out of 3b+, 1.2b was a retention fee essentially).
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Aside ABK negotiations being quite short, nobody knew about the deal before it was announced. Deals don't leak. Even negotiations don't leak. Like Bethesda negotiations took years yet nobody leaked it at all.


No, Bungie has Destiny and it is a very lucrative IP that generates recurring revenue. Their price is fair (after all out of 3b+, 1.2b was a retention fee essentially).
thats what i meant.
I mean ASSUMING if Sony did acquired a publisher, it may end up like ABK announcement. We wont know until the last minute.
 
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Loxus

Member
No. Because that money was no longer cash-on-hand. It was moved to their financial division for other uses. At that time, the pandemic had fucked with the global economy pretty bad and many currencies were weakening. Anyone just sitting on money not being used was watching each dollar lose value with every day. Also, a $24 billion investment or acquisition would not have gone unreported. They bought Crunchyroll for just over a billion and not only was that very much reported on, regulators even delayed the purchase while they looked into it possibly risking a monopoly in anime streaming, of all things.
Take a look for yourself.
Sony Group Corp ADR (SONY)
pOTaON0.jpg


With Current Assets declined, the Total Assets reflect it went into Non-Current Assets.

Non-current assets are assets and property owned by a business that are not easily converted to cash within a year.

They invested in something. It doesn't necessarily has to be acquisition, but it's a possibility.

We only get announcements of acquisitions after their completed, not when they started.
 
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John Wick

Member
5.1 billion and people were saying T2 was an option? :pie_roffles:

Good though, focus on "small" gaming stuff like devs purchases or fund/create new groups that can develop games that expand their genres, I only care about that tbh
You do realise this is money they have set aside for acquisitions? If need be they can put a deal together to buy something much more expensive.
 

JackMcGunns

Member
Unbelievable, 3.7 billion $ on Bungie 🤷‍♂️

Considering that MS paid 7 billion for Zenimax which comes with

ID Software (Wolfenstein 3D,Doom, Quake, etc.)
Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout out, Redfall, Deathloop, Starfield)
Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Prey)
Machine Games (Wolfenstein New order, New Collosus)
Tango GameWorks (The Evil Within, HiFi Rush)
Roundhouse Studios
Alpha Dog (iOS, Android)

Nearly 4 billion gets you..... drum roll.....

Destiny!!!

:messenger_fearful:
 

Varteras

Member
Take a look for yourself.
Sony Group Corp ADR (SONY)
pOTaON0.jpg


With Current Assets declined, the Total Assets reflect it went into Non-Current Assets.

Non-current assets are assets and property owned by a business that are not easily converted to cash within a year.

They invested in something. It doesn't necessarily has to be acquisition, but it's a possibility.

We only get announcements of acquisitions after their completed, not when they started.

I know what you're trying to get at here and when I looked into that a year ago what I found is that they shifted money to their financial division. Sony is a bank in Japan that gives out loans and they had shifted billions into it to make sure the money was being used.

Also, like I said, a $24 billion investment or acquisition would not go unreported and certainly not for almost 2 years. You're looking for something that isn't there.
 

Loxus

Member
I know what you're trying to get at here and when I looked into that a year ago what I found is that they shifted money to their financial division. Sony is a bank in Japan that gives out loans and they had shifted billions into it to make sure the money was being used.

Also, like I said, a $24 billion investment or acquisition would not go unreported and certainly not for almost 2 years. You're looking for something that isn't there.
Total Assets says otherwise.
 

XXL

Member
I'm so sick of hearing about acquisitions.

BUT..... PlayStation should buy Vankrupt Games asap.
 

Varteras

Member
Total Assets says otherwise.

Hey if you want to live in a fantasy land where Sony made some massive singular investment or acquisition 2 years ago and it never got reported, go for it. Also believing that somehow the only explanation for total assets going up by $24 billion was because of a singular $24 billion investment or purchase and that it had nothing to do with the Financial Division that they moved that money to for use in loans, insurance, nursing care, and various other businesses that they operate under it that has nothing to do with gaming. I mean it got reported pretty quickly that they invested $122 million in FromSoft just to own 14% of the company. But yeah, you're right. They secretly bought Take Two years ago for $24 billion and both companies just stayed quiet about it the whole time and kept it from the regulators. You figured it out.
 
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