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[vj27]

Name one other game company that has the young personcs gaming market locked down?

Nintendo have a lot of games that appeal to children/younger people (as well as adults), and are one of the few trusted by people to keep children safe and have decent morales in their games.

If you're a parent and you want to get/let your child play games, where would you let them play? PC? Sony or Microsoft? Android? Even Apple isn't a great choice. With Nintendo, you have a system that is only deisgned to play games along with great parental controls.

Nitnendo are fine.

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.

 

[yurinka]

Wow. Thanks for the info and the insight. Could that change, tho?

I don't know, but I'd bet they still want to continue as they are.

What's with the GaaS direction tho? After poorly received Extraction and Far Cry 6, the next farcry and AC being GaaS, Hyperscape shutdown, the Tom Clancy free to play nobody wants, guessing Rider Republic's didn't do that good, Beyond and Evil 2 and Skull and Bones having development problems. You sure they're doing ok there?

GaaS means that companies every year make a huge chunk of revenue from games released in previous years. Which means that they rely less on new games released that new year. Which means there's way less pressure for them to be ultra successful and that if some big project tanks or needs to be delayed it's ok and they are fine with it.

They honestly do what they can and what they think their players will like, and work super hard to make them as good as they can with the time, manpower and skill they have. As in any other big companies some game result on huge hits, some on smaller hits and (in pretty rare cases) other ones tank. Some games are great, some are ok and some are bad. It's super difficult to make games, and even more super huge games. And even more trying to compete with the top tier folks like Rockstar, Sony, Fortnite, Destiny, etc. specially when made with pretty smaller budget/time. Most of their games work really well, and if from time to time there's a flop it's ok, it's part of the business.

You also have to consider that every player has different tastes. You may personally think that a specific game sucks but that same game may also being selling 10-20+ million units on each entry plus extras from dlcs, microtransactions, season passes and so on. This same game you may hate may be loved by like a dozen million fans.

Other than that, any game development -big or small- from any company always has many challenges and sorts with many issues. To make games is a creative process and even if you're making a 3204930th sequel of a popular franchise or genre there are many unexpected things or market changes that appear during development and that you couldn't predict. Even if you went in the most conservative way and managed everything perfecly, so you as dev try to sort them in the best possible way with the time and resources you have available. The longer a game development is, the bigger the project is, the more ambitious a project is, the more innovative a game is, adds many more challenges and potential issues that may rise.

So if you're making an insanely ambitious and huge AAA game that also in certain way it's going to be pretty innovative you'll have to deal with these things. But these folks are super talented and experienced, and have a ton of resources to tackle these things. They will spend as much money as needed and will take as many years as needed, thanks to the revenue of GaaS, back catalog plus very successful new releases they aren't pressured to have them ready for a specific year even if obviously they have their plans and schedules and would like to have their games ready asap.

And yes, some specific game may have a few more issues than expected, or maybe originally in paper did sound better than what it ended being or performed. As mentioned before some games will suck and others will be great. Some games will be a huge hit and a few other ones a flop. They are perfectly fine with it, because it's how things work everywhere. Even if some fired angry pink haired unexperienced tester who has no fucking idea tells Polygon, Kotaku or Bloomberg that their project was the apocalypse, the hell ran by demons or something like that. 99.99% of the other workers won't agree him/her/hur/hor/lol and will be happy there even if obviously would prefer in a fantasy world where all their games are masterpieces beloved by 100% of the worldwide population (of the Earth and Mars) and get released having handled 0 challenges, 0 issues and 0 bugs.

 

[RevGaming]

I don't know, but I'd bet they still want to continue as they are.


GaaS means that companies every year make a huge chunk of revenue from games released in previous years. Which means that they rely less on new games released that new year. Which means there's way less pressure for them to be ultra successful and that if some big project tanks or needs to be delayed it's ok and they are fine with it.

They honestly do what they can and what they think their players will like, and work super hard to make them as good as they can with the time, manpower and skill they have. As in any other big companies some game result on huge hits, some on smaller hits and (in pretty rare cases) other ones tank. Some games are great, some are ok and some are bad. It's super difficult to make games, and even more super huge games. And even more trying to compete with the top tier folks like Rockstar, Sony, Fortnite, Destiny, etc. specially when made with pretty smaller budget/time. Most of their games work really well, and if from time to time there's a flop it's ok, it's part of the business.

You also have to consider that every player has different tastes. You may personally think that a specific game sucks but that same game may also being selling 10-20+ million units on each entry plus extras from dlcs, microtransactions, season passes and so on. This same game you may hate may be loved by like a dozen million fans.

Other than that, any game development -big or small- from any company always has many challenges and sorts with many issues. To make games is a creative process and even if you're making a 3204930th sequel of a popular franchise or genre there are many unexpected things or market changes that appear during development and that you couldn't predict. Even if you went in the most conservative way and managed everything perfecly, so you as dev try to sort them in the best possible way with the time and resources you have available. The longer a game development is, the bigger the project is, the more ambitious a project is, the more innovative a game is, adds many more challenges and potential issues that may rise.

So if you're making an insanely ambitious and huge AAA game that also in certain way it's going to be pretty innovative you'll have to deal with these things. But these folks are super talented and experienced, and have a ton of resources to tackle these things. They will spend as much money as needed and will take as many years as needed, thanks to the revenue of GaaS, back catalog plus very successful new releases they aren't pressured to have them ready for a specific year even if obviously they have their plans and schedules and would like to have their games ready asap.

And yes, some specific game may have a few more issues than expected, or maybe originally in paper did sound better than what it ended being or performed. As mentioned before some games will suck and others will be great. Some games will be a huge hit and a few other ones a flop. They are perfectly fine with it, because it's how things work everywhere. Even if some fired angry pink haired unexperienced tester who has no fucking idea tells Polygon, Kotaku or Bloomberg that their project was the apocalypse, the hell ran by demons or something like that. 99.99% of the other workers won't agree him/her/hur/hor/lol and will be happy there even if obviously would prefer in a fantasy world where all their games are masterpieces beloved by 100% of the worldwide population (of the Earth and Mars) and get released having handled 0 challenges, 0 issues and 0 bugs.

I get it's not easy and that some may be very talented, but it's not working. The only games I can say are working are Siege and Brawlhalla which I play. For Honor is doing pretty good, but I will disagree. They should do better and not play like they're playing darts.

 

[splattered]

So do we expect them to make a single larger acquisition purchase like Capcom or several smaller studio acquisitions to augment the ones they already own? I'm betting on the latter though i know everyone wants them to make some huge out of left field purchase. Don't see it happening but of course could be wrong.

 

[yurinka]

So do we expect them to make a single larger acquisition purchase like Capcom or several smaller studio acquisitions to augment the ones they already own? I'm betting on the latter though i know everyone wants them to make some huge out of left field purchase. Don't see it happening but of course could be wrong.

I think they will make a very big >$5B acquisition (like Capcom) then a not that big acquisition of some important mobile gamedev (~1-2B) and then multiple small acquisitions more: some 'small' VR team, some niche teams, some porting/remasters/tools/tech/outsourcing support teams. And then like a third or a quarter of the budget would be spend on stuff not related with gaming.

 

[Fully engaged]

Sony is not MS. They cant just burn all their money on a developer/ publisher.
What is more, let's not pretend that the past month has not added huge amounts to the value of all these companies. If Activision was 70 billion and Bungie was 3.5 billion, the likes of Capcom and Square Enix has now inflated to 15 billion. It is just logical.

 

[Fully engaged]

I think they will make a very big >$5B acquisition (like Capcom) then a not that big acquisition of some important mobile gamedev (~1-2B) and then multiple small acquisitions more: some 'small' VR team, some niche teams, some porting/remasters/tools/tech/outsourcing support teams. And then like a third or a quarter of the budget would be spend on stuff not related with gaming.

Capcom has a huge back catalogue of IP and 2 incredibly successful franchises.. 5 billion? WHat are you smoking? If Zenimax was on the table now, it would be worth 21 billion. MS got a deal and a half because they moved first.

 

[yurinka]

No, Nadella read on Twitter that Sony got Street Fighter 5 as a console exclusive and decided to spend 80 billion dollars to even things out

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 hires a former Capcom guy to be in charge of their relationships with Japanese 3rd parties
8. Sony buys that Lasengle company (happened two days ago)
9. Sony buys Cap..

 

[Yoboman]

We'll agree to disagree.
I love Kojima games but I try to see things objectively at a financial level and it doesn't make sense to me for the reasons above.

Kojima would have been already grabbed if Sony was interested because it perfectly fitted with the kind of acquisitions that Sony has been doing last year. Instead it's likely that he's doing multiple projects and something with MS as well according to rumors. If Sony was interested these rumors wouldn't even exist.

If you were Kojima would you sell now - after Death Stranding was a middling success. Or would you hold your cards and bet on your next game being a big success and sell for substantially more?

The problem I have with Kojima Productions is the man is 60 and won't be working forever. Id need to be confident in his succession plans and would like to see other games (even smaller ones) coming from other directors in the company

 

[Fully engaged]

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..

SF5 was a major effort for Capcom. There is no reason to believe that SF6 will even be a priority for them going forward.

 

[elliot5]

If you were Kojima would you sell now - after Death Stranding was a middling success. Or would you hold your cards and bet on your next game being a big success and sell for substantially more?

The problem I have with Kojima Productions is the man is 60 and won't be working forever. Id need to be confident in his succession plans and would like to see other games (even smaller ones) coming from other directors in the company

yeah I don't see Kojima selling. what's the point when the dude is probably out within a decade or so and the company is literally named after him and it's not like he has a plethora of IP to go off of. Sony already owns the Death Stranding IP so it's not like they would need to acquire him for that brand. he also broke free for independence, but I guess Bungie did too lmao

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

If Zenimax was on the table now, it would be worth 21 billion.

 

[GeoramA]

The spending spree isn't stopping anytime soon. They already made more acquisitions that aren't public yet.

If Microsoft has free reign to buy any publisher they want, then Sony will (and should) keep snapping up studios.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

We'll agree to disagree.
I love Kojima games but I try to see things objectively at a financial level and it doesn't make sense to me for the reasons above.

Kojima would have been already grabbed if Sony was interested because it perfectly fitted with the kind of acquisitions that Sony has been doing last year. Instead it's likely that he's doing multiple projects and something with MS as well according to rumors. If Sony was interested these rumors wouldn't even exist.

Kojima's studio would likely cost less than $200M. There's no guarantee that Kojima would have been grabbed already - perhaps he doesn't want to sell, or Sony's asking price isn't what he wants? Sure, I would not be surprised if he is doing multiple projects and perhaps one with MS - that doesn't mean he can't be acquired. Just look at the projects Bethesda was doing with Sony. Sony would honor any contractual agreements.

Capcom / Square are likely pushing $10B in comparison, and they don't provide any strategic benefit that they don't already have.

 

[Sosokrates]

So do we expect them to make a single larger acquisition purchase like Capcom or several smaller studio acquisitions to augment the ones they already own? I'm betting on the latter though i know everyone wants them to make some huge out of left field purchase. Don't see it happening but of course could be wrong.

They dont really have enough for a publisher. So I expect a few more devs, probably some bigger ($1billion) and some smaller (insomniac size).

 

[yurinka]

Stop this nonsense. Sony are paupers they cannot afford to spend more than 3-4 billion. How dare you explain how it's possible for Sony to even buy a 40billion company. It's all cash in hand

They dont really have enough for a publisher. So I expect a few more devs, probably some bigger ($1billion) and some smaller (insomniac size).

Sony literally has a dedicated budget of $10B to spend on acquisitions during the next couple of years and said that they will focus mostly on acquiring IPs for subs services and stores including gaming. Plus they can rise the budget if they want, have dozens of Billions more of cash in hand and can allow more debt.

They could afford to buy Capcom, Square Enix, Sega and a few more if both parts are interested and agree (I'd bet they don't want to sell). With this $10B they alone could buy a couple of them they are valued in around $3-6B, maybe in the current context a bit more.

They dont really have enough for a publisher. So I expect a few more devs, probably some bigger ($1billion) and some smaller (insomniac size).

When acquired Insomniac was already a bargain back then. Now they did grow a lot, the games they released since acquisition have been hits including one of them selling over 20 million copies. And we're in a context of consolidation when stuff is a bit overpriced. Insomniac's current value should be many times higher now.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

One thing we need to think about - who are the devs making live service games, with Sony planning to release 10 of them in the next 4 years.

 

[RevGaming]

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..

I don't get how the 9 connects with 8, but very interesting.

 

[Yoboman]

yeah I don't see Kojima selling. what's the point when the dude is probably out within a decade or so and the company is literally named after him and it's not like he has a plethora of IP to go off of. Sony already owns the Death Stranding IP so it's not like they would need to acquire him for that brand. he also broke free for independence, but I guess Bungie did too lmao

I mean I do actually see him selling for that reason. Plump up the retirement fund and inheritance. But I dunno if its the best deal for anyone who takes it

 

[Sosokrates]

Sony literally has a dedicated budget of $10B to spend on acquisitions during the next couple of years and said that they will focus mostly on acquiring IPs for subs services and stores including gaming. Plus they can rise the budget if they want, have dozens of Billions more of cash in hand and can allow more debt.

They could afford to buy Capcom, Square Enix, Sega and a few more if both parts are interested and agree (I'd bet they don't want to sell). With this $10B they alone could buy a couple of them they are valued in around $3-6B, maybe in the current context a bit more.

No, that $10 billion is for the whole of sony not just the games division.



Remember add at least 40% on there market cap so even sega would be around $5 billion. I think sony will spend no more then $4 billion on new devs. $7.6 billion on top of all the money they have already spent on, housemarque, bluepoint, firesprite, pixxies etc is a pretty huge investment. It only looks small because of Microsoft.

 

[RevGaming]

One thing we need to think about - who are the devs making live service games, with Sony planning to release 10 of them in the next 4 years.

Somebody made a thread. I'll try to remember.

1. Factions 2
2. Guerrilla with that Siege director
3. Twisted metal (firesprite/lucid)
4. Deviation
5. Haven
6. Firewalk
7. Insomniac is rumored to be making one
8. Does GT7 count?
9. Bungie
10. London Studio opened a ps5 online studio.

They could have more second party and I think the Insomniac rumor is false (I think they're busy enough with Spidey 2 and Wolverine lol)

 

[Elios83]

Kojima's studio would likely cost less than $200M. There's no guarantee that Kojima would have been grabbed already - perhaps he doesn't want to sell, or Sony's asking price isn't what he wants? Sure, I would not be surprised if he is doing multiple projects and perhaps one with MS - that doesn't mean he can't be acquired. Just look at the projects Bethesda was doing with Sony. Sony would honor any contractual agreements.

Capcom / Square are likely pushing $10B in comparison, and they don't provide any strategic benefit that they don't already have.

If he doesn't want to sell that isn't going to happen anyway.
But I don't think those are the reasons. Things with Death Stranding simply didn't go as expected.
They (Sony) gave him total freedom, they thought he would create the next Metal Gear Solid exclusively for them and Kojima....well...he made what he wanted to make and it didn't resonate well with everyone.

Also what exactly Kojima is going to add to Sony? He's almost a 60 years old game designer.
He's going to retire in 10 years, two big games left?
This is simply not a good investement and given their past close relationship it would have been an already done wedding if they were interested. IMO they aren't.

Sony needs a huge IPs grab investement like Microsoft did with Bethesda and Activision to secure their future in the worst case that other huge publishers like EA and Take Two are grabbed next.
So far all their acquisitions have been about talents covering specific roles (remake specialist, PC port specialist, GaaS specialist and so on). Now it's time to grow the amount of huge IPs under their umbrella.
You don't see the strategic benefits of Capcom and Square? Just think of a Sony without Final Fantasy because someone else has grabbed them...
Also Square brings to them one of the biggest and most successful live service games on market today: FFXIV
Capcom would bring a lot of know-how in fighting games for their ambitions with EVO.

Of couse they'd cost more. They would actually be megaton investements.

 

[Yoboman]

No, that $10 billion is for the whole of sony not just the games division.



Remember add at least 40% on there market cap so even sega would be around $5 billion. I think sony will spend no more then $4 billion on new devs. $7.6 billion on top of all the money they have already spent on, housemarque, bluepoint, firesprite, pixxies etc is a pretty huge investment. It only looks small because of Microsoft.

While they are likely priced out of EA I think they are throwing a bid in for any of those if they are in discussions. Too much risk not to do it. Even if they had to put down $20b on Take2

 

[RevGaming]

No, that $10 billion is for the whole of sony not just the games division.



Remember add at least 40% on there market cap so even sega would be around $5 billion. I think sony will spend no more then $4 billion on new devs. $7.6 billion on top of all the money they have already spent on, housemarque, bluepoint, firesprite, pixxies etc is a pretty huge investment. It only looks small because of Microsoft.

The only reason Sony doesn't spend $ on a "small" publisher is if they didn't want to sell.
I don't think Sony's image can take another hit by MS buying yet another publisher and one that Sony would've never bought (EA, Bandai or T2).

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

No, that $10 billion is for the whole of sony not just the games division.



Remember add at least 40% on there market cap so even sega would be around $5 billion. I think sony will spend no more then $4 billion on new devs. $7.6 billion on top of all the money they have already spent on, housemarque, bluepoint, firesprite, pixxies etc is a pretty huge investment. It only looks small because of Microsoft.

The cash amount approved by the board isn't what will limit their aquistions. It ultimately comes down to how conservative they are. If they see sense in $10, $20, or even $30 billion in acquisitions they can do so.

 

[RevGaming]

While they are likely priced out of EA I think they are throwing a bid in for any of those if they are in discussions. Too much risk not to do it. Even if they had to put down $20b on Take2

Take 2 is $30B with Zynga, So over that. Plus gta6 potential.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

Somebody made a thread. I'll try to remember.

1. Factions 2
2. Guerrilla with that Siege director
3. Twisted metal (firesprite/lucid)
4. Deviation
5. Haven
6. Firewalk
7. Insomniac is rumored to be making one
8. Does GT7 count?
9. Bungie
10. London Studio opened a ps5 online studio.

They could have more second party and I think the Insomniac rumor is false (I think they're busy enough with Spidey 2 and Wolverine lol)

That is all plausible. Would all of those be coming out in the next 4 years though? Haven and Deviation are new studios, for example.

 

[Elios83]

No, that $10 billion is for the whole of sony not just the games division.



Remember add at least 40% on there market cap so even sega would be around $5 billion. I think sony will spend no more then $4 billion on new devs. $7.6 billion on top of all the money they have already spent on, housemarque, bluepoint, firesprite, pixxies etc is a pretty huge investment. It only looks small because of Microsoft.

10 billion is not the money Sony has left.
That is just what is left of a budget that was decided for acquisitions in May 2021.
Budgets are reviewed every year.
One year they might need to invest more in acquistions, the other in R&D of new products, the other they might need to invest in building fabs and so on.
If they decide they need more than expected in acquisitions they'll simply approve a bigger budget.
No one in May 2021 when this budget was approved, expected Activision to be grabbed.
Sony could comfortably buy every publisher but EA and Take Two.

 

[Sosokrates]

The cash amount approved by the board isn't what will limit their aquistions. It ultimately comes down to how conservative they are. If they see sense in $10, $20, or even $30 billion in acquisitions they can do so.

So you're taking the info provided by the OP and chucking it out the window.

 

[RevGaming]

That is all plausible. Would all of those be coming out in the next 4 years though? Haven and Deviation are new studios, for example.

Ofc. Multiplayer games take less time. That's what some devs have told me.

 

[Sosokrates]

10 billion is not the money Sony has left.
That is just what is left of a budget that was decided for acquisitions in May 2021.
Budgets are reviewed every year.
One year they might need to invest more in acquistions, the other in R&D of new products, the other they might need to invest in building fabs and so on.
If they decide they need more than expected in acquisitions they'll simply approve more budget.
Sony could comfortably buy every publisher but EA and Take Two.

Its whats left from the $18billion budget for the next 3yrs.
Sure they can change, but im basing my speculation on the data we have no a "what if" scenario.

 

[RevGaming]

10 billion is not the money Sony has left.
That is just what is left of a budget that was decided for acquisitions in May 2021.
Budgets are reviewed every year.
One year they might need to invest more in acquistions, the other in R&D of new products, the other they might need to invest in building fabs and so on.
If they decide they need more than expected in acquisitions they'll simply approve more budget.
Sony could comfortably buy every publisher but EA and Take Two.

They won't two now. That won't happen. They'll get Capcom or Square, then wait if MS keeps bullying its way through, then they buy the other that didn't buy, then MS buys Embracer and MS has now over 100 studios.

 

[Ryu Kaiba]

Sony fanboys begging for Capcom……Jimbo sold Sony Japan Studio, why would he go back to buying a Japanese company?? Jimbo doesn’t like Japan and that is obvious

If there’s anyone buying Capcom it’s Nintendo

EDIT: sorry, I didn't mean to say 'sold', I meant shut-down

Capcom's biggest games wouldn't even run on Switch.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

So you're taking the info provided by the OP and chucking it out the window.

No. I'm saying the $10 billion isn't something that's set in stone. If they see value in a big publisher, they can get that approved. Money isn't the issue here

 

[Ryu Kaiba]

Go for Ubisoft and call it a day. They're the most multiplayer centric company left.

Ubisoft is braindead trash, nothing of value would be gained.

 

[Elios83]

Its whats left from the $18billion budget for the next 3yrs.
Sure they can change, but im basing my speculation on the data we have no a "what if" scenario.

It's not a binding scenario so it's pointless to assume that's the top they can spend.
When that budget was approved in May 2021 no one expected that Activision would be grabbed for example.
These plans and budgets are updated every year.
If they need more than expected in acquisitions they'll increase the budget and explain that to investors, that's all.
Obivously they won't risk the financial stability of the company, but that won't happen in any case unless they go for EA and they won't.

 

[Sosokrates]

No. I'm saying the $10 billion isn't something that's set in stone. If they see value in a publisher, they can get that approved.

Like I said in my prior post im basing my speculation on data we have not on "what if" scenarios.

 

[RevGaming]

Capcom's biggest games wouldn't even run on Switch.

Thank you. MH Rise was going to be multiplatform but Nintendo had to pay them.

Everything is mostly old ports (except the newest platformers), but Capcom's biggest revenue is from games that aren't on switch and sell better on PS.

 

[Sosokrates]

It's not a binding scenario so it's pointless to assume that's the top they can spend.
When that budget was approved in May 2021 no one expected that Activision would be grabbed for example.
These plans and budgets are updated every year.
If they need more than expected acquisitions they'll increase the budget and explain that to investors, that's all.

Well its more concreate then just saying "buttt they can spend more"

But anyway, enough with this argument. Lets just wait and see who is correct

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Like I said in my prior post im basing my speculation on data we have not on "what if" scenarios.

We're speculating on data too. They can review their strategy, they can use credit, they can pay through stocks.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Capcom, and call it a day.

Far too much external investment in Capcom that needs buying out. Personally I would look to get Konami, KojiPro, Square or just acquire major stakes in Namco, Capcom, SEGA, Konami and Square, maybe Tecmo Koei too to ensure they aren't bought out.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

If he doesn't want to sell that isn't going to happen anyway.
But I don't think those are the reasons. Things with Death Stranding simply didn't go as expected.
They (Sony) gave him total freedom, they thought he would create the next Metal Gear Solid exclusively for them and Kojima....well...he made what he wanted to make and it didn't resonate well with everyone.

Also what exactly Kojima is going to add to Sony? He's almost a 60 years old game designer.
He's going to retire in 10 years, two big games left?
This is simply not a good investement and given their past close relationship it would have been an already done wedding if they were interested. IMO they aren't.

Sony needs a huge IPs grab investement like Microsoft did with Bethesda and Activision to secure their future in the worst case that other huge publishers like EA and Take Two are grabbed next.
So far all their acquisitions have been about talents covering specific roles (remake specialist, PC port specialist, GaaS specialist and so on). Now it's time to grow the amount of huge IPs under their umbrella.
You don't see the strategic benefits of Capcom and Square? Just think of a Sony without Final Fantasy because someone else has grabbed them...
Also Square brings to them one of the biggest and most successful live service games on market today: FFXIV
Capcom would bring a lot of know-how in fighting games for their ambitions with EVO.

Of couse they'd cost more. They would actually be megaton investements.

That seems pretty short sighted and not based on any of the facts.

Death Stranding reviewed well and had the majority of the 2019 GOTY awards. We all know Sony likes their reviews and accolades/GOTY nominations. It has also sold fairly well for a new IP and they were able to publish it on PC. They were not expecting the next metal gear solid, which is an IP with decades of history to it. They were expecting a new IP from one of the industry's greatest talents. They got it.

Over the next 10 years Kojima will be thinking about studio transitions and his legacy, and I'm sure he will cultivate a leader to replace him. The real talent is the hundreds of passionate devs that are energized to work for Team Kojima and picked that studio specifically.

Again, this wouldn't be a major acquisition. It's a small purchase to bolster their Japanese studios which got hurt a bit with the re-org. It's not any different than, say, Bluepoint or Housemarque in many respects. You do it because they're a proven success and they're not going to break the bank. You need all the talent you can get. Kojima is likely also still beholden to Sony for funding anyways....so it's not like Sony isn't bankrolling their payroll at the end of the day.

Square/Capcom for 10B is a waste. They are completely self sufficient and dependent on Sony platforms for most of their sales. There's no strategic reason to acquire them other than fanboy talking points.

 

[Elios83]

Well its more concreate then just saying "buttt they can spend more"

But anyway, enough with this argument. Lets just wait and see who is correct

It's not concrete at all if you assume that a budget of a 2021 business plan is equal to the financial strength of the company and it binds them to not invest more in a certain category if they wanted to.

But you're right that we'll see what happens this year!

 

[Sosokrates]

We're speculating on data too. They can review their strategy, they can issue credit, they can pay through stocks.

Well im not convinced.

 

[DForce]

Well im not convinced.

They already said they don't have a clear criteria, which means they're not hard capped at 10b.

 

[Yoboman]

That seems pretty short sighted and not based on any of the facts.

Death Stranding reviewed well and had the majority of the 2019 GOTY awards. We all know Sony likes their reviews and accolades/GOTY nominations. It has also sold fairly well for a new IP and they were able to publish it on PC. They were not expecting the next metal gear solid, which is an IP with decades of history to it. They were expecting a new IP from one of the industry's greatest talents. They got it.

Over the next 10 years Kojima will be thinking about studio transitions and his legacy, and I'm sure he will cultivate a leader to replace him. The real talent is the hundreds of passionate devs that are energized to work for Team Kojima and picked that studio specifically.

Again, this wouldn't be a major acquisition. It's a small purchase to bolster their Japanese studios which got hurt a bit with the re-org. It's not any different than, say, Bluepoint or Housemarque in many respects. You do it because they're a proven success and they're not going to break the bank. You need all the talent you can get. Kojima is likely also still beholden to Sony for funding anyways....so it's not like Sony isn't bankrolling their payroll at the end of the day.

Square/Capcom for 10B is a waste. They are completely self sufficient and dependent on Sony platforms for most of their sales. There's no strategic reason to acquire them other than fanboy talking points.

IP security, growth, increasing content are all legitimate strategic reasons to acquire them

 

[Elios83]

That seems pretty short sighted and not based on any of the facts.

Death Stranding reviewed well and had the majority of the 2019 GOTY awards. We all know Sony likes their reviews and accolades/GOTY nominations. It has also sold fairly well for a new IP and they were able to publish it on PC. They were not expecting the next metal gear solid, which is an IP with decades of history to it. They were expecting a new IP from one of the industry's greatest talents. They got it.

Over the next 10 years Kojima will be thinking about studio transitions and his legacy, and I'm sure he will cultivate a leader to replace him. The real talent is the hundreds of passionate devs that are energized to work for Team Kojima and picked that studio specifically.

Again, this wouldn't be a major acquisition. It's a small purchase to bolster their Japanese studios which got hurt a bit with the re-org. It's not any different than, say, Bluepoint or Housemarque in many respects. You do it because they're a proven success and they're not going to break the bank. You need all the talent you can get. Kojima is likely also still beholden to Sony for funding anyways....so it's not like Sony isn't bankrolling their payroll at the end of the day.

Square/Capcom for 10B is a waste. They are completely self sufficient and dependent on Sony platforms for most of their sales. There's no strategic reason to acquire them other than fanboy talking points.

I disagree, it's useless to repeat the same arguments.
Imo it won't happen, if it was bound to happen it would have already happened, you strongly overrate Kojima and you understimate the risks of the investements in a studio that is all about the fame of a 60 years old designer, with no IPs and no huge know-how in a particular genre.

If you're right and Sony grabs Kojima I'll offer you a virtual pizza

 

[Sosokrates]

They already said they don't have a clear criteria, which means they're not hard capped at 10b.

That statement does not make it more clearer, just leaves it open.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I disagree, it's useless to repeat the same arguments.
Imo it won't happen, if it was bound to happen it would have already happened, you strongly overrate Kojima and you understimate the risks of the investements in a studio that is all about the fame of a 60 years old designer, with no IPs and no huge know-how in a particular genre.

If you're right and Sony grabs Kojima I'll offer you a virtual pizza

I'm not overrating him at all. It's a small purchase, but one that makes sense from the framework of adding to your Japanese AAA team which is quite lean after the re-org. The bluepoint purchase took forever too. It doesn't mean it wont happen just because it hasn't already.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

That statement does not make it more clearer, just leaves it open.

I just want Sony to buy Capcom and Sega already. So all these kids can stop saying Sony cant afford to spend another 15 billion but Take Two can.