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

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
That statement does not make it more clearer, just leaves it open.
I don't see how it doesn't. They were literally asked about their budget and their response is that they don't have clear criteria and it's going to be based on the benefits of their investement.
 
Kojima loses money for both Konami and Sony and pissed them off during development. It’s well documented. Lol at buying Kojima.
 

Elios83

Member
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.

Bluepoint did not took forever.
They were grabbed less than a year after their latest collaboration (Demons Souls remake) was deemed a success by Sony.
With Kojima we're almost three years since DS in 2019 and rumors want him now developing things for Microsoft :messenger_grinning_sweat:
If you think it's the same situation...
 
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James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
Bluepoint did not took forever.
They were grabbed less than a year after their latest collaboration (Demons Souls remake) was deemed a success by Sony.
With Kojima we're almost three years since DS in 2019 and rumors want him now developing things for Microsoft :messenger_grinning_sweat:
If you think it's the same situation...

And how long did they work with Bluepoint and Housemarque or Insomniac before any of them got acquired?

There's no rhyme or reason to the timing.
 

yurinka

Member
No, that $10 billion is for the whole of sony not just the games division.
I said that this remaining budget that Sony has for acquisitions during the next two years isn't only for gaming.

And that they can also raise it if desired/needed. And that they have dozens of billions of cash in hand to use if desired or needed. Plus even if they went crazy and wanted to go beyond that, they could also get debt.



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.

Market cap helps to get an idea of the possible value of an acquisition, but isn't a exact reference. And even less adding a random 40%. Plus to acquire a company they don't need to buy 100% of the company.

Sony will spend $10B on acquisitions from now until March 2024. Pretty likely will increase it because they started with a budget of 18B and already spent $8B in less than a year and they can afford it. Part of these $10B (and potentially more) will be for gaming and nothing points out that only 40% will be for gaming.

What was ~40% is the portion spent for gaming of the $7.6B they already spend of that budget. Pretty likely the portion of the remaining 10B will be pretty huge because it's one of their main priorities, some of the acquired IPs will also be used in other Sony segments and they already have been making big acquisitions during many years in the other segments, while not in gaming, and in the consolidation context of gaming now is the time of making big acquisitions before it's too late.

~$5-6B would be a fair price for Capcom since they make $800-900M/year in revenue so in 5-7 years they'd recoup it. Considering things like the current consolidation context or their IPs maybe to buy the 100% of it would cost now ~7-10B. Sony would have to buy slightly above half of it to own it and control it.
 
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James Sawyer Ford

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

Sure, and IP security basically means that no one else acquires them.

I think there still are strategic aligned interests for a big publisher but it's expensive and Sony already gets most of the benefits from them anyways without needing to acquire them. And honestly out of any of them (EA, Ubi, Take2, Square, Capcom)....only the Japanese ones make sense to me. They are smaller, they are local, and they provide fairly big globally appealing IP that is different from their US studios.

There's too much redundancy with Ubisoft or EA (and I don't like either of them from a quality standpoint), and Take2 is just too big for them to buy
 
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Yoboman

Member
Sure, and IP security basically means that no one else acquires them.

I think there still are strategic aligned interests for a big publisher but it's expensive and Sony already gets most of the benefits from them anyways without needing to acquire them. And honestly out of any of them (EA, Ubi, Take2, Square, Capcom)....only the Japanese ones make sense to me. They are smaller, they are local, and they provide fairly big globally appealing IP that is different from their US studios.

There's too much redundancy with Ubisoft or EA (and I don't like either of them from a quality standpoint), and Take2 is just too big for them to buy
I think Ubisoft fits well for Sonys direction with their mix of GAAS and single player projects. Plus a solid portfolio of family friendly games

I do think they need to diversify a bit with their projects but the first party safety net may allow for that.

Plus they might finally create a new Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia, and get some assistance in finishing BG&E2

I think they are anti acquisition though so I don't see it happening
 

yurinka

Member
With Kojima we're almost three years since DS in 2019 and rumors want him now developing things for Microsoft :messenger_grinning_sweat:
The rumor was officially debunked, his next project was Death Stranding Director's Cut and Norman Reedus said the are working on the sequel. Plus Kojima said that in addition to make games he also wants to make movies and anime, and unlike MS Sony can help to make them. Kojima is happy with Sony and Sony is happy with Kojima. Sony gives him the money and creative freedom to do whatever he wants even if it's a super bizarre, expensive and risky stuff like Death Stranding. Kojima has no reason to leave Sony and go with MS, when he already has in Sony whatever MS could offer him.
 
Saudis have just purchased a stake in Capcom. Very unlikely now.
They will take the return in investment in cash, or get shares in Sony.

Only thing that stops Sony from getting even EA, is if they see any point. Only companies they will buy is if they can think they can make them grow. Is EA going to crash in value? Are they too reliant on licenses? FIFA, MADDEN, Star Wars, etc? What if Microsoft puts a higher bid for FIFA? What If Microsoft were to pull COD, would Battlefield be enough, or is it a mess and too risky? They have GT7, do they need Codemasters? Only thing I see for long term growth that they would own is Apex and The Sims.

Capcom and Sega in the other hand bring alot of synergies.
Sony Pictures is already heavily invested in Capcom. Sony Pictures is lost their Sonic movie project to Paramount.
 

Elios83

Member
The rumor was officially debunked, his next project was Death Stranding Director's Cut and Norman Reedus said the are working on the sequel. Plus Kojima said that in addition to make games he also wants to make movies and anime, and unlike MS Sony can help to make them. Kojima is happy with Sony and Sony is happy with Kojima. Sony gives him the money and creative freedom to do whatever he wants even if it's a super bizarre, expensive and risky stuff like Death Stranding. Kojima has no reason to leave Sony and go with MS, when he already has in Sony whatever MS could offer him.
I'd have this confidence when his next projects are announced imo.
 
You sure that's the only thing stopping Sony from getting EA?


Only thing? Thats like multiple things.

If they have those Madden and FIFA licenses on lock. They can pretty much print money by themselves. Add their baseball license, turn them all into games as services. That debt will pretty much pay itself.
 

RevGaming

Member
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.
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.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
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.

Who is triggered? Fanboys maybe

It was the best game in 2019. It sold well. Sounds like you don't have your facts straight
 

RevGaming

Member
Who is triggered? Fanboys maybe

It was the best game in 2019. It sold well. Sounds like you don't have your facts straight
I'm so far a PS only owner (Will def pick xbox this gen and that was before the AB thing). I hate that SONY wasted time with a walking simulator (it's my opinion, we don't need to talk about it). I didn't buy it, but I've seen it multiple and multiple times and it really looks boring. Clearly the PS fanbase doesn't want another one because it didn't break even (search it) before it got a PC release. Xbox and PS were making fun of it.

Still, I'm hyped for its next horror game because of PT. Very pumped, but they should wait and see how that game turns out and it reception and then get him. Idk. Maybe he got bought already. We don't know. We're just guessing who's good enough for Sony like we know jack about it.

It wasn't the "best" game in 2019. It got the most awards (about 10 more over sekiro and re2 remake on the critics side), but it didn't win the most important one and I see nobody saying its their gotg or goty. Dmc5, MHiceborne (a DLC), RE2 remake and Sekiro sold better than DS in that year, and you're saying Capcom doesn't make sense? DS was commercial flop. At least tlou 2 got a huge gap in user awards and critics over the other 2020 games even tho that game was massacred by a minority which most of them don't know nothing about it.

Astral Chain, Fire Emblem, Mario Maker 2, DMC5, MHIceborne, RE2 remake, Sekiro etc. all scored better. So it's not the "best" game.
 
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RevGaming

Member
Because it’s kinda annoying how many idiots think a profitable company with market cap of 150 billion can’t purchase a 3 billion and 5 billion market cap company.
Then tell Take Two bought Zynga for more than half of what they're worth. If they don't realize that, then they won't realize a lot of things in their lives.
 
They do have such laws and the will to prevent such transactions. As does the US, and pretty much every country.

Did you not learn about American protectism at school?
Playboy the reason I say that is because Sony a Japan company that owns a few American developers that they bought not started from the ground up like bungie and bluepoint games all American developers
 
Capcom, and call it a day.
My biggest fear but then again whats the point of Sony buying out companies if they end up going MS route and just put everything on PC with console sales being secondary. MS makes since cus gamepass but what reason does Sony have? Dont think they're going to buyout a company just so MS doesn't get the chance and again if its on PC anyways its not like im going to buy a PS5 for it.
 

K' Dash

Member
These games + IP are dead weight. Jim Ryan doesn't post on message boards going gaga over critically acclaimed games that sell 1.7 million copies. Those games do very little for PlayStation.

The race is for 20 billion dollar games now. The heavyweight era is upon us. Bantomweights don't draw numbers anymore.

But I want to play those games, I don't give a shit how much money they make on them.
 
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GHound

Member
What? What are you smoking.
Death stranding was made in 3 years sold 6 mil copies. What documents are these you talking about
Ones that don't exist.

That was before PC and Director's Cut. But I'm sure people will struggle to keep their narrative going somehow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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SLB1904

Banned
Ones that don't exist.

That was before PC and Director's Cut. But I'm sure people will struggle to keep their narrative going somehow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Is like they don't think. Sony was like "hey! you know that failure death stranding? Double it down make a directors cut" lol
 

SLB1904

Banned
Square is a better buy than Capcom.

Capcom u get only 2 relevant franchises Resident Evil and Monstet Hunter in terms of sales nowadays.

Square u get Final Fantasy and a big MMO, Dragon Quest, Tomb Raider, Avengers and Guardians rights.
lol capcom has shit tons of ips. square doesnt own avengers or guardians lol
 

RevGaming

Member
My biggest fear but then again whats the point of Sony buying out companies if they end up going MS route and just put everything on PC with console sales being secondary. MS makes since cus gamepass but what reason does Sony have? Dont think they're going to buyout a company just so MS doesn't get the chance and again if its on PC anyways its not like im going to buy a PS5 for it.
Some people don't like PC. Like me.
 

RevGaming

Member
They own the license to make games now.

Both have more ips i was saying RELEVANT in sales > 5 million
Yeah, but Capcom makes like 4 resident evil within a blink and FF made 2 games. Street Fighter too (consider that it's console exclusive). Square doesn't have a popular fighter.

Somebody told me they don't own Dragon Quest. Tomb Raider is not coming back at the moment. Capcom is bringing back Dragons Dogma 2 and is making a new IP (Pragmata).

Both are good gets, but I think Sony would prefer Capcom because they have more usa appeal, which it's where they lost ground.

If you make a monster hunter GaaS, it could be as big as ff14... Or Destiny.
 
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SLB1904

Banned
They own the license to make games now.

Both have more ips i was saying RELEVANT in sales > 5 million
I don't know, in my opinion dino crisis remake and dragons Dogma sounds more enticing to me. In fact square jas grate jrpg as well. If you ask me. I think both hold the same value
 

Sanepar

Member
I don't know, in my opinion dino crisis remake and dragons Dogma sounds more enticing to me. In fact square jas grate jrpg as well. If you ask me. I think both hold the same value
Tbh both would be an awesome move and would take a big hit on Xbox in Europe and Asia.
 

yurinka

Member
Saudis have just purchased a stake in Capcom. Very unlikely now.
The saudis only bought a very small stake in Capcom, it's only an investment. And basically can't or is extremely difficult to see them buying it. Capcom's treasury plus the Tsujimoto family that runs the company own over half of the company so they have full control. On top of that, the next bigger Capcom shareholders are Japanese banks who also are major stakeholders at Sony, Square, Sega, Bandai Namco, Kadokawa and other big Japanese gaming companies. These banks would prefer to sell to other company where they are also major shareholders because they'd earn a ton of money with the movement.

why would sony buy sega? for what benefit......
Recap:

  • $4B market cap
  • $350-450M of yearly revenue with a very small operative profit
  • Over 3200 employees
  • Many iconic classic IPs for the industry including the Sega one itself, tons of content perfect for game subs and PSVR2, or to grow in PC or Japan
  • They want to revive dormant IPs, use their IPs on films and tv, open to the west and put more stuff on game subs
  • They want o make SUPER GAMES (a.k.a. AAA GaaS)
  • They have a very handsome CEO and a good karts series for Knack

They have several series that have been interesting enough to pay moneyhats for them, or would be useful if they want to take a better positioning in Japan and in PC and its strategy genre: Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, Sonic, Yakuza, Bayonetta, Total War, Football Manager, Virtua Fighter, Warhammer 40000, Alien Isolation. Some of these IPs have potential to use them in movies, tv shows or anime.

They could get the FIFA IP and use it in both Football Manager and could ask San Diego to make a soccer game with it with a 2nd team instead of making only baseball games.

Countless retro IPs, specially arcade ones that would be perfect to used for game subscriptions, mobile or even revive a few of them from time to make a AAA game, or specially would be perfect for PSVR2 games, or to let some passionate indies use them: Outrun, Afterburner, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Sega Rally, Golden Age, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Columns, Gunstar Heroes, Thunder Force, Shenmue, Panzer Dragoon, Nights, Puyo Puyo, Columns, Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, Alex Kidd, Wonder boy, Monkey Ball, Space Harrier, Hang-On, Virtua Racing...

Pros: Many iconic classic IPs important for seasoned gamers with potential to use them outside gaming, in VR and tons of game subs content, some important JRPG IPs, tons of arcade IPs, some important PC IPs, many workers.

Cons: small revenue and profit, they are in declining business (same goes with other companies like Capcom or Konami) that may not interest the purchaser like arcade, pachinko, pachislo or resorts. Would be great to secure all this stuff from becoming Nintendo or MS exclusive.

In terms of financials it would make more sense to get Capcom or Square, but in terms of mindshare and IPs would still be really powerful.
 
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RevGaming

Member
The saudis only bought a very small stake in Capcom, it's only an investment. And basically can't or is extremely difficult to see them buying it. Capcom's treasury plus the Tsujimoto family that runs the company own over half of the company so they have full control. On top of that, the next bigger Capcom shareholders are Japanese banks who also are major stakeholders at Sony, Square, Sega, Bandai Namco, Kadokawa and other big Japanese gaming companies. These banks would prefer to sell to other company where they are also major shareholders because they'd earn a ton of money with the movement.
Good. Buy the shareholders and then you get the rest. Ez pz lemon squicy
 
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