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[bitbydeath]

Secure their future...hmm. do you think they would be doomed if MS got ABK? I don't think they would at all.

They have a solid business plan with third party exclusives and their first party output. But yeah, I can see them buying some publishers and Microsoft plus other players are going tomcontinue purchasing....just probably not to the level Microsoft attempted.

It is what is it, I guess.

It wouldn’t be worth the risk to find out. We do know their stock took a 20B hit when the announcement was made.

Sony Stock Reportedly Took a $20 Billion Hit After Xbox's Activision Announcement - IGN

Sony's stock reportedly took a $20 billion dollar hit after Xbox announced that it is set to acquire Activision Blizzard.

www.ign.com

Sony must be very serious about the investment if they’re willing to sell the financial group to get there, that decision wouldn’t have come lightly.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

is just me or this news is flying under the radar?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I still think it would be dumb to buy T2 and then keep GTA6 off of Xbox. Why wouldn't you want their 30%?

"Total Mindshare"

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I have a suspicion Sony already has nabbed GTA as a timed exclusive

Could be wrong but just how dejected Phil was when talking about competitors doing exclusive deals …in addition to doing really massive buys like Bethesda or Activision

i have thought the same thing or at least the Marketing deal

and i mean, spending 1 or 2 billion instead of 20 or 30 for a publisher...and still achieving "total mindshare"... I can see Sony justifying that price tag.

 

[Thirty7ven]

is just me or this news is flying under the radar?

It is which just goes to show how well informed gaming related media and influencers are.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Had no idea apple market cap already surpassed MS and by $500 billion. That alone already more than double Sony’s.

That's what happens when you leverage your successful businesses on top of each other. Sony really has never been great about that until The Last of Us.

PlayStation Vue could have been a huge success had it not been named after PlayStation and it had more wide base support.

Xperia Play was really poor leveraging.

When Sony bought into MGM, they should have really fought for the Bond license. They could have made their own GoldenEye based around Casino Royale. Before Halo, GoldenEye was the preeminent FPS on console. It was bigger than Metal Gear Solid and really any action game on PS1.

Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and Sly Cooper should have received animated series around them at their heights.

After the success of Crash Team Racing and Hot Shots Golf, Sony should have focused on bringing their IP to many genres particularly sports genres like Nintendo was doing. They made Hot Shots Tennis, but to my knowledge didn't leverage any Sony IP for it. Nintendo really leveraged its characters well and that just resulted in a billion-dollar box office film.

You look at the biggest song in Into the spider-verse and its Post Malone's sunflower and black cavier's Danger... neither are on Sony's label. But you look at the Gran Turismo movie and they seem to have learned their lesson with Nas who is.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

is just me or this news is flying under the radar?

It's also worth noting that Sony is planning to buy back up to 2 billion in its own stock... something they've been pretty aggressively doing the last few years.

Some people only report what happens, I cite it in the OP title here that I'm speculating based on the news, but that's exactly what I was doing two weeks ago when I suggested that Sony would probably do this.

I think there is value in observing and speculating based on where these companies are going and what their overall strategy is, but also which companies are peripheral players today, but might be primary players tomorrow.

I think gamers who ignore Apple and Amazon are short-sighted. This type of consolidation has happened in all of the major entertainment industries. It's obviously going to happen in gaming and it is people like Jim Ryan's job to have a vision on where to take a company like Sony. and in order to have that vision, he has to have a say in what Sony Group (parent) does in order to raise more investment.

You look at Howard Stringer and this was very much his vision YEARS ago, that Sony was never really ready for and as a result executed really poorly.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

It wouldn’t be worth the risk to find out. We do know their stock took a 20B hit when the announcement was made.

Sony Stock Reportedly Took a $20 Billion Hit After Xbox's Activision Announcement - IGN

Sony's stock reportedly took a $20 billion dollar hit after Xbox announced that it is set to acquire Activision Blizzard.

www.ign.com

Sony must be very serious about the investment if they’re willing to sell the financial group to get there, that decision wouldn’t have come lightly.

When the deal is officially killed, I expect a bump in Sony's stock price in the billions. Probably not the entire value that was lost because it was inflated due to the pandemic, but they should be able to recover quite a bit.

That will also make it easier to do a stock swap with T2, because it means offering fewer shares for the same amount of money.

That will buy Jim Ryan A LOT of favor in successfully blocking this and Sony HAS to be on edge having lost so much value being blindsided by the ABK news.

Sony knows they need to secure their future in gaming and entertainment as a whole.

Sony Pictures is too small, Sony Interactive Entertainment is competitive though.

I could see Sony trying to buy Warner if it wasn't for their debt. If the stock continued to plummet, it kind of becomes an obvious choice for them.

 

[Alex Scott]

It's also worth noting that Sony is planning to buy back up to 2 billion in its own stock... something they've been pretty aggressively doing the last few years.

Some people only report what happens, I cite it in the OP title here that I'm speculating based on the news, but that's exactly what I was doing two weeks ago when I suggested that Sony would probably do this.

I think there is value in observing and speculating based on where these companies are going and what their overall strategy is, but also which companies are peripheral players today, but might be primary players tomorrow.

I think gamers who ignore Apple and Amazon are short-sighted. This type of consolidation has happened in all of the major entertainment industries. It's obviously going to happen in gaming and it is people like Jim Ryan's job to have a vision on where to take a company like Sony. and in order to have that vision, he has to have a say in what Sony Group (parent) does in order to raise more investment.

You look at Howard Stringer and this was very much his vision YEARS ago, that Sony was never really ready for and as a result executed really poorly.

What was Howard Stringer vision? I am just curious.

 

[Alex Scott]

When the deal is officially killed, I expect a bump in Sony's stock price in the billions. Probably not the entire value that was lost because it was inflated due to the pandemic, but they should be able to recover quite a bit.

That will also make it easier to do a stock swap with T2, because it means offering fewer shares for the same amount of money.

That will buy Jim Ryan A LOT of favor in successfully blocking this and Sony HAS to be on edge having lost so much value being blindsided by the ABK news.

I don't think Sony will buy T2. Sony will have to deal with the headaches that comes with it. It is a high risk medium rewards. THis deal will also tie their hand for 1 and a half year.

Plus T2 bought Zynga, so Sony has to payback that debt too. It's going to be 28-30 billion for T2 and another 10 billion for paying Zynga.

Best to invest in studios and buy small - medium sized studios. Grow your brand organically and inorganically where is possible.

Sony knows they need to secure their future in gaming and entertainment as a whole.


Sony Pictures is too small, Sony Interactive Entertainment is competitive though.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. If this ABK deal doesn't wake them, then nothing will.

I could see Sony trying to buy Warner if it wasn't for their debt. If the stock continued to plummet, it kind of becomes an obvious choice for them.

I don't have any opinion on this matter right now.

 

[Varteras]

It's also worth noting that Sony is planning to buy back up to 2 billion in its own stock... something they've been pretty aggressively doing the last few years.

Some people only report what happens, I cite it in the OP title here that I'm speculating based on the news, but that's exactly what I was doing two weeks ago when I suggested that Sony would probably do this.

I think there is value in observing and speculating based on where these companies are going and what their overall strategy is, but also which companies are peripheral players today, but might be primary players tomorrow.

I think gamers who ignore Apple and Amazon are short-sighted. This type of consolidation has happened in all of the major entertainment industries. It's obviously going to happen in gaming and it is people like Jim Ryan's job to have a vision on where to take a company like Sony. and in order to have that vision, he has to have a say in what Sony Group (parent) does in order to raise more investment.

You look at Howard Stringer and this was very much his vision YEARS ago, that Sony was never really ready for and as a result executed really poorly.

I think people are grossly underestimating what this move means. Sony is trimming its business diversity to bring more attention and resources to bear in markets that they really want to excel in. Entertainment being, by far, its greatest focus. The move to spin off their financial arm will give them a big cash injection, free up many billions of future liquid assets, and allow them to make greater investments in fewer markets instead of also having to be concerned with staying competitive in finance.

 

[bitbydeath]

I don't think Sony will buy T2. Sony will have to deal with the headaches that comes with it. It is a high risk medium rewards. THis deal will also tie their hand for 1 and a half year.

Plus T2 bought Zynga, so Sony has to payback that debt too. It's going to be 28-30 billion for T2 and another 10 billion for paying Zynga.

Best to invest in studios and buy small - medium sized studios. Grow your brand organically and inorganically where is possible.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. If this ABK deal doesn't wake them, then nothing will.

I don't have any opinion on this matter right now.

Seems like it’s going to be someone big since it requires the sale of financial group.

It might not be Take-Two, it could be Epic or another big player. If it wasn’t then they wouldn’t need to sale financial group in order to make the deal.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

What was Howard Stringer vision? I am just curious.

His vision was to synergize the entertainment and electronic divisions at Sony.

Sony had a huge opportunity that they squandered. They could have been the premium PC laptop, that still doesn't really exist to this day. Vaio could have been a 1:1 competitor with the Macbook.

Sony Pictures used to be a real top dog in the movie industry and its kind of on the outskirts now, particularly with Disney/Marvel/Fox eating everyone's lunch.

Howard Stringer's vision was to grow Sony's divisions by working in tandem together, but most of Sony's individual groups were historically antagonistic with each other.

Sony Interactive Entertainment started from a joint venture between Sony Music and Sony Electronics, but at some point SME absolutely hated then SCEI. There was a time when Sony Online Entertainment (Everquest) was owned by Sony Pictures which made no sense, and they were also antagonistic against SCEI. If they had worked together PS2's online would probably have been much bigger.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I don't think Sony will buy T2. Sony will have to deal with the headaches that comes with it. It is a high risk medium rewards. THis deal will also tie their hand for 1 and a half year.

Plus T2 bought Zynga, so Sony has to payback that debt too. It's going to be 28-30 billion for T2 and another 10 billion for paying Zynga.

Best to invest in studios and buy small - medium sized studios. Grow your brand organically and inorganically where is possible.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. If this ABK deal doesn't wake them, then nothing will.

I don't have any opinion on this matter right now.

They don't really have a choice. They've seen Disney eat their lunch in the Pictures business. They just saw Microsoft almost eat their lunch. PlayStation is too important to Sony as the only real growth opportunity they have left to allow outside companies and competitors to eat their lunch yet again. Also look at how Apple ate Sony's lunch in electronics by mirroring software and hardware, something Sony was ill-equipped to do.

The importance of first party is becoming larger and larger, particularly as we reach a time where the console may no longer exist one day. When that day comes, Sony does not want to be on the outside looking in.

The Zynga deal was a cash-stock deal. I don't think T2 has considerable debt from the deal. I haven't seen it on long term debt on their financials.

I think people are looking at the last 10-20 years of gaming and thinking that the next 10-20 years of gaming will be the same. It isn't we've reached critical mass where gaming is becoming big time profitable entertainment and as such many large players are going to put their hands in the pot. This why we're seeing so much consolidation. The idea that Sony can just weather this with small studio purchases just doesn't add up.

You look at Sony Pictures vs Disney who bought Marvel, LucasFilm, and Fox and Amazon who bought MGM and you realize that the speed of this is breakneck. Right now Sony Pictures is kind of in no-man's land. Sony can't afford the same with Sony Interactive.

I think this news about Sony doubling down on entertainment and eschewing finance and the timing of the ABK deal is a signal that they're going to invest heavily in gaming.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I think people are grossly underestimating what this move means. Sony is trimming its business diversity to bring more attention and resources to bear in markets that they really want to excel in. Entertainment being, by far, its greatest focus. The move to spin off their financial arm will give them a big cash injection, free up many billions of future liquid assets, and allow them to make greater investments in fewer markets instead of also having to be concerned with staying competitive in finance.

It's a massive shift in corporate strategy for a company who has lost most of its identity as an electronics manufacturer and is now doubling down on being an entertainment company.

You look at Sony and compare them to Apple or even Netflix and it is clear that they aren't growing fast enough. Netflix is worth more than Sony and its because they were disruptive. For Sony to be disruptive at their size, they need to make key investments.

Disney's stock has nearly tripled since they bought Star Wars.

Sony probably could have bought Apple.

Sony as it exists today has kind of peaked on how much they can grow as is. They have to adjust and make somewhat drastic moves and expand their content creation and leverage their businesses.

PlayStation Productions has the potential to be as big as Marvel Studios but it'll require a constant infusion of IP from PlayStation. They need more studios. In order to afford to buy these studios, they need drastically more revenue and operating income.

You look at mobile gaming and live service gaming and Sony is once again getting their lunch eaten, which is why Jim Ryan is making moves to change that. Sony needs their own Fortnite/Roblox/Overwatch. They can try and make that organically, but they also need to drastically move units and become more profitable.

I told people I don't think Sony is going to drop the price of the PS5 slim (no disc drive). I can't see how Sony turns down the chance to make 100 dollars more per device sold. That's money that can help pay for a T2, especially when the PS5 is already selling out whatever they can make.

They need to leverage PS5 sales to buy a larger ecosystem of developers.

It's also why I think Sony will create a PC storefront, because making royalties on PS5 alone can't sustain enough operating income when they could make money off of PC consumers as well.

Sony just like individuals needs as many sources of revenue as they can get, especially low cost streams of revenue.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Secure their future...hmm. do you think they would be doomed if MS got ABK? I don't think they would at all.

They have a solid business plan with third party exclusives and their first party output. But yeah, I can see them buying some publishers and Microsoft plus other players are going tomcontinue purchasing....just probably not to the level Microsoft attempted.

It is what is it, I guess.

Console gaming is small ball. Peanuts compared to the rest of gaming revenue, but what it CAN be used as is leverage.

Take-Two would be poor acquisition as the initial cost would be just too high with no guarantee their next game will be as successful as GTA V.

Sweeping up Japanese publishers and maybe Ubisoft world be cheaper and perhaps wiser, if they're going to play the whole acquire for exclusives game.

I hope none of that happens though. Consolidation not good for our hobby.

GTA6 doesn't need to be as successful as GTAV. T2 makes a lot of different games that Sony can leverage well into the future.

Japanese publishers aren't the future and Sony knows that. Ubi Soft is a joke.

Consolidation isn't necessarily good for our hobby, but it is coming regardless.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

His vision was to synergize the entertainment and electronic divisions at Sony.

Sony had a huge opportunity that they squandered. They could have been the premium PC laptop, that still doesn't really exist to this day. Vaio could have been a 1:1 competitor with the Macbook.

Sony Pictures used to be a real top dog in the movie industry and its kind of on the outskirts now, particularly with Disney/Marvel/Fox eating everyone's lunch.

Howard Stringer's vision was to grow Sony's divisions by working in tandem together, but most of Sony's individual groups were historically antagonistic with each other.

Sony Interactive Entertainment started from a joint venture between Sony Music and Sony Electronics, but at some point SME absolutely hated then SCEI. There was a time when Sony Online Entertainment (Everquest) was owned by Sony Pictures which made no sense, and they were also antagonistic against SCEI. If they had worked together PS2's online would probably have been much bigger.

I am genius then... because i have thought in this "synergy" on my own. I think it can be possible to achieve still....but i dont think they have the vision for it.

but yeah. they fucked up real good.

and i have this wet dream of some company making a PC OS marketed for Gamers/Content Creators optimized for Autodesk/Adobe (just to name the big software companies for that market). without the bullshit ads, breaking updates and overall intrusion; a lean and mean PC OS.

 

[Varteras]

S SneakersSO What's your take on this development? I know you told me a few weeks ago that you fully expect Sony to continue making smaller acquisitions and investments to grow their content cadence and IP creation. But spinning off their financial arm to focus resources into entertainment and electronics within the next couple years is really a big move that indicates a greater desire to do so than I think was expected at the time we spoke on this subject.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I am genius then... because i have thought in this "synergy" on my own. I think it can be possible to achieve still....but i dont think they have the vision for it.

but yeah. they fucked up real good.

and i have this wet dream of some company making a PC OS marketed for Gamers/Content Creators optimized for Autodesk/Adobe (just to name the big software companies for that market). without the bullshit ads, breaking updates and overall intrusion; a lean and mean PC OS.

The Last of Us is basically the blueprint of that vision.

A TV show based on a video game developed by SIE, produced by PlayStation Productions and Sony Pictures TV, featuring a many songs that Sony owns distribution rights to and it turned into one of the biggest TV shows in history, helped spur on sales of the remake and the sequel.

We'll see how Gran Turismo and others do, but I think Sony is finally leveraging a bit better here. Just took them entirely too long. Look at The Witcher and Cyberpunk that took no time at all.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

S SneakersSO What's your take on this development? I know you told me a few weeks ago that you fully expect Sony to continue making smaller acquisitions and investments to grow their content cadence and IP creation. But spinning off their financial arm to focus resources into entertainment and electronics within the next couple years is really a big move that indicates a greater desire to do so than I think was expected at the time we spoke on this subject.

While this move isn't JUST related to games, they certainly didn't need to do this to buy studios like Haven and Firewalk.

This suggests MUCH larger acquisitions are coming for SME, SPE, and SIE and I think the acquisitions will lend itself to leverage for all three.

For example: Imagine GTA6 or GTA7 with mostly sony music. A GTA movie with sony music. A Red Dead TV series with sony music. That's how these things can impact all of your divisions.

I think there are only a couple of real game changing targets for Sony out there that immediately impact all of their entertainment groups.

T2 and WB-D are probably the only ones worth discussing at this level.

 

[Loxus]

If you check my posts on the acquisitions, I don't think ive ever praised them or hoped for them. All I have ever said is that more games on my gamepass subscription is welcomed. I also said I want ABK to get stringent and thorough checks and if the cma or whoever thinks it isn't right after months of checking then I think that's obviously the best for all of us.

It looks like ABK is dead? Or do you think it may go through?

I don't think Sony could even afford to buy take two and make them exclusive, so I. This completely hyperthetical scenario that Sony fans dream will happen I think they would have to at least bring it out on PC and playstation close to day one. Or deffo have an agreement to make it multi platform.

I mean, what's gta 5 sold? Over 100 million copies? You would have to think logocally that if it was 100 million copies atleast 30 percent of those copies would be on xbox platforms.

Anyway, this is all complete hypertheticals and no where near reality so there is no point in even entertaining it.
I think Sony goes for Square and that's fine imo. They will support them still releasing PC and switch games I imagine.

No idea.

If we look at Hogwarts Legacy for example, which sold 82% of the sales on PS5 and 18% on Xbox Series X|S. Sony can afford to make GTA 6 console exclusive.

Sony already has a foothold on Square Enix, no reason to aquire them.

Nvidia didn't have enough to outright by ARM with cash. They only had about $10.89 billion cash on hand at the time and was going to use shares for the rest.
NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $40 Billion, Creating World’s Premier Computing Company for the Age of AI

• Consideration of $40 billion to be met through a combination of NVIDIA shares and cash

To think Sony with $14.41 billion cash on hand as of March 2023 can't do the same to aquire Take-Two with a market cap of $23.55B as of May 19, 2023 for around 30 billion is just being narrow minded.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

The Last of Us is basically the blueprint of that vision.

A TV show based on a video game developed by SIE, produced by PlayStation Productions and Sony Pictures TV, featuring a many songs that Sony owns distribution rights to and it turned into one of the biggest TV shows in history, helped spur on sales of the remake and the sequel.

We'll see how Gran Turismo and others do, but I think Sony is finally leveraging a bit better here. Just took them entirely too long. Look at The Witcher and Cyberpunk that took no time at all.

I remember hearing a rumor in which Andrew house was going to taker over Sony Pictures...

but the vision i am thinking is more holistic for the consumer:

imagining your are playing BloodBorne. With a button press you access the Releted-Similar Media tab...boom:

There is Soundtrack (you could even buy the Vinyl edition)

even a concert or a music session which you could experience in VR.

Movies, TV series, animation and mangas.

and vice-versa. maybe you watching Demon slayer...wait a minute this song ies . you pause it and under he timeline the is the related-similar media.

 

[Varteras]

If we look at Hogwarts Legacy for example, which sold 82% of the sales on PS5 and 18% on Xbox Series X|S. Sony can afford to make GTA 6 console exclusive.

Sony already has a foothold on Square Enix, no reason to aquire them.

Nvidia didn't have enough to outright by ARM with cash. They only had about $10.89 billion cash on hand at the time and was going to use shares for the rest.
NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $40 Billion, Creating World’s Premier Computing Company for the Age of AI

• Consideration of $40 billion to be met through a combination of NVIDIA shares and cash

To think Sony with $14.41 billion cash on hand as of March 2023 can't do the same to aquire Take-Two with a market cap of $23.55B as of May 19, 2023 for around 30 billion is just being narrow minded.

Not to mention that with Sony slimming itself down to Entertainment and Electronics by shedding its Finance arm, while also acknowledging that SIE is its greatest growth vector, they're not going to be shy about making heavy investments in PlayStation. The spin-off alone will land them a pretty nice payout while freeing up resources to refocus their investments. A $30 billion purchase to greatly increase the capabilities of SIE is not only something Sony is technically capable of right now, but something they will have a much greater appetite for in the very near future.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I remember hearing a rumor in which Andrew house was going to taker over Sony Pictures...

but the vision i am thinking is more holistic for the consumer:

imagining your are playing BloodBorne. With a button press you access the Releted-Similar Media tab...boom:

There is Soundtrack (you could even buy the Vinyl edition)

even a concert or a music session which you could experience in VR.

Movies, TV series, animation and mangas.

and vice-versa. maybe you watching Demon slayer...wait a minute this song ies . you pause it and under he timeline the is the related-similar media.

Synergies like that generally only work when you control the platform, that being said, I think Sony really need to leverage anime and aniplex, crunchyroll/funimation with PlayStation.

It's crazy that Fate/Stay is one of the largest mobile games in the world, owned and managed by Sony Music not Sony Interactive and there isn't a major Fate/Stay PS5 game from Sony, but KOEI tecmo is making one for many platforms. Just seems like more of the same from Sony Group.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Not to mention that with Sony slimming itself down to Entertainment and Electronics by shedding its Finance arm, while also acknowledging that SIE is its greatest growth vector, they're not going to be shy about making heavy investments in PlayStation. The spin-off alone will land them a pretty nice payout while freeing up resources to refocus their investments. A $30 billion purchase to greatly increase the capabilities of SIE is not only something Sony is technically capable of right now, but something they will have a much greater appetite for in the very near future.

To be honest, I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen.

I mean they could ultimately target smaller companies like Square Enix and FromSoftware, but I think it'll take more than that to ensure their future.

Probably no rush to buy Square Enix either. Regardless, we'll see their strategy unfold once this ABK business is settled.

 

[Varteras]

To be honest, I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen.

I mean they could ultimately target smaller companies like Square Enix and FromSoftware, but I think it'll take more than that to ensure their future.

Probably no rush to buy Square Enix either. Regardless, we'll see their strategy unfold once this ABK business is settled.

I think it's a safe bet that either through many smaller acquisitions or a huge purchase, Sony's goal is to, at the very least, double their content output and IP creation over the next few years.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I think it's a safe bet that either through many smaller acquisitions or a huge purchase, Sony's goal is to, at the very least, double their content output and IP creation over the next few years.

There's a lot of risk involved with buying multiple small studios though.

You end up having to put a lot of resources into these companies and there is no real strong guarantee that they will pay off.

We saw something similar to that with Deviation which Sony didn't own but had at least been funding for a couple of years.

These resources are finite but time is also finite.

You can really only release so many games until they begin to compete with each other and key 3rd party games.

Elden Ring significantly reduced the sales capacity of Horizon. Last of Us 2 was released back to back with Ghost of Tsushima. Yet now we've seen a fairly large dearth of AAA content from Sony this year, which is why they're forecasting reduced sales of 1st party titles this year despite the larger user base AND the release of Spider-Man 2.

I think small acquisitions have their place, but there seems to be a prevalent idea that Sony can JUST do these types of deals. I just don't think it is likely or feasible.

 

[Alex Scott]

I think it's a safe bet that either through many smaller acquisitions or a huge purchase, Sony's goal is to, at the very least, double their content output and IP creation over the next few years.

I don't think Sony can double their output through small acquistions. MS has increased their output significantly after buying Zenimax.
Only studio that can do that for Sony is FromSoft. Their output is crazy.

 

[StealthGoblin]

IMO Take Two is a stupid acquisition by Sony. Yeah, GTA basically prints money -but how many new games have they released in the past 10 years?
These mega mergers need to stop.

For Sony we need to consider a publishers legacy IP and other pillars.

Grand Theft Auto
Red Red Redemption
Max Payne
Bioshock
Borderlands

They also own Zynga. 10% of the world’s population plays a Zynga game each month.

Some of those have TV/Media potential extensions.

 

[DenchDeckard]

If we look at Hogwarts Legacy for example, which sold 82% of the sales on PS5 and 18% on Xbox Series X|S. Sony can afford to make GTA 6 console exclusive.

Sony already has a foothold on Square Enix, no reason to aquire them.

Nvidia didn't have enough to outright by ARM with cash. They only had about $10.89 billion cash on hand at the time and was going to use shares for the rest.
NVIDIA to Acquire Arm for $40 Billion, Creating World’s Premier Computing Company for the Age of AI

• Consideration of $40 billion to be met through a combination of NVIDIA shares and cash

To think Sony with $14.41 billion cash on hand as of March 2023 can't do the same to aquire Take-Two with a market cap of $23.55B as of May 19, 2023 for around 30 billion is just being narrow minded.

Have you got receipts for that hogwarts legacy data? That's intriguing. I hope it's not the first week and few days of the UK sales that don't include digital that you are bringing up here?

But 82 percent of total sales on playstation including digital would be absolutely wild. As of today. I find that extremely hard to believe and would be quite shocked tbh.

If Sony have got the gta exclusivity on a timed exclusive that would be absolutely crippling for Microsoft and a strong business move. One that would cost billions but very strong. I can't see take two going for it, but money talks.

It's what I said Microsoft should have gone for in the world of third party exclusives, they should have paid whatever take two asked for to make it a 1 or 2 year timed exclusive on xbox. I genuinely think that one game would completely turn the tide on sales and get xbox sales considerably closer to playstation if they did it.

If Sony has secured it then xbox doesn't stand a chance this gen and I don't mean stand a chance as get equal becuase that ship has sailed. I'm talking Sony will end up out selling them 4 or 5 to one in the console space.

So I guess all this speculation is due to Sony stating they are selling this devision so they can buy some publishers for the gaming arm?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

For Sony we need to consider a publishers legacy IP and other pillars.

Grand Theft Auto
Red Red Redemption
Max Payne
Bioshock
Borderlands

They also own Zynga. 10% of the world’s population plays a Zynga game each month.

Some of those have TV/Media potential extensions.

Don't forget that they also have

NBA 2K
WWE 2K
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2K

It's worth noting that they released a trash game under the Tiger Woods banner. But I think if Sony were to buy T2, they could reach out to Clap Hanz who would be dumb not to want to pair their gaming experience with that brand across PS5, Mobile, PC, Switch.

They could also rebrand MLB The Show to MLB 2K or MLB The Show 2K

And the big one would be getting a deal with FIFA for FIFA 2K.

The cross sport marketing alone here would make Sony billions. These games collectively are probably played by more people than the number who play CoD.

As the new defacto best name in sports you could push the NFL to open things up again and revive NFL 2K.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I think it's a safe bet that either through many smaller acquisitions or a huge purchase, Sony's goal is to, at the very least, double their content output and IP creation over the next few years.

I think their goal was always to double their output. I think they were trying to do that organically until they saw Microsoft and probably others as an existential threat to their entire business.

It looks like they're trying to do more than that now.

I don't think Sony can double their output through small acquistions. MS has increased their output significantly after buying Zenimax.
Only studio that can do that for Sony is FromSoft. Their output is crazy.

From doesn't double their output or come close to it. Sony has multiple studios that produce as much as From. Naughty Dog and Insomniac in particular.

I do think that pairing From with BluePoint would be a huge boon for both studios.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Don't forget that they also have

NBA 2K
WWE 2K
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2K

It's worth noting that they released a trash game under the Tiger Woods banner. But I think if Sony were to buy T2, they could reach out to Clap Hanz who would be dumb not to want to pair their gaming experience with that brand across PS5, Mobile, PC, Switch.

They could also rebrand MLB The Show to MLB 2K or MLB The Show 2K

And the big one would be getting a deal with FIFA for FIFA 2K.

The cross sport marketing alone here would make Sony billions. These games collectively are probably played by more people than the number who play CoD.

As the new defacto best name in sports you could push the NFL to open things up again and revive NFL 2K.

Has there been any hint at all that Sony are sniffing around take two?

What would take 2 cost to buy?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Have you got receipts for that hogwarts legacy data? That's intriguing. I hope it's not the first week and few days of the UK sales that don't include digital that you are bringing up here?

But 82 percent of total sales on playstation including digital would be absolutely wild. As of today. I find that extremely hard to believe and would be quite shocked tbh.

If Sony have got the gta exclusivity on a timed exclusive that would be absolutely crippling for Microsoft and a strong business move. One that would cost billions but very strong. I can't see take two going for it, but money talks.

It's what I said Microsoft should have gone for in the world of third party exclusives, they should have paid whatever take two asked for to make it a 1 or 2 year timed exclusive on xbox. I genuinely think that one game would completely turn the tide on sales and get xbox sales considerably closer to playstation if they did it.

If Sony has secured it then xbox doesn't stand a chance this gen and I don't mean stand a chance as get equal becuase that ship has sailed. I'm talking Sony will end up out selling them 4 or 5 to one in the console space.

So I guess all this speculation is due to Sony stating they are selling this devision so they can buy some publishers for the gaming arm?

The fact is that they're looking to sell, the speculation is that they're doing it to bolster their gaming division, further speculation is that they're doing so to stave off Microsoft and other larger-scale competitors that could enter the industry and lock Sony out of future revenue.

Ultimately, we'll see what Sony does in this space. I just thought it was newsworthy and worth getting on people's radars.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Has there been any hint at all that Sony are sniffing around take two?

What would take 2 cost to buy?

Yeah, it's been heavily rumored over the years that there was interest, it also just makes a ton of sense.

At a 30% premium, which might be aggressive, you're looking at 30 billion dollars, but what's been discussed is, it doesn't have to be 30 billion in cash. It can be a mix of cash and stock, and there can still be an element of financing. Sony can presumably still get extremely low-interest loans.

 

[SplunkyMunkey]

This is why I think sony should go for EA Hugh ips on different genres. People gloating about Microsoft make cod great again sony could do the same with battlefield though cod does better in terms of sales but still BF is another Hugh ip still don't see no harm in EA and with going on I think EA is better then Activision and could compete at a similar level

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Yeah, it's been heavily rumored over the years that there was interest, it also just makes a ton of sense.

At a 30% premium, which might be aggressive, you're looking at 30 billion dollars, but what's been discussed is, it doesn't have to be 30 billion in cash. It can be a mix of cash and stock, and there can still be an element of financing. Sony can presumably still get extremely low-interest loans.

Sony buying Take 2 is a pipe dream. Even if they did, GTA would remain multiplatform. There is no way that merger could go through and it not be multiplatform. Secondly, Sony would almost double the size of their gaming division with this purchase. That is a major wrench integrating all those studios into Sony's portfolio. And yes, it makes sense for Sony to gain notable gaming IP for TV and movies but Take 2 ain't it. I'm almost positive Rockstar Games would be against the notion to adapt GTA or Red Dead franchises, as they have stated many times in the past. It may even be written in their contract. And Borderlands already has a massive blockbuster film getting released in the next year. So that IP does nothing for Sony. Max Payne franchise hasn't released a game Since 2012. It was a very good game but sold terribly. Not to mention the Max Payne movie flopped and was received poorly. Bioshock hasn't been relevant in nearly a decade, and the latest news is that Bioshock 4 is in development hell.

Sony needs to protect the brand. They don't need to buy up massive publishers that will use up the finite resources Sony have spent decades building up. They need to keep expanding what already has made them great, their own studios. Hopefully by the end of this generation, every premiere Sony studio will have at least 2 teams.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Yeah, it's been heavily rumored over the years that there was interest, it also just makes a ton of sense.

At a 30% premium, which might be aggressive, you're looking at 30 billion dollars, but what's been discussed is, it doesn't have to be 30 billion in cash. It can be a mix of cash and stock, and there can still be an element of financing. Sony can presumably still get extremely low-interest loans.

They will deffo be locked up for a serious amount of time to go after them.

I'm sure Microsoft and competition agency's would have a field day in dragging out the purchase.

Gta
Nba
Plus more big multiplatform games would be tough to secure I think.

I imagine there would have to be some serious concessions.

 

[Ronin_7]

When the deal is officially killed, I expect a bump in Sony's stock price in the billions. Probably not the entire value that was lost because it was inflated due to the pandemic, but they should be able to recover quite a bit.

That will also make it easier to do a stock swap with T2, because it means offering fewer shares for the same amount of money.

That will buy Jim Ryan A LOT of favor in successfully blocking this and Sony HAS to be on edge having lost so much value being blindsided by the ABK news.

Sony knows they need to secure their future in gaming and entertainment as a whole.

Sony Pictures is too small, Sony Interactive Entertainment is competitive though.

I could see Sony trying to buy Warner if it wasn't for their debt. If the stock continued to plummet, it kind of becomes an obvious choice for them.

SIE is not competitive, SIE completely annihilates competition to the point that there's no competition really.

Tencent competes in difference leagues and no one else comes close, if SIE mobile strategy is successful oof it's a bloodbath.

As for Sony Pictures they are expanding massively, they are even buying Zee on India which is crazy.

 

[Ronin_7]

Has there been any hint at all that Sony are sniffing around take two?

What would take 2 cost to buy?

27-30B or something like that.

It's a very healthy company & they've Rockstar which have the best studios in the World.

 

[DenchDeckard]

27-30B or something like that.

It's a very healthy company & they've Rockstar which have the best studios in the World.

Would definitely make things interesting and create some great competition for Sony to be able to negotiate further cod and blizzard deals with Microsoft if in some way they manage to get ABK.

 

[Ronin_7]

Would definitely make things interesting and create some great competition for Sony to be able to negotiate further cod and blizzard deals with Microsoft if in some way they manage to get ABK.

Take Two future is looking very bright while Activision future was looking like utter shit hence they sold.

There's zero reason for Take Two to sell when they're about to explode into the stratosphere.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Take Two future is looking very bright while Activision future was looking like utter shit hence they sold.

There's zero reason for Take Two to sell when they're about to explode into the stratosphere.

Yeah, imagine trying to buy them after they announce and launch gta 6...that market cap will probs jump to 40 to 45 billion.

 

[Ronin_7]

Yeah, imagine trying to buy them after they announce and launch gta 6...that market cap will probs jump to 40 to 45 billion.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. They've Zynga, they've some of the greatest studios in the world and they have GTA VI and probably RdR3 incoming.

They're about to explode revenue & market cap Wise.

 

[Snake29]

In a couple of years, Sony will be closer to a Trillion dollar company.

 

[xrnzaaas]

No way Sony can afford to buy Take Two and succeed where MS potentially failed (since this would be more profitable acquisition than ABK).

 

[Loxus]

Have you got receipts for that hogwarts legacy data? That's intriguing. I hope it's not the first week and few days of the UK sales that don't include digital that you are bringing up here?

But 82 percent of total sales on playstation including digital would be absolutely wild. As of today. I find that extremely hard to believe and would be quite shocked tbh.

If Sony have got the gta exclusivity on a timed exclusive that would be absolutely crippling for Microsoft and a strong business move. One that would cost billions but very strong. I can't see take two going for it, but money talks.

It's what I said Microsoft should have gone for in the world of third party exclusives, they should have paid whatever take two asked for to make it a 1 or 2 year timed exclusive on xbox. I genuinely think that one game would completely turn the tide on sales and get xbox sales considerably closer to playstation if they did it.

If Sony has secured it then xbox doesn't stand a chance this gen and I don't mean stand a chance as get equal becuase that ship has sailed. I'm talking Sony will end up out selling them 4 or 5 to one in the console space.

So I guess all this speculation is due to Sony stating they are selling this devision so they can buy some publishers for the gaming arm?

If Microsoft had a real reason to spend $70 billion on acquiring Activision for COD, it would be because of Sony acquiring Take-Two for GTA.

This is the only way I can justify that $70 billion price tag.

 

[DenchDeckard]

If Microsoft had a real reason to spend $70 billion on acquiring Activision for COD, it would be because of Sony acquiring Take-Two for GTA.

This is the only way I can justify that $70 billion price tag.

Are you implying Sony already secured take two without anyone in the world knowing so Microsoft went after ABK?

That's absolutely not possible imo.

 

[Tams]

Are you implying Sony already secured take two without anyone in the world knowing so Microsoft went after ABK?

That's absolutely not possible imo.

I think their saying that's the only way the Microsoft-ABKb deal can be justified, especially at that price.

Not that Sony have made any attempts to buy Take-Two.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I think their saying that's the only way the Microsoft-ABKb deal can be justified, especially at that price.

Not that Sony have made any attempts to buy Take-Two.

It doesn't make sense though.

We know the reasons why Ms wanted ABK and even with that bid ABK was trying to get more from Facebook etc.