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PlayStation Studios is not done with acquisitions yet, according to Hermen Hulst

arsene_P5

arsene_P5

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nightstalker962 said:
Kojima Productions. Finish the fight.
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aisback said:
I think IO Interactive might be a good buy for Sony
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Era Uma Vez said:
bah.png
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Those acquisition are unlikely, because all of them are either confirmed or heavily rumored to work on a exclusive game for Xbox. As I recall Xbox has usually a clause in their contract to prevent them from getting bought by someone else, while they work on a Xbox game. If they want to sell, the first company they need to negotiate with is MS due to the refusal clause.

A1an said:
Asobo
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They have a 10 year contract with Microsoft. That's just not going to happen.
 
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RavenK92

Member
Nov 3, 2020
799
So one can reasonably conclude that the recent aggression Sony has shown in acquisitions (I count 5 studios in the last year) has to be because of MS's massive buying spree (I believe 18 studios including a big publisher in the last 3 years) and TenCent and Leyou buying everything that moves right? This industry consolidation acquisition war is pretty much what I didn't want to see
 
Desodeset

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arsene_P5 said:
Those acquisition are unlikely, because all of them are either confirmed or heavily rumored to work on a exclusive game for Xbox. As I recall Xbox has usually a clause in their contract to prevent them from getting bought by someone else, while they work on a Xbox game. If they want to sell, the first company they need to negotiate with is MS.
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Many publishers use clause of first refusal with close partners but Crystal Dynamics (owned by SE with probably own projects in pre-production), IOI (Hitman and 007) and Kojima Productions (possible collaboration with PS) are studios that have or might have too many activities outside Xbox. I don't think that any of those studios is actually too close to MS/Xbox to be justified such clause. On the other hand Asobo could have signed such a contract.
 
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arsene_P5

arsene_P5

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RavenK92 said:
So one can reasonably conclude that the recent aggression Sony has shown in acquisitions (I count 5 studios in the last year) has to be because of MS's massive buying spree (I believe 18 studios including a big publisher in the last 3 years) and TenCent and Leyou buying everything that moves right? This industry consolidation acquisition war is pretty much what I didn't want to see
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I think that's unreasonable, because Sony has their own goals and their ruthless behavior in the anime industry shows that they don't morally care about acquisition and aren't just buying, because others forced their hands. If they think a strategy is worth to follow, they go all in no matter what the competition does. For instance, they've deemed anime as the 4th pillar and now bought basically every streaming service for anime there is. Meanwhile nobody else bought any streaming services.

BlackheartVinyl made a great post about why companies are buying so much and not just in gaming. It's acquisition season everywhere. I recommend reading it. Also remember Playstation has grown much more important over the years, whereas the PS3 era lead to massive loss. Wasn't there even a rumor/speculation that during the PS3 era they've lost all the profits from PS1-2 era? But now Playstation is more successful than ever and which company wouldn't try to invest in their division that's going from record to record?
 
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Cyrus365

Member
Apr 8, 2020
203
I'm curious as to how much $$$ was spent to buy all the recent studios in the past year

Firesprite who also acquired Fabrik Games
Bluepoint
Nixxes
Housemarque

Am I missing any? Not to mention funding 3 different studios in first time games:

Haven Studio (Jade team)
Deviation Games
Firewalk

They've must have spent atleast $1B on acquring 4 studios, and funding another 3? What do you think? I guess we'll see it in the next Sony Financial report
 
arsene_P5

arsene_P5

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Desodeset said:
Many publishers use clause of first refusal with close partners but Crystal Dynamics (owned by SE with probably own projects in pre-production), IOI (Hitman and 007) and Kojima Productions (possible collaboration with PS) are studios that have or might have too many activities outside Xbox. I don't think that any of those studios is actually too close to MS/Xbox to be justified such clause. On the other hand Asobo could have signed such a contract.
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Definitely could be and it's interesting to hear many publishers do this. I just knew Xbox does this.
 

RavenK92

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Nov 3, 2020
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arsene_P5 said:
I think that's unreasonable, because Sony has their own goals and their ruthless behavior in the anime industry shows that they don't morally care about acquisition and aren't just buying, because others forced their hands. If they think a strategy is worth to follow, they go all in no matter what the competition does. For instance, they've deemed anime as the 4th pillar and now bought basically every streaming service for anime there is. Meanwhile nobody else bought any streaming services.

BlackheartVinyl made a great post about why companies are buying so much and not just in gaming. It's acquisition season everywhere. I recommend reading it. Also remember Playstation has grown much more important over the years, whereas the PS3 era lead to massive lost. Wasn't there even a rumor/speculation that during the PS3 era they've lost all the profits from PS1-2 era? But now Playstation is more successful than ever and which company wouldn't try to invest in their division that's going from record to record?
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I don't really follow Sony outside of gaming so that's interesting regarding the anime. Companies are gonna company. Maybe I'm wrong but it feels like Sony spent most of the 2010s mostly content with the number of studios they had and recently got a lot more aggressive. Your point about the success of the PS4 leading to expansion to keep growing for the PS5 (compared to just reconsolidating after the PS3 wasn't as great a success) is also a good factor to consider
 
arsene_P5

arsene_P5

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RavenK92 said:
Maybe I'm wrong but it feels like Sony spent most of the 2010s mostly content with the number of studios they had and recently got a lot more aggressive.
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Depends on how each of us defines recently, but in the last few years the CEO of Sony as well as the CEO of PS and Head of first party changed. So maybe alongside my previous argument, the new leadership just think acquisition are more important for their strategy than the last "regime" though.

Btw you aren't wrong, because during 2010s they didn't really acquire anybody, unless I am mistaken and focused on restructuring their first party offering. Which lead to closing down the likes of Evolution studios and layoffs at Santa Monica.

Edit: Here is the post I recommended to read earlier. Post in thread 'PlayStation Studios is not done with acquisitions yet, according to Hermen Hulst' https://www.resetera.com/threads/pl...ccording-to-hermen-hulst.493809/post-74385609
 
Tovarisc

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Always fun to see same forum that riots over acquisitions in gaming industry as great evil that consolidates everything behind just few mega corporation is also forum that comes up real quick with "I hope X buys these studios..." lists :D
 
Vertpin

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Oct 27, 2017
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What's this talk of Sony purchasing Kadokawa? That would be very interesting as they own From (which I could see as a reason) but is it anything else other than plain wishful thinking?
 
DeoGame

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I think ultimately, second party will be a large driver of the acquisition spree. With the exception of Nixxes, all of the studios bought in recent memory have been former second party. This is because in part Sony owns the IP of these studios and in part because they have a strong working relationship. We know for example MS supposedly offered to Housemarque but they chose Sony.

Now, with big public firms, that's not a fight I'd want to risk, given that MS, NetEase, maybe even EA and definitely Tencent will be ready. We've seen this happen with Codemasters and Leyou. The shareholders for these large firms in particular will want the highest ROI which means paying a premium at best and outright losing to the competition at worst. With all of this being said, here are the firms I think have potential given their relationships over the last generation and known relationships beyond.

- Lucid
- ThatGameCompany
- Giant Sparrow
- From Software (if Kadokawa will sell, bidding war risk. Also possibility of buying Kadokawa outright and get Spike Chunsoft too. Bulk of business unappealing to MS, may attract Tencent)
- Arrowhead
- Quantic Dream (Although based on rumours unlikely)
- Supermassive (with stake acquired from Nordisk)
- Valkyrie
- VooFoo
- Heavy Spectrum
- Plastic Studios
- Q-Games
- Alvion
- Bungie (Sony published Destiny in Japan. Risks bidding war. Price supposedly 2 billion)
- ClapHanz
- Creative Vault
- White Moon Dreams
- Impulse Gear
- Mass Media Games
- Wish Studios
- First Contact Entertainment
- Monstars
- Resonair
- Flavourworks
- Other Ocean (Including Digital Eclipse)
- VIVA Games
- IllFonic
- Camouflaj
- Darkwind Media
- Iron Galaxy
- Haven
- Probably Monsters (Firewalk)
- Deviation Games
- Kojima Productions (supposedly working with MS)
- Remedy (Public. Possible risk of bidding war)

This list is not exhaustive. As shown by Nixxes, a 1:1 second party status is not needed (although they did help on Shadowfall). Additionally, third parties with strong working relationships like Arc, Ember Labs, Oddworld Inhabitants, Counterplay, etc. are 100% on the table, as are some studios we may not be thinking of, but I think this may be a good jumping off point.
 
Grooski

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NinjaScooter said:
I don't know why a Kojima acquisition makes much sense for anyone. Aside from Kojima himself probably wanting to remain independent. that studio is wholly dependent on a guy who is 58 years old. They don't have any IP. They don't really have much of a track record. What is "Kojima Productions" if in a couple years he decides to retire, to take a sabbatical to make a movie or whatever? The value in that company is in one individual.
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Way to diss one entire studio's worth of talented developers
 
Dragon Puncher

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DeoGame said:
I think ultimately, second party will be a large driver of the acquisition spree. With the exception of Nixxes, all of the studios bought in recent memory have been former second party. This is because in part Sony owns the IP of these studios and in part because they have a strong working relationship. We know for example MS supposedly offered to Housemarque but they chose Sony.

Now, with big public firms, that's not a fight I'd want to risk, given that MS, NetEase, maybe even EA and definitely Tencent will be ready. We've seen this happen with Codemasters and Leyou. The shareholders for these large firms in particular will want the highest ROI which means paying a premium at best and outright losing to the competition at worst. With all of this being said, here are the firms I think have potential given their relationships over the last generation and known relationships beyond.

- Lucid
- ThatGameCompany
- Giant Sparrow
- From Software (if Kadokawa will sell, bidding war risk. Also possibility of buying Kadokawa outright and get Spike Chunsoft too. Bulk of business unappealing to MS, may attract Tencent)
- Arrowhead
- Quantic Dream (Although based on rumours unlikely)
- Supermassive (with stake acquired from Nordisk)
- Valkyrie
- VooFoo
- Heavy Spectrum
- Plastic Studios
- Q-Games
- Alvion
- Bungie (Sony published Destiny in Japan. Risks bidding war. Price supposedly 2 billion)
- ClapHanz
- Creative Vault
- White Moon Dreams
- Impulse Gear
- Mass Media Games
- Wish Studios
- First Contact Entertainment
- Monstars
- Resonair
- Flavourworks
- Other Ocean (Including Digital Eclipse)
- VIVA Games
- IllFonic
- Camouflaj
- Darkwind Media
- Iron Galaxy
- Haven
- Probably Monsters (Firewalk)
- Deviation Games
- Kojima Productions (supposedly working with MS)
- Remedy (Public. Possible risk of bidding war)

This list is not exhaustive. As shown by Nixxes, a 1:1 second party status is not needed (although they did help on Shadowfall). Additionally, third parties with strong working relationships like Arc, Ember Labs, Oddworld Inhabitants, Counterplay, etc. are 100% on the table, as are some studios we may not be thinking of, but I think this may be a good jumping off point.
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Good list. Earlier I would have said Supermassive was by far the most likely candidate. Since the deal with Quatric Dream is over and Sony probably don't want to buy them now with the huge mess they are in, Sony kinda needs a new adventure game studio. But with the 30% stake buy from Nordisk back in March Supermassive seems unlikely. Sony would probably have to pay premium to get Nordisk out.

ThatGameCompany or Arrowhead is something I could see now.
 
Xadra

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Zeal543 said:
I interpret Sony's acquisitions as a response to Microsoft's
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More like a response to the industry trend (Tencent invested in 31 studios during 2020 and 51 in 2021; Embracer: 21 in 2020 and 18 in 2021; also Microsoft, EA, Epic Games, Focus Home, even Nintendo) and the upcoming inflation, that is going to devalue their money (so it makes more sense to spend it now).

Seeing these acquisitions only as a response to the more direct competition is inaccurate.


kurahador said:
Please buy Mistwalker and Level 5.
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Before they shut down, please someone save Level-5.
 
tzare

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Don't like this adquisition race, but i like their approach better than just buying developers to own their IP to lock them into your ecosystem.
 
Simuly

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Sony are lacking in first party studios that can make WRPGs, so any PC dev that specialises in WRPGs on a similar small size like Obsidian would be perfect, but obviously keep the games on PC.

They should also have a FP JRPG, so same again.

So one European/American WRPG dev and a Japanese JRPG house for wholeness.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

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Oct 31, 2017
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As Vinciquerra called, it's consolidation time in the gaming space. I fully expect Sony and Microsoft to buy more developers and/or publishers. Yes, with an "s".

IMO Sony is doing the right thing buying up these talented developers who are small enough but talented and independent. They can't get in an arms race with MS, especially with Nadella giving Spencer the backing from the parent company.
 
Neonep

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I feel like if Sony wants to buy another studio it would be a team that can make a fighting game. They've already shown that they are interested in that.
 
Ahti

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Neonep said:
I feel like if Sony wants to buy another studio it would be a team that can make a fighting game. They've already shown that they are interested in that.
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Nah, they`re looking for a studio that makes cinematic 3rd person action adventures because they`re still lacking in this department.
 
Triggerhappytel

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vegtro said:
Is mihoyo owned by anyone? If so, wonder what it would take to get a Chinese developer.
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They're probably too expensive as Genshin Impact has been a huge success and I think I read on Wikipedia the other week that they have something like 2600 employees. To acquire them - regardless of whether it would be easy to acquire a large Chinese developer (probably Tencent would be first in line) - would probably be a few billion or more, and selfishly if Sony is looking to spend that sum of money I'd rather they look elsewhere.

RisingStar said:
- Lucid, if Twisted Metal is really happening.

- Ember Lab, if the team feel working with Sony & Sony Animations like Pixelopus would be a neat opportunity.

- Impact Gear, if they wish to invest further in IPs like Farpoint for VR.

- Camouflaj, if they wish to continue working on Iron Man VR.

There are a lot of opportunities for growth.
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Yeah, these seem like pretty safe bets. I would add in Arrowhead if Helldivers 2 is real and depending on how their projects work out I'm sure Sony has an interest in Firewalk, Deviation and Haven.
 
Dragon Puncher

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Neonep said:
I feel like if Sony wants to buy another studio it would be a team that can make a fighting game. They've already shown that they are interested in that.
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I could theoretically see Sony try to make an All Stars Battle Royale 2 down the line, but I don't think they'll invest heavily in the fighter game space. It's been pretty clear for a long time that it's extremely hard for a new IP to make it big in that space on the level that Sony would be interested in.

And I don't see Sony buying Lucid even if Twisted Metal is happening. They already own the IP, they don't gain a lot from buyimg a company that's already working on a game Sony is founding. If they buy Lucid it'll be after the release of Twisted Metal, that's how Sony have typically handled it in the past at least.
 
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Deleted member 16876

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Vertpin said:
What's this talk of Sony purchasing Kadokawa? That would be very interesting as they own From (which I could see as a reason) but is it anything else other than plain wishful thinking?
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Kadokawa has a lot of anime/manga/book focus in addition to gaming which is something that Sony as a whole would benefit from after their investments in anime.

They could also afford them if they wanted.
 
dudu0609

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Playstation not done yet, Xbox not done yet.
But nobody can beat Embracer!!!
 
Markratos

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Triggerhappytel said:
Haven as in Jade Raymond? I think it's probably a bit soon to be purchasing that company but I reckon they're waiting to see how their game turns out. Would also give Sony a foothold with a studio in Canada.
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I said those two because Sony has no presence in Montreal and Sweden. Also Haven and Arrowhead are loaded with industry talent and they are specialized in multiplayer (types of games that Sony wants to promote in this Gen).
 
Random Character

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EekumBokum said:
Just buy Remedy and make Doctor Strange already!
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No Remedy already has publishing deals with Epic Games, 505 Games, and Tencent owns a minority in the company. Not to mention they are a publicly traded company so they would costs more than what they would actually be worth. Sony would be better off simply partnering with them on a game if they want to work together.

Dragon Puncher said:
And I don't see Sony buying Lucid even if Twisted Metal is happening. They already own the IP, they don't gain a lot from buyimg a company that's already working on a game Sony is founding. If they buy Lucid it'll be after the release of Twisted Metal, that's how Sony have typically handled it in the past at least.
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I agree I really don't think Sony will buy Lucid because they already own 3 studios in the UK and I think they are more likely happy to just continue partnering together for now. The only reasons I see Sony could potentially be interested in acquiring Lucid is for two reasons.
1. Very much like all their previous acquisitions they have a long history together.(Partnered on 4 games already and are currently partnering on a 5th game in Twisted Metal)
2. Lucid has experience making mobile games which is an area SIE has said they plan to expand into.
 
Thorrgal

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I think Sony's MO is commission an exclusive game, see the results and if they like what they see talk acquisition.

So I think Emberlabs passed the test, and Arrowhead, Deviation and Haven are studying for it.

Lucid have a chance to re-take the test next semester.
 

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Curious what they will buy there are definitely some studio's that would work better by being acquired by Sony or Microsoft.

But that said it is very interesting to see the night and day reactions here compared to acquisitions by Microsoft.
 
gofreak

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Vertpin said:
What's this talk of Sony purchasing Kadokawa? That would be very interesting as they own From (which I could see as a reason) but is it anything else other than plain wishful thinking?
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It's purely speculation, but the business seems like it would be an attractive target for Sony. Games aside, Sony is big into anime now. They invested in Kadokawa back in Feb for a ~2% stake.

But, maybe all parties are happy with the current status quo. The existing relationship probably already gets Sony some dibbs on anime and games partnerships, an outright acquisition would be a sizeable chunk of change, but I dunno. Maybe an easier way forward would be expanding on the existing partnership instead, more investment perhaps.
 
Patitoloco

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g-m1n1 said:
Not cheap. They are wor500million€.

It would cost them at least 700million€.
Remedy games don't really sell much.
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Well, they don't sell much IMO because they have always been poorly marketed. Alan Wake might be the only one with a decent push behind, QB got mixed ideas because of the TV stuff and Control, well, let's just say 505 Games is not the best at anything.

I think a Remedy game with a good marketing push (not saying it's Sony in particular, just commenting off-topic) could sell really well.
 
Tyaren

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vegtro said:
Is mihoyo owned by anyone? If so, wonder what it would take to get a Chinese developer.
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Triggerhappytel said:
They're probably too expensive as Genshin Impact has been a huge success and I think I read on Wikipedia the other week that they have something like 2600 employees. To acquire them - regardless of whether it would be easy to acquire a large Chinese developer (probably Tencent would be first in line) - would probably be a few billion or more, and selfishly if Sony is looking to spend that sum of money I'd rather they look elsewhere.
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Mihoyo is a big developer. Over 2400 employees and they not just make games, they have their own music and anime studio too.
Them earning over 2 billion in a year just with Genshin Impact makes acquiring it all pretty much unachievable for Sony.

I always hoped that Sony, since they are already close with Mihoyo, could maybe at least contract them as a third party developer to make exclusive AAA JRPGs (without gacha and heavy monetization) for them, but even that is probably not feasible. If Mihoyo already earns billions with their own games what would Sony have to pay them to make a game for them?
 
Arex

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After Bethesda anything is possible / can happen really. Whatever happens happens, I'm just tired already lol.

VanTell said:
Curious what they will buy there are definitely some studio's that would work better by being acquired by Sony or Microsoft.

But that said it is very interesting to see the night and day reactions here compared to acquisitions by Microsoft.
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When you see Sony acquire major publisher (Capcom, SE, etc) then you'll see the those reactions lol. These are more akin to MS' acquisition of Playground Games or Double Fine. I don't remember there being negative reactions to those.
 
Diogo Arez

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gofreak said:
It's purely speculation, but the business seems like it would be an attractive target for Sony. Games aside, Sony is big into anime now. They invested in Kadokawa back in Feb for a ~2% stake.

But, maybe all parties are happy with the current status quo. The existing relationship probably already gets Sony some dibbs on anime and games partnerships, an outright acquisition would be a sizeable chunk of change, but I dunno. Maybe an easier way forward would be expanding on the existing partnership instead, more investment perhaps.
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I don't see them buying Kadokawa for now, but I can see a substantial partnership in the near future, both in anime and games with From.
 
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