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aTokenYeti on 21 December 2021
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PotentHerbs said:
aTokenYeti said:

I disagree than Sony can or should attempt to compete with Microsoft’s first party output in terms of volume, and Sony’s recent acquisition strategy suggests to me that they also believe they cannot and should not attempt to compete on volume. If we look at 2021 in review, you can make a convincing argument that Microsoft is already beating Sony in volume, and that lead will only expand in the coming years, especially after 2022. 

Sony is hitching their wagon to a strategy of a smaller number of high profile, high prestige, large budget blockbuster titles, with the goal being to fight quantity with quality. And that’s what they should be doing, because that’s where their true first party advantage is right now. 

Sony's own financial guidance for investors, as well as the head of Sony Pictures hinting at video game consolidation, disagrees with your assessment. Sony has been talking of expanding their in house development capability since 2019, and they consistently emphasize aggressive investment towards their first party in each of their quarterly reports throughout the year. The amount of acquisitions for Playstation in 2021 suggests Sony is ramping up their efforts to expand their internal teams. 

Sony is allocating 18.4B for their midrange plan, which is focused on their entertainment pillars, but if Playstation is getting a small chunk of that, the amount seems excessive. What exactly are Sony Music or Sony Pictures going to buy? MGM? A mobile publisher that will cost them close to 10B+? The majority of that (10B - 13B) will be going towards Playstation IMO.

Sony has been purchasing mostly support studios and porting houses, which is in line with my previous statement that they are prioritizing a smaller number of big projects on long development cycles. If they were making a ply at volume, the character of the studios they would be acquiring would be different: more housemarque, less bluepoint, nixxes, and firesprite 

I would also not underestimate just how expensive film and music acquisitions can be