| Vinther1991 said: This doesn't seem like a particular good deal. |
I agree. The title should read "SONY bought Destiny for 3.6 billion".
One could argue that MS overspent buying the studios they bought because the talents behind the massive IPs will flee and no can force them to stay, but you can easily counter-argue this as MS invested in IPs and a legacy that's been in the making for decades, not just in studios and developers. If all Bethesda/Activasion veterans leave, MS get to keep The Elder Scrolls and CoD, the legacy that will make GP the go-to gaming service. On the other hand, if the Halo-makers leave Bungie, Sony gets to keep Destiny..... and I don't believe this particular IP is worth the risk.
Certainly, the incentive for developers to leave first party studios and start from scratch is there, including the financial incentive (start a successful third party studio and get bought years later for billions of dollars... profits). Not to mention, the freedom that comes with working for an independent studio.
To me, it sounds like SONY made a freak-out acquisition. The reality is acquisitions are getting expensive and SONY could've bought more for less last year and definitely during the PS4 era, someone is a little late to the party...
I truly believed SONY's partnerships is one way to work with successful developers and make new SONY-owned IP without the burden of expanding your studios or the risk of making the wrong acquisition. I think these partnerships are a much better response to what MS has been doing, although I acknowledge it isn't nearly enough. To be fair, MS brought nuclear weapons to a gunfight, I don't know if SONY can ever respond appropriately to the massive blows MS has delivered.
Back to Bungie acquisition and the importance of IPs. Theoretically, KONAMI would've been a much better buyout, even if you close down all of KONAMIs studios and fire all their developers after the acquisition. Give MGS to Naughty Dog, give Castlevania to Santa Monica, and watch as both games turn into gold (a 3D castlevania by SM following the Netflix series art style, oh my..) . In addition, they would've given their future gaming services a much bigger value than they have by acquiring Bungie.
Last edited by LurkerJ - on 01 February 2022
