twintail said:
As Potent already pointed out to you: the acquisition is only 2.4B. The other 1.2B is part of an employee incentive package to avoid losing talent when Bungie are on the verge of unveiling and releasing their new live-service IP, 'Matter'. This 1.2B is also not a lump-sum: but rather will be paid out to employees over a few years. This tells us that Sony is in fact very confident in what Bungie is working on that they aren't willing to lose staff and therefore jeopardize development of the game. Sony is getting Destiny 2, Bungie's next live-service title 'Matter', 1 or 2 other games in development, cross-media push with Destiny (and eventually their next title), and extensive live-service knowledge which will affect the 10 live-service titles Sony have confirmed to have in development. Insomniac of course was a fantastic purchase based on their value. However, Insomniac didn't bring with them any notable IP nor were they going to contribute to a gap in Sony's portfolio. Apples to oranges. |
DonFerrari said:
Anything put in comparison to Insomniac is ridiculous on value. This is more like Minecraft deal, at the moment it seemed obtuse for MS to pay 2.5B for an Indie studio with a single game, but well it seems like it paid back. We will discover in the next 10 years if this was a good buy (right now it doesn`t seem like it, but as also pointed out maybe if inflation wasn`t so rampant and consolidation so strong this deal wouldn`t be made or would be cheaper). Also besides the 1.2B for retention it is quite possible that some of the other 2.4B have a good portion dedicated to increase team count, headcount, new locations, tools, etc. We may never know the truth, but maybe in the end the leadership won`t pocket as much money as we first though. And it is quite possible that there is very strong terms in the contract to prevent Bungie trying any shenanigans like pocketing the money and in 5 years running with it. |
PotentHerbs said:
Absolute maximum $200M per year based on what? The upcoming Destiny 2 DLC itself has over 1 Million pre orders. The game is consistently one of the most played games on various platforms since its launch in 2017 & has a ton of MTX. It's also an IP that lends itself well for Sony Pictures, in a decade where video game movies and television adaptations are more popular, and profitable than ever. You also can't ignore Bungie's track record for creating popular multiplayer games despite owning one IP. Some people think Starfield could be huge based on Bethesda's track record, and rightfully so, but the same can be applied to Bungie and Matter. And no, Sony acquired Bungie for 2.4B, the 1.2B is after the acquisition closes and will be distributed over several years, and it's not even under Sony's M&A budget. Bidding prices nowadays are going to be raised and it has nothing to do with Bungie's deal. Your example with Square Enix is flawed, especially since Sony and Square Enix Holdings are multimedia companies, an acquisition would benefit multiple arms within Sony Corp and not just PlayStation, production autonomy might not matter as much as overall synergy. PlayStation isn't even the first platform holder to offer "independent publishing" post acquisition, but somehow, those kind of terms will only be brought up when negotiating with Sony? What if other publishers want to have a Minecraft deal with Microsoft and this Bungie deal emboldens that? Its not as simple as twisting Sony's arm until they bend to certain terms and agreements like you're making it out to be. |
So just to be clear, SNY screwed themselves because they paid too much, and now everyone else being acquired will want way more?
Correct?..
Especially from MS. Who has Challenger Deep pockets, unlike SNY's Grand Banks.
How would this be such a negative thing for only SNY going forward?
Which brand is more in need of games and (quick) growth?
If anything, overpaying may very well lead to unacceptable future purchase demands, which means a (major) slowdown in consolidation.
