| ConservagameR said: I didn't realize how profitable Valve was. Based on estimates anyway. For that reason it would be a decent buy because it would cost quite a bit less than Take Two. Sort of another Bungie situation, kind if, just larger. Now would Gabe even consider selling? Would he even partner or merge? Could Jim work out a deal with him, because Gabes like a god. Then there's the positioning as to whether that would help PS out enough against MS directly with what they're doing, or would it just be a good useful efficient buy in general? I'd say agree to also make a full OS beyond Steam OS, and compete with Windows, if they were going to do this. MS will stop, but not until they feel they've got Sony where they can't leap ahead again like last gen with PS4, or until regulators finally say enough, whenever that would be. Even then, MS can still (attempt to) buy medium and smaller studios, and if the regulators don't like it, then change the deals to be a lot like Sony and Bungie. As long as those borderline too much buys mean the studios can remain multi platform, it's going to be hard for the regulators to stop it, especially because that could screw over Sony real good too for their potential future buys. Either way, MS needs more yet, or they can just 180 again and make way more games exclusive than they implied they would. That would save them from buying too much more. I'd say Sony needs more Western games. The brand has kept westernizing for a long time now. They've got plenty of everything else, and those Japanese devs will want to stick with Sony as long as they keep treating them right. I think ABK would be a cake walk for MS compared to trying to buy up Japanese studio's. If Sony let's MS buy up or partner with all the big western studios, their going to lose some of what they've gained. I dunno how much exactly, but it's not something to dismiss. Sony's first party is stellar, but it depends on how much MS is allowed to keep buying. Every time Sony get's a bit ahead, I see MS making another purchase to counter it if they feel behind or even threatened. Imagine if Sony pulled what MS is doing right now, but back during PS1 or PS2. Have Sony bet the farm and just go on publisher and developer buying spree's, instead of go crazy with PS3 hardware. Can you imagine how much trouble MS would be in? Unless MS followed suit shortly after in which case, either way, things today would not only be way different, but not so great I'd argue. Sony can't just rely on trying to make new games or similar better games as good as they are at it. There's too much to that for it to work out long term against MS when they can just buy like they can. Acquisitions or even just money hatting once PS is running on cash fumes would eventually become a major problem. The XB nice guy, we love old games, we want cross play and sharing, we believe Sony's way is the wrong way, BS was clear to some before but should be crystal clear now. Sony's way is mostly right, just Sony doesn't have near enough money, where as MS does. Time for Sony to stop playing nice back. |
I mean, Microsoft won't end up buying every publisher on the market, they just ignited the arms race for the industry to consolidate.
As for what Valve brings to PlayStation, its similar to Bungie, in that Sony will get another, arguably more prestigious, FPS/multiplayer developer that can fill the void if/when Microsoft pulls Activision Blizzard from the platform: Half Life, Counterstrike, Team Fortress 3, DOTA, Left 4 Dead, and upcoming projects like Neon Prime. The best part of this hypothetical is Sony would passively recoup their investment via Steam.
It's a safe play, but it would instantly make Sony Corp more profitable, while simultaneously giving Sony Interactive a massive boost.
