VAMatt said:
I don't see this particular deal as bringing about any sort of seismic shift in the industry. The industry is going to change big time over the next decade because of streaming. Streaming is going to be very popular among consumers, but it's a relatively costly business to enter. That means the big businesses that control traditional gaming hardware (Sony and Nintendo. MS is already there)right now will likely have to become even bigger, or will be swallowed up by the existing tech giants. That's going to be true whether this deal closes or not. With this in mind, I suppose it is possible that this deal will come to symbolize the start of the merger mania. However, unless interest rates drop pretty soon, I'm not sure that any other giant mergers are likely, in the near term. They're too expensive to finance right now. |
If streaming is the future of the business, then Microsoft has probably already beaten Sony, because in effect it will become a pissing match on who can spend more, and in that match, Sony can't win. Microsoft averages 16-18 billion in net profit every 3 months (each quarter). The market cap (net worth) of a company like Capcom is $8 billion. That's like 7 weeks of profit for Microsoft, lol.
But I think the problem now for Sony is there is turning back now for MS. They've invested too much into the Bethesda + Acti-Blizzard purchases that they cannot just stop at that and not make Game Pass the Netflix of gaming. They have to go all in now, so I would expect more things like timed exclusives from MS (more than you saw in the past) if they don't necessarily want to go through the regulatory trouble, or they may just say "well if we can have this deal go through, there's no reason like a Capcom buy out wouldn't go through".
Essay Pro