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Forums - Sony - Who will Sony buy next?

gurglesletch on 08 April 2010

They will buy EA. It only has a market cap of 6.26 Billion so anything is possible.




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letsdance on 08 April 2010
ElGranCabeza said:
Soriku said:
ElGranCabeza said:

Sony is in debt? Do you have a link for that? This is a serious question as I was talking about this exact same stuff in another thread. Also you can't talk about "that's in the past" because not even 5 years ago they bought Zipper, if they wanted to they could buy another mid developer like Sucker Punch, RaD or QD in a heartbeat, no doubt.


And I think the biggest argument you can make that L5 wants to stay independent is ROID, I have a feeling ROID will become the Steam of sorts in Japan.


Sony have been continually making losses for a while...that should change eventually, but don't you think they'd rather focus on profit rather than buying mid level devs?

Not even 5 years ago is still before the PS3 launched and before that they were making money off the PS2.

Taking losses does not equal being in debt, which is what you claimed on your post that I quoted.


And I thought Sony would focus on profit but obviously they aren't solely focused on it as they could've easily priced the PS3 at U$319 and not lose any money on it, sales would've still been healthy. They instead priced aggressively and are still losing money per each PS3, maybe they'll break even now on these new, lighter PS3s, but my point still stands. I stand by what I said, I don't think Sony will ever do a hostile takeover, as they learned their lesson from Incognito - everybody left and Incog is now basically dead weight - but they can buy any small to mid sized developer, they'll just make sure if they buy someone they'll make sure people are gonna stay.

They are still working with the people who left Incognito. It's Eat. Sleep. Play now.

"David Jaffe and Scott Campbell have since left the company to form Eat Sleep Play, bringing most of the Incognito team with them"



makingmusic476 on 08 April 2010
CGI-Quality said:
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
If I had a wild guess (or two), Sucker Punch or Quantic Dream.

Like Montana said though, there were good reasons to pick up Media Molecule (small company, just making a widely successful new IP). Sony has good relationships with most of their 2nd Party/Independent Studios. They don't necessarily need/have/want to buy them out.

Insomniac would probably be the least expected for a buy out.

They've moved on to acquire just about every second party they've formed a strong relationship with, save Insomniac (since they seemingly want to stay independent at all costs) and Sucker Punch (possibly for similar reasons, or maybe because Infamous is their first game to near 2 million lol).  They were quick to pick up Media Molecule, Guerrilla Games, and Evolution Studios.  Zipper took a little while, but they were bought in the end.

It's just something Sony does, or at least their western arms do, probably to because its easierto facilitatecooperation betweenstudios it owns (via SCEWWS) than studios it doesn't.

OT:

I'd love to see them buy From Software.  Most of their games are PlayStation exclusive as it is (Demon's Souls, A.C.E., 3D Dot Game Heroes, PSP Armored Core ports), and I'd like to see what they could do with the full backing of Sony, from both a technology and monetary standpoint.  It'll never happen though, given that Demon's Souls is their only remotely successful IP.  Though Demon's Souls shows how scucessful they can be when teaming up with Sony...

I wonder how the Armored Core series would perform with a little love and guidance from Sony's Japan Studio, both in critical and commercial reception.  I don't think it'd take much to make the series go from "cool for mech fans" to great in general.

Do you see Quantic Dream as a future acquisition?

It's possible, but unlikely, imo.  Quantic Dream are far more than just a game development studio.  Plus they seem to like their independence.  Heavy Rain was one of the few IPs Sony didn't end up acquiring when signing a publishing contract, which implies Quantic Dream were pretty set on keeping it.



makingmusic476 on 08 April 2010
letsdance said:
ElGranCabeza said:
Soriku said:
ElGranCabeza said:

Sony is in debt? Do you have a link for that? This is a serious question as I was talking about this exact same stuff in another thread. Also you can't talk about "that's in the past" because not even 5 years ago they bought Zipper, if they wanted to they could buy another mid developer like Sucker Punch, RaD or QD in a heartbeat, no doubt.


And I think the biggest argument you can make that L5 wants to stay independent is ROID, I have a feeling ROID will become the Steam of sorts in Japan.


Sony have been continually making losses for a while...that should change eventually, but don't you think they'd rather focus on profit rather than buying mid level devs?

Not even 5 years ago is still before the PS3 launched and before that they were making money off the PS2.

Taking losses does not equal being in debt, which is what you claimed on your post that I quoted.


And I thought Sony would focus on profit but obviously they aren't solely focused on it as they could've easily priced the PS3 at U$319 and not lose any money on it, sales would've still been healthy. They instead priced aggressively and are still losing money per each PS3, maybe they'll break even now on these new, lighter PS3s, but my point still stands. I stand by what I said, I don't think Sony will ever do a hostile takeover, as they learned their lesson from Incognito - everybody left and Incog is now basically dead weight - but they can buy any small to mid sized developer, they'll just make sure if they buy someone they'll make sure people are gonna stay.

They are still working with the people who left Incognito. It's Eat. Sleep. Play now.

"David Jaffe and Scott Campbell have since left the company to form Eat Sleep Play, bringing most of the Incognito team with them"

And acquiring Incognito was hardly a hostile takeover.  If anything, they formed strong bonds with the guys at the studio.  David Jaffe is a total Sony fanboy these days, and despite now having his own independent studio he seems unwillingly to work with any other company.



letsdance on 08 April 2010
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
If I had a wild guess (or two), Sucker Punch or Quantic Dream.

Like Montana said though, there were good reasons to pick up Media Molecule (small company, just making a widely successful new IP). Sony has good relationships with most of their 2nd Party/Independent Studios. They don't necessarily need/have/want to buy them out.

Insomniac would probably be the least expected for a buy out.

They've moved on to acquire just about every second party they've formed a strong relationship with, save Insomniac (since they seemingly want to stay independent at all costs) and Sucker Punch (possibly for similar reasons, or maybe because Infamous is their first game to near 2 million lol).  They were quick to pick up Media Molecule, Guerrilla Games, and Evolution Studios.  Zipper took a little while, but they were bought in the end.

It's just something Sony does, or at least their western arms do, probably to because its easierto facilitatecooperation betweenstudios it owns (via SCEWWS) than studios it doesn't.

OT:

I'd love to see them buy From Software.  Most of their games are PlayStation exclusive as it is (Demon's Souls, A.C.E., 3D Dot Game Heroes, PSP Armored Core ports), and I'd like to see what they could do with the full backing of Sony, from both a technology and monetary standpoint.  It'll never happen though, given that Demon's Souls is their only remotely successful IP.  Though Demon's Souls shows how scucessful they can be when teaming up with Sony...

I wonder how the Armored Core series would perform with a little love and guidance from Sony's Japan Studio, both in critical and commercial reception.  I don't think it'd take much to make the series go from "cool for mech fans" to great in general.

Do you see Quantic Dream as a future acquisition?

It's possible, but unlikely, imo.  Quantic Dream are far more than just a game development studio.  Plus they seem to like their independence.  Heavy Rain was one of the few IPs Sony didn't end up acquiring when signing a publishing contract, which implies Quantic Dream were pretty set on keeping it.


Or it could be Sony did see series potential. Why aquire a IP if only 1 game comes out for it



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makingmusic476 on 08 April 2010
letsdance said:
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
If I had a wild guess (or two), Sucker Punch or Quantic Dream.

Like Montana said though, there were good reasons to pick up Media Molecule (small company, just making a widely successful new IP). Sony has good relationships with most of their 2nd Party/Independent Studios. They don't necessarily need/have/want to buy them out.

Insomniac would probably be the least expected for a buy out.

They've moved on to acquire just about every second party they've formed a strong relationship with, save Insomniac (since they seemingly want to stay independent at all costs) and Sucker Punch (possibly for similar reasons, or maybe because Infamous is their first game to near 2 million lol).  They were quick to pick up Media Molecule, Guerrilla Games, and Evolution Studios.  Zipper took a little while, but they were bought in the end.

It's just something Sony does, or at least their western arms do, probably to because its easierto facilitatecooperation betweenstudios it owns (via SCEWWS) than studios it doesn't.

OT:

I'd love to see them buy From Software.  Most of their games are PlayStation exclusive as it is (Demon's Souls, A.C.E., 3D Dot Game Heroes, PSP Armored Core ports), and I'd like to see what they could do with the full backing of Sony, from both a technology and monetary standpoint.  It'll never happen though, given that Demon's Souls is their only remotely successful IP.  Though Demon's Souls shows how scucessful they can be when teaming up with Sony...

I wonder how the Armored Core series would perform with a little love and guidance from Sony's Japan Studio, both in critical and commercial reception.  I don't think it'd take much to make the series go from "cool for mech fans" to great in general.

Do you see Quantic Dream as a future acquisition?

It's possible, but unlikely, imo.  Quantic Dream are far more than just a game development studio.  Plus they seem to like their independence.  Heavy Rain was one of the few IPs Sony didn't end up acquiring when signing a publishing contract, which implies Quantic Dream were pretty set on keeping it.


Or it could be Sony did see series potential. Why aquire a IP if only 1 game comes out for it

Because they almost always acquire the IP!  That's the only new IP they've worked on this gen that they didn't acquire that I know of.  Resistance, Demon's Souls, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm, etc. they all owned despite not owning the development studios at the time.



ElGranCabeza on 08 April 2010
letsdance said:
ElGranCabeza said:
Soriku said:
ElGranCabeza said:

Sony is in debt? Do you have a link for that? This is a serious question as I was talking about this exact same stuff in another thread. Also you can't talk about "that's in the past" because not even 5 years ago they bought Zipper, if they wanted to they could buy another mid developer like Sucker Punch, RaD or QD in a heartbeat, no doubt.


And I think the biggest argument you can make that L5 wants to stay independent is ROID, I have a feeling ROID will become the Steam of sorts in Japan.


Sony have been continually making losses for a while...that should change eventually, but don't you think they'd rather focus on profit rather than buying mid level devs?

Not even 5 years ago is still before the PS3 launched and before that they were making money off the PS2.

Taking losses does not equal being in debt, which is what you claimed on your post that I quoted.


And I thought Sony would focus on profit but obviously they aren't solely focused on it as they could've easily priced the PS3 at U$319 and not lose any money on it, sales would've still been healthy. They instead priced aggressively and are still losing money per each PS3, maybe they'll break even now on these new, lighter PS3s, but my point still stands. I stand by what I said, I don't think Sony will ever do a hostile takeover, as they learned their lesson from Incognito - everybody left and Incog is now basically dead weight - but they can buy any small to mid sized developer, they'll just make sure if they buy someone they'll make sure people are gonna stay.

They are still working with the people who left Incognito. It's Eat. Sleep. Play now.

"David Jaffe and Scott Campbell have since left the company to form Eat Sleep Play, bringing most of the Incognito team with them"

That was kind of my point, there's no one left at Incog now and ESP can develop a multiplat game if they want or Sony has to invest more money to get the talent back in house again, and keep reinvesting money on the same thing is never a good thing. I don't know why they all left Incog, so I don't know if Sony would risk investing the money in ESP only to have them all leave and form a new studio again and leave Sony with nothing but some IP names and an empty office.



ElGranCabeza on 08 April 2010
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
makingmusic476 said:
CGI-Quality said:
If I had a wild guess (or two), Sucker Punch or Quantic Dream.

Like Montana said though, there were good reasons to pick up Media Molecule (small company, just making a widely successful new IP). Sony has good relationships with most of their 2nd Party/Independent Studios. They don't necessarily need/have/want to buy them out.

Insomniac would probably be the least expected for a buy out.

They've moved on to acquire just about every second party they've formed a strong relationship with, save Insomniac (since they seemingly want to stay independent at all costs) and Sucker Punch (possibly for similar reasons, or maybe because Infamous is their first game to near 2 million lol).  They were quick to pick up Media Molecule, Guerrilla Games, and Evolution Studios.  Zipper took a little while, but they were bought in the end.

It's just something Sony does, or at least their western arms do, probably to because its easierto facilitatecooperation betweenstudios it owns (via SCEWWS) than studios it doesn't.

OT:

I'd love to see them buy From Software.  Most of their games are PlayStation exclusive as it is (Demon's Souls, A.C.E., 3D Dot Game Heroes, PSP Armored Core ports), and I'd like to see what they could do with the full backing of Sony, from both a technology and monetary standpoint.  It'll never happen though, given that Demon's Souls is their only remotely successful IP.  Though Demon's Souls shows how scucessful they can be when teaming up with Sony...

I wonder how the Armored Core series would perform with a little love and guidance from Sony's Japan Studio, both in critical and commercial reception.  I don't think it'd take much to make the series go from "cool for mech fans" to great in general.

Do you see Quantic Dream as a future acquisition?

It's possible, but unlikely, imo.  Quantic Dream are far more than just a game development studio.  Plus they seem to like their independence.  Heavy Rain was one of the few IPs Sony didn't end up acquiring when signing a publishing contract, which implies Quantic Dream were pretty set on keeping it.

SCEE owns the copyrights to Heavy Rain, QD owns the trademark to the game.



makingmusic476 on 08 April 2010
ElGranCabeza said:
letsdance said:
ElGranCabeza said:
Soriku said:
ElGranCabeza said:

Sony is in debt? Do you have a link for that? This is a serious question as I was talking about this exact same stuff in another thread. Also you can't talk about "that's in the past" because not even 5 years ago they bought Zipper, if they wanted to they could buy another mid developer like Sucker Punch, RaD or QD in a heartbeat, no doubt.


And I think the biggest argument you can make that L5 wants to stay independent is ROID, I have a feeling ROID will become the Steam of sorts in Japan.


Sony have been continually making losses for a while...that should change eventually, but don't you think they'd rather focus on profit rather than buying mid level devs?

Not even 5 years ago is still before the PS3 launched and before that they were making money off the PS2.

Taking losses does not equal being in debt, which is what you claimed on your post that I quoted.


And I thought Sony would focus on profit but obviously they aren't solely focused on it as they could've easily priced the PS3 at U$319 and not lose any money on it, sales would've still been healthy. They instead priced aggressively and are still losing money per each PS3, maybe they'll break even now on these new, lighter PS3s, but my point still stands. I stand by what I said, I don't think Sony will ever do a hostile takeover, as they learned their lesson from Incognito - everybody left and Incog is now basically dead weight - but they can buy any small to mid sized developer, they'll just make sure if they buy someone they'll make sure people are gonna stay.

They are still working with the people who left Incognito. It's Eat. Sleep. Play now.

"David Jaffe and Scott Campbell have since left the company to form Eat Sleep Play, bringing most of the Incognito team with them"

That was kind of my point, there's no one left at Incog now and ESP can develop a multiplat game if they want or Sony has to invest more money to get the talent back in house again, and keep reinvesting money on the same thing is never a good thing. I don't know why they all left Incog, so I don't know if Sony would risk investing the money in ESP only to have them all leave and form a new studio again and leave Sony with nothing but some IP names and an empty office.

They formed ESP because they wanted to focus on smaller, more acrade-y titles like Calling All Cars.  Pretty ironic, considering they went to work on a new Twisted Metal shortly after finishing Calling All Cars.  Jaffe just can't stay away from his baby.  xD

Also, not all the guys from Incognito went to ESP.  The leftovers later left to form Lightbox, which is now working on Starhawk.  I have no idea why they left, considering they're working on the same type of game they were before (Incognito's last game was Warhawk), but it may be because of the weakened and unorganized condition of Incognito after the ESP guys left.  It was a shell of its former self, so they probably decided to just start over, taking the team leads from Warhawk and building a new studio around them.

Edit:

So they both have some control over the name?  That's odd.



Zipper on 08 April 2010

I think one of the reasons why David Jaffe left was because he said he wasn't getting paid as much as he should have