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Forums - Sony - Sony paid $229 million for Insomniac

Keiji on 11 February 2020
Hiku said:
Jpcc86 said:

Mostly in cash?

I'm guessing it doesn't mean in paper bills, but rather mostly money instead of stock and bonds, etc. 

Then again, maybe Sony rolled up with some trucks full of cash.

LOL

I have read a rumor stating that we could have a new Ratchet & Clank for the launch of the PS5. It would be so great, I love R&C. Marvel Spider-Man was ultra fun and very beautiful.

Last edited by Keiji - on 11 February 2020

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DonFerrari on 11 February 2020
twintail said:
DonFerrari said:

Thumbs up for the Yakuza gif.

@OP, Insomniac basically paid for themselves with the profit they gave Sony with SpiderMan, still was great deal for the owners, hope some bonus goes to the employees as well. And now that they have the tools, people and Sony financing I expect the level of game they do will be on SM level and the next R&C will be great (I do like the IP).

If Insomniac can continue their output we can expect some awesome things. I am curious what they decide to do with Ratchet, and what direction they go with VR. 

Yep.

They can have a new RC near PS5 launch, been quite sometime since the last.

VR games don't consume that much manpower unless they go for a bang and give us a truly AAA on VR and that would be bonks good.

And will they make SM2 or put another franchise from Marvel to be truly great instead of the shitty tie-ins and 3rd party rubbish we have for today?



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

SammyGiireal on 11 February 2020
LurkerJ said:

An obscene amount of money for a studio that has not made an original system-seller-kind-of-IP since forever. Spider-man isn't theirs, once Marvel chooses to give it to another developer, you'll be left with forgotten IPs.

Moderated for baiting - axumblade

I believe they will be able to make future Spidey games as long as Sony has the license. Even without Spider Man though, Insomaniac is absolutely worth the money. The have crafted great games before Spider Man, and would continue to do so if Sony every loses the license. They are a talented studio, a team doesn't craft some thing as fantastic as their Spider Man game without some serious talent. They have earned that money.



Lafiel on 11 February 2020
Azzanation said:
Considering how much money Sony and Xbox earn via Subs, i am suprised they havnt brought the whole industry out.

The price for Insomniac is dirt cheap however curious to know why the price was that low when compared to Mojang whose value was $3b for basically 1 IP while Insomniac would have afew IPs and a incredibly successful Spider Man game.

it was so cheap because Insomniac's own IPs aren't all that big (R&C and Resistance afaik already were owned by Sony) - having super veteran/successful devs doesn't really increase the studio value much, as these people can easily leave if they don't like the new owners



JuliusHackebeil on 11 February 2020

1997, 2001, 2010, 2017
Those were the only 4 years that insomniac did not release a game. It was multiple games in many years.
Surely in some years they were smaller titles. Still, their productivity can not be overstated. They are a powerhouse.

And I sure hope their ratio of bigger and smaller titles stays as is, since less production value often means more risk taken in game designe and narrative.



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DonFerrari on 11 February 2020
Lafiel said:
Azzanation said:
Considering how much money Sony and Xbox earn via Subs, i am suprised they havnt brought the whole industry out.

The price for Insomniac is dirt cheap however curious to know why the price was that low when compared to Mojang whose value was $3b for basically 1 IP while Insomniac would have afew IPs and a incredibly successful Spider Man game.

it was so cheap because Insomniac's own IPs aren't all that big (R&C and Resistance afaik already were owned by Sony) - having super veteran/successful devs doesn't really increase the studio value much, as these people can easily leave if they don't like the new owners

Well they are also buying the name and recognition of the studio, and if they keep most of the current management they shouldn't lose many employees.



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

sales2099 on 11 February 2020

It’s a little funny from my perspective because that’s a lot of money for a studio that has been making exclusive games for Sony almost exclusively



Xbox: Best hardware, Game Pass best value, best BC, more 1st party genres and multiplayer titles. 

 

Mr Puggsly on 11 February 2020
twintail said:
Azzanation said:
Considering how much money Sony and Xbox earn via Subs, i am suprised they havnt brought the whole industry out.

The price for Insomniac is dirt cheap however curious to know why the price was that low when compared to Mojang whose value was $3b for basically 1 IP while Insomniac would have afew IPs and a incredibly successful Spider Man game.

Their most popular IPs belong to Sony. SM isn't theirs either.

Maybe MS overpaid for Mojang. Maybe not.

Simple really. 

Do we know any other studios that were purchased for this much while owning no significant IPs though?

Minecraft is one of the biggest video games ever. It has continued to sell great and stay active for about a decade. The story games also did well, merchandise, etc. It certainly doesen't appear to be a bad investment thus far.

Nobody is arguing Sony made a bad purchase. It just seems like a lot of money for no major IPs. Essentially no other studio would pay that much because their big games are in Sony's hands already.



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Mr Puggsly on 11 February 2020
think-man said:
Mr Puggsly said:
That seems like a lot to me given they didn't get any notable IPs.

It clearly a talented studio, maybe they have other projects we don't know about.

Sunset Overdrive is semi notable, though not worth that much of course. They are a pretty big studio usually developing 3+ games at a time. In the last few years their output on Sony only devices has slowed down alot as they became more multiplatform. Now having full control of the studio they can block their games going to the competition whilst increasing the Playstation brand.

They could have exclusively worked with Sony if they would have simply funded all their projects. Sunset Overdrive happened simply because MS paid for it.

Anyway, I just assumed they would have paid less. You'd think a studio worth that much could have funded Sunset Overdrive on their own and made it muliplat.



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Keiji on 11 February 2020

Sony bought the talents behind the studio, simple as that. The same people who made the excellent Marvel Spider-Man and the fantastic Ratchet & Clank games.