We live in interesting times for the business of video game.
How should the different companies react:
Microsoft has just bought two cross platform publishers to feed it subscription service. Do they need more?
Nintendo has merged its handheld and home console business into the highly successful Switch. Do they produce a Super Switch or do they need a new gimmick?
Sony is selling all the PS5 that can produce but developers are being bought by Microsoft or lured away to the greater install base of the switch. How should they respond? Do they need to make more acquisitions?
Just wrote this in another thread but is probably more appropriate here in fairness:
If I were running Sony (and this will probably be an indicator of what Sony shouldn’t do, as I have no experience of running a corporation), I’d go ‘all in’. While I’m not a fan of Sony buying publishers, as I believe that a strong third party system is incredibly important… if Sony doesn’t act Microsoft will. So I’d take a sizeable enough loan out (around £25bil) and basically buy up the Japanese third party business (Square, Capcom, Sega, Konami etc.) and create a clear ‘divide’ between what is being offered by both brands. Xbox would provide most of the Western games and Sony would provide most of the Eastern output. It would be a clear usp for both systems. From my knowledge of Sony though, this would be (and they’d probably be right too) considered far too aggressive a move… and I’d be very surprised if it actually happened. Instead, they will probably hope to become a more ‘adult’ orientated Nintendo, which could work I suppose.
Ultimately Microsoft just has far too much spending ‘powah’ and will ‘win’ by buying the industry… but if Sony could make themselves valuable enough (by owning ‘enough’ ip and creatives), even if they can no longer chug along, a corporation of Microsoft’s size (Google, Amazon, Apple etc.) could well look to invest in them, in an effort to prevent one of their competitors (in this case Microsoft) getting too big. I’m not saying that I’d like Sony to be bought… and I’m aware of how difficult it is for non-Japanese bodies to buy Japanese companies but anything is possible.
In terms of Microsoft, they do need more Japanese games on Game Pass so I am sure they will be looking into acquiring a Japanese publisher next. They definitely have enough Western studios.
Nintendo should just keep making systems like the Switch because it's such a great concept. The only issue is that it needs to be more powerful because there are just so many third-party titles (but also some first-party titles like Xenoblade) that underperform on Switch.
Lastly, I do think Sony is going to make some big acquisitions next. In all honesty, they should stop buying timed exclusivity for certain games and just buy out the publishers. Instead of keeping away Final Fantasy from Xbox users temporarily, just buy up Square Enix and put yourself in a better position permanently.
As a side note, I am worried though that because Sony is focusing on the Western market a lot and stopped caring about the Japanese market, that they won't be acquiring any Japanese publishers. And I mean, just look at the studios that Sony has acquired so far: all of them are Western. Perhaps now this will be a wake-up call for them to start caring more about Japanese franchises and developers once again.
Microsoft — I’d purchase EA and go for the kill blow. Make all of EA content exclusive to Xbox and GamePass outlets, as well as COD. Then play my fiddle from the rooftops while I watch the world burn.
Nintendo — keep making Switch until the console sales drop, then release Switch + or Switch 2 with a little more processing power. Keep printing Mario Kart 8 cartridges and hire a new assistant to count my money as it keeps rolling in.
Sony — I’d try to see if I could afford Square-Enix or Capcom, but would probably settle for timed exclusive deals on the large AAA single player games. I’d make Spartacus have day 1 first party for small low selling games, and keep big budget releases off for a year. I’d add anime streaming and Sony movie and TV access as a consolation. I’d put Spartacus on PC. I’d visit Push Square every day and see how the fans like my plan and adjust accordingly. I’d play my PS5 all day too. You know, market research.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I’ve seen the future 😉 Sony pairs with Netflix, symbiotically bolstering PlayStation studios and Netflix’s desire to enter the gaming market. Apple buys Nintendo, further strengthening their business model of brainwashing people into forever paying money for the same product. Microsoft flogs gamepass on absolutely everything, including PlayStation. Thus concludes my well thought out and well researched prophetic hypothesis.
“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” C.S. Lewis
they should all come together in the name of love for gaming and create the Nintendo StationBox. i’d drop $800 for a real all-in-one console even if it means paying more for online and games costing almost $100 .
but then again , PC gaming would probably crush it . This really is some weird times we’re living in
Ok, here’s an off-the-wall prediction for you. Hear me out —
So Sony says there are more studio acquisitions coming up.
Greg Miller says there’s something big in the works.
Sony announced that there would be select first party games on the new PS+ mid-tier subscription service. They named God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Death Stranding, Returnal, and…. Mortal Kombat 11.
If we play the “one of these things is not like the others” game that you play on grade school, obviously the MK11 sticks out like a sore thumb.
So it begs the question: Could NetherRealm Studios be a pending Sony acquisition? We know WB Interactive is looking to sell off studios while they merge with Discovery, and have already sold Playdemic to EA last year as part of this process. Maybe Sony is planning to add the fighting game studio to their family. It would certainly fit their grand plans of adding live-service games to the Sony library.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution except Ryan never said “1st party” in that blog. Just that there would be 300+ games including stuff like <names some 1st party games and MK11>
It’s still a pretty good theory - I’m not sure Netherealm would count as “something big” though.
they already bought EVO. this gives them leverage in a pottential buyout of a fighting game dev.
i do think that Netherealm can be considered big. they also have injustice.
it's not bethesda and activision big,but MK and injustice are popular franshises and the fighting games with the biggest appeal to casual players aswell.
if sony where to make the MK series a console exclusive (also releasing on pc) it would be a big deal.
@jdv95@Voltan Yeah, I’m not sure how the Injustice license would work. But it would be great to see an accomplished fighting game developer create the next PlayStation All-Stars. Or maybe even a new IP, although it seems like the competitive fighting game industry is fairly saturated.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution if WB were to sell Nethereal, it definitely wouldn't include DC characters, which could make developing Injustice more difficult/expensive but probably not entirely impossible.
Still, the rumors seem to be suggesting it's not a one studio type of deal... or they are just hyping up nothing
@Voltan I thought about it being the all of WB Interactive since there was a short while a couple years ago that rumors were WB wanted to sell and I think Microsoft was sniffing about, but I think the valuation of all of WBI is like $50 billion or something and that seems way out of Sony’s price range. That would include not only NetherRealm but also all of Rocksteady, Portkey games, Avalanche, Monolith, etc and that’s just too big to consider realistic, especially since they each have some huge games coming soon
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Yep, the Hogwarths game alone makes it very unlikely. Hype is huge for that one. And then they also got all the DC games announced, some coming soon - and it's all WB licenses. It's not like Sony can buy the entirety of Warner Brothers
AT&T bought Time Warner for $108.7 billion in 2018. They have sold things in the past. Their mobile gaming division to EA and Crunchyroll to Sony so it isn’t out of the question.
But I expect the people who work there work there because they want to work on DC ip. I suspect WBI would be less valuable to Sony it is to Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers it self is just too big and owned by an even bigger parent. @Voltan@Th3solution
More acquisitions and sales news today. Not surprised Quantic Dream was ready to sell to the highest bidder, considering their recent history.
The FromSoft share sales to Sony and Tencent is interesting though. Although both hold minority shares, I think this is rather strategic for Sony. The inclusion of Tencent is indeed nauseating, but that aside, with 15% or so ownership of From, Sony is positioned in a more defensive position to protect any window shopping interests from Microsoft into the crown jewel of independent studios that is FromSoftware. Also, it’s a rather heavy blow to Bandai-Namco, who has been publishing the recent From output - Darks Souls 1-3 and Elden Ring, with Sekiro coming through Activision. So with From able to use the added investment from Sony and Tencent to be able to self-publish, I think From comes out of this a lot stronger. Likely they will keep things multiplatform, but Sony at least has an inside track if Microsoft has thoughts about trying to get a From Xbox exclusive going.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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