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They might have $5B to buy a publisher or some studios, but they could also finance more if they want to buy something that costs more than $5B.
I wonder what they will do with it. I am not one to shower praise on massive corporations, but this one here, Sony, has taken good care of its fanbase for so long by giving them the games they want. Thus, it is no surprise why it has a strong and dedicated following.
My wish list is about the same as the vast majority of the Playstation fanbase
I) Square-Enix
II) Capcom
III) Koei-Tecmo
IV) From Software
I have more, but I will leave it at that.
If the ABK acquisition goes through, they should absolutely do this, but, hopefully, the ABK acquisition is (mercifully) stopped and Sony does not buy a publisher.
@TheCollector316 @Snake_V5 As long as Sony says that it will still keep Square Enix multiplatform, I'd be on board with that.
@GamingFan4Lyf they would stay on Nintendo id be sure, sells too much on there. doubt anything would hit xbox tbh
Buy back Japan Studios & get to work.
As for Square, maybe back in the PS1/PS2 era, but they are a shadow of what they used to be now.
Sega would be the way to go: actual good RPGs from Atlus, Like A Dragon, Sonic, Total War, etc. Not to mention the massive back catalogue & arcade titles. They would add some much needed variety to Playstation's first party.
I would have loved for Sony to acquire Square Enix but it’s worthless to me without Tomb Raider.
@Snake_V5 Their not even worth buying at this point. Everything they made is practically exclusive to Playstation. Plus they really have nothing left to offer besides Final Fantasy. This company is a few more failed games away from going under.
No matter how well I think other publishers would fit or would benefit from managerial restructuring, I’m inherently against industry consolidation (I kid you not the Activision acquisition genuinely made my decision that I wanted a PS5 over an XSX cuz how much I hate it on principle). I know this is idealist and unrealistic in a post Bethesda acquisition world, but I would really prefer if they bought developers they frequently partner least—or at the very most small publishers that wouldn’t heavily affect the industry (like ArcSys)
I definitely agree, and I am one that provided a list of IV developers Sony should acquire above in a separate comment, so I definitely take account and responsibility for that.
However, this is the way things are now. Everyone was definitely okay with developer acquisitions, but once you buy a publisher, it changes things. Thus, the time we are at the present.
@Snake_V5 $69 billion is a ridiculous chunk of money even for Microsoft, but a corporation of that stature effectively has bottomless pockets as it stands. The company as a whole is valued at around $2 trillion these days, which puts it at the top of the tech pile along with Apple and Google.
Basically, as far as the current market goes, Microsoft has enough money to do whatever the hell it wants for the foreseeable future. That's not to say it can go around spending $69 billion on everything, but it's so insanely wealthy that you can't count anything out — especially with this Activision deal setting a completely new precedent.
@Korgon I think it’s moreso that Sony acquiring them would be better because Microsoft have a tendency to run their newly acquired studios into the ground. They’re like the smoke monster from Ant Man 3 (Alioth) - anything they touch is dissolved and reduced to nothing 😂 at least with Sony they have a chance.
@ShogunRok they just had a lot of layoffs though , so they are spending money , but also cutting back on some spending. i feel like if this deal does work out , they just had two pretty major deals , i don't see them letting ms buy another major studio at least just yet.
@ShogunRok I doubt though if this ABK deal goes through that Microsoft wouldn't even be allowed anymore to buy another publisher after the size of this one.
@Ken_Kaniff That's why Sony buying them would be a good thing, they wouldn't go under then. Plus don't forget that the boss of Square Enix is changing in June to someone else, maybe everything will turn around once that happens.
if not square i'd rather see them invest in some new start up studios , like ones they are already working with like Deviation Games , or others like studio Dark Passenger , Rebel wolfs , maybe a few others , not sure who owns the last two if they are owned.
That's enough to buy either sqaure or capcom,so hopefully they put that money to good use soon. Other great acquisitions would be cd project red or get atlus from sega.
@Neonix Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts are massive sellers. They also own the Nier IP which is also a big seller.
@Korgon it's more to do with keeping them from Microsofts hands over making them sony exclusives.
@twitchtvpat Nah you're right, not sure the competition regulators would let them, either!
@awp69 why? Elder scrolls 6 isn't coming to playstation so what makes you think final fantasy would have to come to xbox?
I wish I had $5 billion to invest in stuff. 😭 That should probably be clarified that that is specifically for investing in stuff. Everything would be earmarked for other reasons, like costs, dividends, advertising budgets, and so on. So having $5 billion handy is not a bad thing to have. Especially when you can buy more than 20 Insomniacs with that cash. Unfortunately I think Microsoft's one-sided arms race has pushed the price of a studio up significantly, so I don't think Sony will be buying any more studios for the next few years.
$5 Billion huh.
Well, I'd either pull a Tencent and buy some stakes in companies or I'd buy exclusive rights to some games, mainly huge japanese IPs.
@UltimateOtaku91 What do you think’s been going on with the Activision deal? The government entities have been talking about parity with CoD. You don’t think Microsoft would push for the same thing for a big franchise like Final Fantasy if Sony tried to buy Square? And Sony may even offer it to MS to get that deal through. Probably a better chance of seeing Final Fantasy in that circ*mstance than Sony paying for exclusivity separately.
Ember Lab would be a small studio to buy for a tiny fraction of that amount. With as good as their first game was, they have a lot of room to grow.
@awp69 that's because of call of duty being a massive multiplayer game, similar to Minecraft when that was bought. Whereas final fantasy is a single player game, in which for new single player Bethesda titles won't be coming to playstation, same with Activision with titles like crash and spyro will be xbox exclusive. Only game being brought up is call of duty due to its massive install base and revenue.
I genuinely don't understand the hopes from many for the to buy Square. Square has been an absolute mess, destroying nearly everything it touches beyond FF.
Would be such a terrible move
Fromsoft would be smart but there is arrogance and mismanagement in both these studios that would be almost impossible to shakeup.
@ItsBritneyB_tch @stvevan @UltimateOtaku91 @Eadgar
Oh for sure I understand it's the way things are right now. It's just a bit sad that it's gotten to the point of dreaming about it is all. 🙁
I'd rather dream of a surprise game getting announced as a fan more than publisher acquisitions is all I was saying.
Ugh what a depressing comment I've made. Sorry to bring down the mood!😅
They should get Deviation games and call it a day.
Square Enix honestly makes sense. It doesn't hurt xbox because they don't have the games anyways. So that would be the most sane acquisition.
These comments 🤔 what happened to buying developers being bad or is it only bad when it's not sony? Either way that 5 million isn't all going to the video game division of sony, all these prospective buys mentioned i can see sony being too tight fisted to buy and capcom they have already missed their chance, they should have done it during SFV life cycle.
I think the only publisher i would want Sony (and MS) to really buy is Konami because we might actually get more games then. People on here begging Sony to buy SE or Capcom are just as bad as the MS fanboys who really want MS to get Activision. As always gamers are so short sighted and don't see the harm being caused in the long run.
If i was sony i would use the money on infrastructure in key areas, like cloud and streaming for PS+, throw some money to continue growing Naughty Dog and others, as those games hit the hardest. Theres no company they can buy for 3-5 billion that they don’t already have great relations with. Seems like most of big deals got done already, lot’s of little ones left of course, i just want Microsoft to land the ABK deal, Grab Sega later down the line in years or even longer and than the Big 3 are pretty secure and now it’s time for games, games and more games, they both have plenty of studios and IP’s.
@WallyWest yea Konami needs to be acquired for the good of the video game industry. However there are teases of their return so who knows…
@Ralizah not to mention most of Square Sucks. People forget those Japanese studios aren’t just going to give all their IP’s to Sony when Nintendo owns Japan. Once a Switch 2 drops with more power Capcom, Square etc etc will want to be on that platform as well as PS5, not just the PS5. Nintendo Switch can not be ignored and Japanese studios are well aware of that.i agree a Square purchase would be pointless, but not for sony but for Square. Square can have Sony and Nintendo money both.
@Green-Bandit most of square big games ain’t even on the switch and why can Microsoft buy Activision and Bethesda most of they’re games sold way better on PlayStation. You a Xbox fanboy just admit it you said xbox don’t have exclusive right now because of developers just getting they’re hands on ue5 lol.
@4kgk2 yet you have yet to answer my question of where the UE5 games are. I’ll help you there is none. Yes I LOVE my Xbox, but I LOVE my PS5 also. So if thats a fan boy, hook me up. Why can MS buy them? Cause they can! It’s called money and the other company wanting that money. Seems like a question you knew the answer to. But in Japan Switch is not to be ignored. Even more so when a Switch 2 comes out with more capabilities. I admit to loving all consoles and own them all, seems like the one that should admit to being a fanboy is you.
@Green-Bandit you a fool if you think the switch 2 will be as powerful as the ps5. you be lucky if the switch 2 is as powerful as a ps4 pro. I don’t like xbox because it doesn’t have any aaa exclusives I’m interest in.
@4kgk2 key word SOON. Soon would mean still nothing out on that engine at current time of writing.
@4kgk2 i would be a fool if i thought that and i don’t think that, rumor has the next switch at PS4, not Pro base model PS4 specs. But that helps them a ton to get ports, and tons of Japanese support as it will sell in gangbusters with BC and good launch titles. Not like Nintendo don’t smoke everyone in Japan. It’s good business for those companies to have options and most of them are doing well supported by Sony, not owned by them.
@4kgk2 Finally something you said that makes sense to me. I can respect you not liking Xbox or any Platform for that reason. Makes sense. I love Xbox cause of the controller, my friends list, services and third party games, no hiding they are 3 wheel in big exclusives.
@StrawberryWave Yeah i think it would also be difficult for that pairing to take place. But not impossible to my limited understanding of the rule. Sega used to be so cool in the day until sony used its money and infrastructure, tech to force them out, sounds like what others think MS is trying to do to sony. It’s just business, no feelings in Business for me. I just want good games with great controllers and services, features. I get a little of that from all 3 and if i didn’t I wouldn’t spend my money or time on them.
@Green-Bandit I owned a og Xbox and Xbox 360 the last two good xbox generations when Microsoft actually cared about console gaming . Now Microsoft only care about services and cloud the xbox console is secondary.
@Green-Bandit The current split, where AAA titles go to Sony and everything else hits Switch (and sometimes PS5) seems ideal to me from a Nintendo fan perspective. And with 80%+ of Octopath 2's sales going toward the Switch release, I doubt they'll want to change that up any time soon.
@4kgk2 yeah no doubt man, Xbox 360 is my favorite console of all time, but let’s not kid ourselves here that was a long time ago and even it came with it’s set of issues. I loved the heck out of the Xbox one controller vs DS4. But not until the one X did i get the better 3rd party game versions and the gen was mainly over, but i really love the Series X, it’s the best built hardware they’ve had, but where’s the big games? I get it, i really do, MS has enough to love about the Xbox, outside of AAA games that compete with Sony. Now admittedly i still prefer the controller and play 90% of my 3rd party games there, but it’s my PS5 that excites me for the Last of Us and GOWR. There is no better games on any other platform to me then those. So what do i do? I am not a fanboy, but yes i prefer the Xbox ecosystem, cause i have so many games there and a love for it’s controller, but i know my PS5 provides me exclusives that are unmatched.
@StrawberryWave you are a cool person to me for loving Sly, still outside of Mario, my favorite plat-former series. Motorstorm still my favorite racing series, but sony little cares about those smaller tiles these days sadly, but maybe understandably. Yes yes and yes Sega didn’t help their cause against sony, but sony had advantages over them from the get go, used them to their advantages and why wouldn’t they and the rest is history, i loved Sega but they flirted with stupid choices once to many times. I for sure agree with you and could you even imagine what a Sly game would look like on PS5? WOW
@Ralizah Very good point, i just think Japan is going Mobile, Switch then PS5 in terms of million sellers. Seems only smart to collect all that money and not be on one vs 2 or even 3. Most American’s aren’t buying those games, at least not in big numbers, so keep as much money in Japan as you can and I believe that’s by not being locked to one ecosystem. Square has mentioned wanting to be on more devices to reach more players. So not sure this deal would happen but never say never, as a Xbox fan never thought i would be getting Diablo 4 on GP cause they dropped 69 billion dollars. That’s what keeps this industry exciting, you just never know from week to week what will or could happen 😀
Please, please keep making Xperia phones. I know I'm 100% in the minority, but Sony is the last true phone manufacturer left. LED notification light, SD card capability, headphone jack, no notch, and not associated with CCP. Invest in phone marketing department.
@StrawberryWave thanks buddy, yeah i agree and even on the PS3 they were really creative. PS4 was overload in action adventure games, for me. Cause i know if someone reads this and feels different I’ll hear it Haha. PS5 so far hasn’t really started in some ways and they are promising lots of variety including games as a service. So i will have to wait and see. But i would love a Sly game, and a few projects that take chances instead of it needing to be a movie or show on TV and i want to say that’s not fair to sony cause not all their games are shows or movies, but it’s a new complaint against them and i think a few games that feel like PS1-PS3 would help. Anyway it goes i will support them and most of their first party output.
I suppose I’ll be the one to give the unsexy answer… invest in the studios you have, and/or pick up a small studio that is ambitious and willing to partner with Sony.
I don’t want anything that would shift the market further into publisher consolidation. Besides, as I (and others) have mentioned multiple times, Sony doesn’t need to buy any major publishers they deal with. Capcom and Square Enix happily do marketing and exclusivity deals for PlayStation, and are able to continue growing their development teams with the revenue they incur from them and their other partners (Nintendo and Microsoft). A lot of good can be done with 5b, so do what Microsoft should have done and invest in what you have. But alas, a dreamworld I know, because of profit hunting, capitalism, etc. just not reality.
But that’s what I would like, call it my wish list 😅
@StrawberryWave well they need to compete in all area’s, it makes for not only a better Xbox but a better PlayStation as Sony will need to match and compete with them. As a dual console owner this makes my ownership of Xbox and PS better. Makes the industry better and i think we all win there even if not all of us want to own more than a Sony console. I look forward to 2023-2024, i think it is going to tell a lot. Another Wii-U, Xbox one and PS4 gen doesn’t push the industry forward far enough. But as long as this is a huge hobby of mine, i will support all 3 and hope they all find some sort of success they set out for.
@ShogunRok @Snake_V5 Microsoft does not have unlimited money, although it sure can feel like it. As of December 2022, they had $104 billion (cash in hand) and based on the amount on hand on previous years it’s hard to guess if the 69 billion for ABK has been deducted or not.
I am assuming it has not, that would leave them with about 35 billion, give or take as many billions as they have made or lost in the last 3 months. That’s a big chunk of change, but not enough to make another ABK size deal.
I'd be happy if they invested some of that cash into their tv division as i've always liked sonys tv's but their connectivity is piss poor..eyeing up an lg c2 later in the year because they look filthy..
Personally, I would like it if Sony acquired Square off Enix. Would not mind seeing Sony take responsibility over Final Fantasy, but really would like the Dragon Quest and publishing side to stay independent entities.
Given how Square has been shedding studios and IPs like a gecko sheds tails (first IOI then Edios) I think it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities.
But I have a feeling they rather use the capital for more anime industry takeovers. It seems Sony want to get the same grip they have on music over Anime.
I still maintain Square is a bit pointless given how much of theirs is exclusive anyway.
Personally don’t think you’ll see Sony go after a publisher and continue to invest either in smaller studios or a stake like that they did with FromSoft.
Think Sony have to continue to be smart as they always have because they can’t compete when it comes to financial power with Microsoft.
@awp69 unlikely.
Square situation would be similar to Bethesda's not ABK.
Bethesda worked closely with Microsoft for years, so they were wholly acquired and don't need to release anything to competition.
ABK has always been multi plat, other than marketing deals, this has never changed. So regulators will likely force at least some of ABK to remain multi plat.
Square used to release on Microsoft consoles, but in the past 3 years they have released less than 5. They would be considered closely associated to Sony, and maybe Nintendo. So hypothetically Sony would be able to keep all their IP and studios to themselves. However, I can see Sony keeping some franchises multi plat due to popularity and licensing agreements (Kingdom hearts).
Would Sony acquire a publisher? Probably not, imho. It'd be interesting if they do, but my bet is on them acquiring independent studios like Ballistic Moon, Deviation, ember labs etc.
@UltimateOtaku91 Again, the 5 billion isn't just for Playstation. Reading comprehension seems to be an issue on this website. So there isn't 5 billion for Playstation to go spending on an acquisition.
I would imagine some of that would be invested into things like the Sony Bravia tv division as they're competing with LG. Sony sells things other than Playstation consoles, a shock to some I know.
I've got a feeling this will mostly go to the film division
SIE will probably get a few chunks of it for small studios like Ballistic Moon
@Snake_V5 Seeing as Square Enix's market cap is currently around 5.6 billion dollars (774bn Yen) they would likely need to significantly increase their $5bn pot, unless S-E sell off some other assets. But potentially seems like the logical choice. On the flip side they already manage to secure exclusives from S-E so perhaps the money is better off spent elsewhere.
@Eadgar Capcom are around 8.85 billion
Koei-Tecmo are around 5.67 billion
From Software isn't publicly traded as far as I can see
Obviously there may be other factors but it's a rough guide.
@GamerStation257 Sega has a better relationship with Microsoft than Sony these days so doubt that acquisition is feasible, Square Enix would be more likely with their recent struggles.
@Acurisur True. But for the right deal they might spend it all on PS, or even increase the pot. This was what they allocated to spend early in 2021, two years later market conditions have changed and they have had a couple of years of record profits.
Just for the markets alone they may want to buy something to offset the hit they will take when MS acquires ABK which will take a chunk off Sony shares.
@themightyant The article states that's all Sony is prepared to spend until 2024. Sony is more than just Playstation so I don't see a single reason why they'd increase it just for that. As someone else said, some of that money will be allocated for Sony Pictures to spend, some will be for the Sony Bravia division.
I don't think Sony will buy Capcom because Capcom has stated that PC will be the main platform for their future video games
@Acurisur Quite possibly. But equally I don't think Microsoft said to Phil Spencer "you have $69 billion to spend", but when the right deal presents itself they were willing to dig deep. That's how M&A often work, sometimes when an opportunity presents itself, or you need to react to other changes in the market, you invest more than you had previously planned.
While they have a duty to alert investors of rough plans and planned expenditure, plans also change, and they aren't going to signpost all their intentions to the opposition. Nobody saw ABK coming for example.
That's not to say I think they will spend around $5bn on a studio, I don't, but I also wouldn't rule it out either based on this one tele-conference.
@thetraditional Microsoft got Tango Gameworks when they bought Bethesda. Chinese companies Tencent & NetEase are also buying up Japanese devs.
Thanks for providing those details. Mine is just a wishlist, I understand it can be difficult for it to occur.
Like many, and as in a second comment I made in this article, I am against industry consolidation. But when another is buying publishers, fair game is no longer in question and thus, anything is now possible and allowed. Hence my wishlist.
@Eadgar FWIW I'm against industry consolidation too, just pointing out the facts and figures, and speculating on them.
I think the reality is if the ABK deal goes through Sony is likely to react at some point, if only to try and shore up their shares as they will likely take another significant hit, as they did when Zenimax and ABK deals were announced. I just don't think it will be anywhere near as big as people are speculating.
GamerStation257 wrote:
Maybe Square Enix but they are in a downward spiral right now
Market figures don't back this up. Their share price has been relatively consistently in the last 2.5 years and is higher than 3, 4, 5 years ago. Considering most tech / gaming companies have fallen in the last year post-lockdowns that isn't bad.
Don't let the perception of how we think they are doing as gamers cloud how they are actually doing as a business.
Absolutely hate this for the gaming industry! I’m all for exclusives but not like this. First party exclusivity was all good up until one competitor’s first party began to lag behind the other. I can’t for the life of me understand people who think nothijg should be exclusive. I’m guessing they’ve never owned anything for themselves.
If they try to buy Square Enix or From Sofware will the FCC try to stop them? Sony is different from Mircosoft because they are interested in talent, not just the IP library.
@Eadgar @Snake_V5
Square Enix makes lots of small games that are better than their big games, but Sony expect from it's studios to make big games
So Square Enix is not a good choice for Sony
And Sony buying Capcom is as bad as Microsoft buying Activision
Dude, I really hate this company acquisitions, I mean, why someone should want a company(Sony, Microsoft, etc.) to buy a studio or publisher like Capcom
@StrawberryWave Stop with the nonsense that American companies can't buy Japanese companies. There are certain companies in certain industries that are protected. Gaming is not one of them. And most protections (beyond national security) like chip manufacturing are in place to keep out the Chinese not the West. In fact, 30% of large companies in Japan have a foreign owner (US is is around 40%). The way a company is bought is packaged differently (quite similar to how Australia requires foreign ownership). But, nothing is stopping an American company (including MS which already owns Tango GameWorks a Japanese studio).
Edit: in fact, if the Japan government was so worried about foreign investment controlling a company then you would have to look no further to see how ridiculous your claim that Japan cares (at least with Western investors). Sony itself is primarily owned by foreigners. 56% stock is owned by foreigners. Of the top 10 largest investors in Sony 8 are foreign; 6 are American institutional investors including the top 2 and only two are Japanese.
@Acurisur You are right it isn't solely for PS but it isn't for electronics. The money set aside was for enteterainment based acquisitions. Which is movies/TV, anime, music, and gaming. And it isn't solely for acquisitions but investments of a variety of types (i.e. their minority stake Discord, From Software, Epic). They have made other entertainment related investments that people aren't paying attention to like at the end of 2021 they acquired Bad Wolf Productions (the company now producing Doctor Who for the BBC) . They also made a majority stake purchase in Alamo Records
not even enough for a cheese burger LOL Square enix parent company worth $49 billion, Take two is worth $33 billion since now they merged with Zynga lol they can't buy anything with that lol
@Eadgar - Square enix is worth $6 billion and their parent company Block.SQ is worth $49 billion, they will not sell their most profitable division to Sony, they will be a nobody without Square enix. - fromsoftware is worth $6 billion and Tencent is the biggest shareholder so they won't allow it, also the most profitable division for Kadokawa they'll be a nobody without it. -Capcom is worth $7 billion, -even Koei Tekmo is worth $6.5 billion. and Sony already has $1.5 trillion in debt so no way they get more loans just to buy a publisher lol don't expect them to buy anything for $5 billion or higher, they will never do it
@themightyant MS didn't dig deep. They had about $140 billion in cash. After the deal is complete, they will still have $140 bill (more actually) in the bank because they make about $135 billion in profits each year and that works out to about $82+ billion in OI each year. If the deal closes by June 2023 as their lawyers stated last year they will put more cash in the bank, than what the ABK deal will cost since the time they announced it last February 2022.
I hope they buy WWE and turn it into a fast food chain. Have Delsin Rowe as the mascot and start a Twitter feud with In-N-Out Burger.
What a bizarre hill to die on. You're acting like Sony can't decide investing the full $5B into PlayStation is something they could do if they thought that was the best thing for their overall business. Stop being a silly goose.
@alienwithin You were doing well until you said Sony has 1.5 trillion in debt. The problem is that people keep quoting this trillions in debt but don't realize the source that it comes frpm mistakenly did not convert the value from Yen to dollars but just wrote it as dollars. If you look at their quarterly's (where the original story derived its trillions form) they have billions in debt (low 10's) not trillions. Sony's overall debt is no larger (relative to their size) then other companies with similar size. They have debt structure of about 17+ billion dollars short term (give or take) and similar (maybe slightly less) for long term debt.
Edit: if Sony actually had a long-term debt of trillions of dollars their interest alone would be more than the revenue, they make yearly (not profit but revenue) and that means they would not exist as a company if that were the case. And if Sony had any large short-term debt (ie 100+ billion) that is debt that must be paid off within the year they would as well be in trouble considering their OI is around $10 billion yearly. Believe me Sony has no more of a debt issue than MS or Apple do.
@ImGumbyDammit Having large cash reserves and digging deep aren't mutually exclusive. But it's semantics and a distraction.
Regardless of Microsoft's cash reserves this is by FAR the largest deal Microsoft have ever done. In fact it's about the same size as the next 5 largest deals put together (LinkedIn, Nuance, Skype, Zenimax & Github). My point is that Phil Spencer won't have been told he had a $69 billion warchest, but a promising deal was there and they took it.
The same COULD be true with Sony even if they they currently say they only have $5 billion to spend. Not $69 billion big, they don't have that type of cheddar, but if a worthwhile deal came about was a little larger they could dig a little deeper.
I still maintain Square is a bit pointless given how much of theirs is exclusive anyway.
if Square Enix (or just the Square side goes up for sale, Sony will have little choice but to bid on it, as the next owner can likely be less kin to exclusivity deals, or they might actually approach Xbox themselves if they can’t find a buyer.
@themightyant dig deep requires money. So, unless you think Sony is willing to exchange shares (unlikely giving a lot of control over to stakeholders of the acquired company in a big deal). And this is not the time to raise long term debt-based borrowing against hard capital with higher interest rates and decreasing monetary value. Bonds would also in this economy be an option but leave a much larger debt with higher rate payouts to get investors interested. Let's not forget Sony was on the verge of falling of that financial cliff a decade ago. They are not going to bet their bank account and dig deep in an economic climate that is not great and especially hard on manufacturing (which is primarily what Sony does) and this world economy isn't looking to get better for a while.
Edit: I am not one of those that says Sony doesn't have the money in the bank for SE. They have the cash. But it would require them taking a good percentage of what they do have and using it. It would be like MS taking that $140 billion they had in the bank and instead of just using 50%, using 90% of it on ABK. MS would never do that. A nice portion of cash on hand is meant for break in case of emergency. Sony wouldn't do that either. Not in this economy or actually any economy. It would leave them very venerable to fluctuations and unforeseen needs and may put them back at that situation they were in in the early 2010's. Manufacturing is especially volatile. Much more than tech services which MS relies primarily on.
Lol people, this is them essentially confirming they’ll not acquire ANY publisher, with 5 billion alone they can’t buy Square Enix, Capcom, Sega or any publisher of that size.
They will continue to buy studios and maybe make some strategic investments like the ones with Epic, but no big acquisition.
@Tharsman But companies never get acquired at the current market cap, Sony would need to offer a premium price in order to convince investors which would result in 7 to 9 billion.
For context, when Microsoft announced the acquisition of ABK their market cap was around 50 billion and they’re buying it for nearly 70 billion, so they were paying an almost 40% premium for it, I’d imagine that Square Enix investor would want a 30% premium at least resulting in 7 billion which currently Sony doesn’t have (they could still get 51% of it tho).
@IOI indeed, was just noting that the current market cap itself was above the max spending budget for the entirety of Sony, making it a very unlikely acquisition, at leas in full.
There is also my hypothetical scenario of SE only selling some studios and IP, specifically the Final Fantasy stuff, but I doubt they would want to part with such a household name… then again they basically gave Tomb Rider away for pennies.
Should buy Take Two. Much better acquisition than Activision!! COD is great but it doesn’t come close to GTA an Red Dead.
@Tharsman Selectively parting with a few IP (specifically FF) would be like Coca-Cola parting with co*ke and keeping everything else. I don't think Fresca, energy drinks and Jack Daniels would be the same Coca-Cola company without the cola related product. Now selling off Yahoo. co*ke could do that. An even better example would be Sony selling just SIE/PS. It is the golden goose; you don't sell the golden goose alone. You sell everything with the golden goose (the cage, the food, the pooper scooper). It would make very little sense financially for Square to sell off the prized IP only.
@ImGumbyDammit Final Fantasy is a big name, but it’s not that big of a profit maker. In fact I predict they will claim they are disappointed with the sales of FF16, not because of low sales but because SE is doing some very garbage accounting.
Again, they basically gave away Tomb Rider, thad is not, as you say, a “yahoo”.
@sjbsixpack Take Two has a market cap of $19.7 billion. I think it’s safe to say they are slightly out of Sonys budget.
Also see this thread full of wishful thinking, but you don’t just go and acquire any publisher or developer you feel like just because you can pay the market cap + premium. The entity itself must want to sell, and that is rarely likely unless the entity is struggling, be it financially, with legal issues or both.
We do know Sega had had some issues in the past and forced to sold some assets. We know Square Enix is also struggling. Other than that, nothing that has been brought up seems to fit the bill.
@Tharsman i know, it was just a rumour that surfaced. Sony are worth about $110 billion so they could prob loan a huge portion of the cash. I can’t see it happening tho.
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