El Pistolero
Banned
Capcom and Square.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Sony is offering Bungie employees a $1.2 billion incentive program in an effort to keep them at the company following the buyout.
- Thread starter remember_spinal
- Start date
- News Sales-Age
Capcom and Square.
Warnen
Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
My impeccable taste
Sony has nothing against PC actually they're pursuing PC to expand. Sony doesn't see its future as a locked ecosystem anymore, it's clear as much based on all the commments from executives so far.
They're even willing to let people keep their independence if it makes sense.
You're just doing damage control and you're obviously scared to see big publishers being acquired by Sony and you're covering your ears with "They can't afford it, they won't sell to Sony, if they sell they're inconsequential, bla bla bla".
Last edited:
Tiago Rodrigues
Member
Yeah...i'm sure Activision was selling a year ago. Or Bungie...which tried so hard to break free from Activision years ago and kept talking about being independent.
Or Insomniac, which didn't want to be bought for god knows how many years and tries.
Just...no.
Everything has a price.
ethomaz
Banned
Imagine his face when Sony buys another Publisher this year.
Because it is not a matter of if but when... Sony wants at least one more Publisher acquisition... they were clear about that in the financials.
If you take the Bungie deal took 6 months to be set then Sony is probably already in talk with that other Publisher.
Last edited:
Swift_Star
Banned
So you have no substantial points, no sources, nothing, just conjecture.
Yeah, I’m doubling down on you posting here hoping somehow what you’re saying prevents Sony from poaching your favorite publisher.
Thanks for playing, but you lost.
MasterCornholio
Member
Don’t forget that Bluepoint also talked about their independence. But I will admit that there may be some companies that will refuse to sell at any price.
prinz_valium
Member
Same as the Respawn deal
$450m buyout and $250m performance bonus.
Deals are always structured some weird way when it's a private company
Swift_Star
Banned
It really is amusing how he and his friends were parroting Sony had no way of competing and now this acquisition really got on their nerves.
Last week:
- Sony can't compete
- Everyone has a price, Sega and Capcom are next
- This gen is over.
This week:
- Bungie is trash, terrible purchase
- Sega and Capcom are not for sale
- Surely Sony can't compete, right?
Laughable, really.
I honestly hope this acquisition race stops but unfortunately won't and I see myself in the future owning 3 consoles (never had a reason to until now) or going PC (extremely expensive where I live).
Last edited:
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
ActiBliz merger has not even happened. Who were the Zenimax employees that left lately? The only large group that left were the Zenimax media board of directors.
Last edited:
Bernd Lauert
Banned
Nintendo is swimming in profits, jesus christ.
Kerotan
Member
It actually sounds better. Because if 3.6BN was upfront with no strings attached there could have been potentially massive issues with a talent exodus. At least now we know the figure includes the insurance to prevent this happening.
SSfox
Member
Gaming revenue is what matters, and MS doesn't share, MS may even be in negative number revenue with their gaming division and that's why they don't share, cause at this point we should start compare to Coca Cola and BMW.. to Sony revenues
ZywyPL
Banned
The devs couldn't still say no, right? From my understanding this is just a monetary offer, but the devs can decide to quit the company anyway if they really want/need to?
ethomaz
Banned
Do you mean profit or operational incoming? Negative revenue doesn't exists from what I understand... it can be 0 if you not sell anything in the quarter... an impossible case of course.
Last edited:
Ass of Can Whooping
Member
They could be in this industry especially you'd be stupid not to take take advantage of this
Last edited:
Fake
Member
They can't say no, but they can leave if they wish.
I remember part of RARE devs leave and created another company behind the Banjo Kazzoie clone.
SSfox
Member
I means the ratio investing vs benefits
Example: You invest 5 billions in something, you get 3 billions back.
So benefits are -2 billions (so negative number of course)
ethomaz
Banned
I get it... more like operation income than revenue.
rickybooby87
Member
graywolf323
Member
that's great to see, sadly the last company I was at it went through an acquisition and all I got was my contact not being renewed so they could save money, on top of that they lost at least a dozen higher ranking people and the combined company only had a little over 100 employees after the merger
sadly it doesn't even really matter since other fanboy trolls will pick up the mantle and continue the 'fight'
Bernd Lauert
Banned
Microsoft does share gaming revenue. Also how can revenue be negative lmao
fart town usa
Gold Member
To the people saying why is this necessary?
Look at the shape Rare was in when MS bought them. I don't know if the main talent at Rare left prior to but when MS obtained Rare, they were not the asset that people expected them to be. It took like 2 generations for Rare to make something that people latched onto (Sea of Thieves).
Look at the shape Rare was in when MS bought them. I don't know if the main talent at Rare left prior to but when MS obtained Rare, they were not the asset that people expected them to be. It took like 2 generations for Rare to make something that people latched onto (Sea of Thieves).
yurinka
Member
It is normal in acquisitions to require that key staff must stay there for a certaina amount of years, typically around a couple.
And then there's the bonus incetives, these ones for everyone and not only the acquired ones: you get a bonus payment on your salary depending on the performance of the games you worked on, and you stop receiving it if you leave the company. So this helps to retain workers.
The thing is that in companies like Bungie which has 900 workers and make super successful games obviously this bonus to retain people is going to mean a lot of money, as in this case.
They made Halo and Destiny, two of best selling and most influential FPS and MP IPs.
They have more new IPs coming (considering how important Halo and Destiny were, there's a good change they will be top hits too) and plan to release 'at least' one (so maybe more) before 2025. They also have been top in GaaS, Destiny 2 still makes money and will continue making it for years. Sony will also make movies/tv stuff out of Bungie IPs.
They not only will produce profit to Sony directly, their data, tools, tech, knowledge and expertise will highly improve the performance of the other SIE teams regarding MP, GaaS and FPS so these other games will also make more money thanks to Bungie.
Plus this deal also ensures Bungie games keep on PS and Sony game subs.
The press release says Sony bought the 100% of Bungie shares. Now the Bungie employees have 0 Bungie shares and Bungie is part of Sony (inside its SIE division), a public company. Jimbo is now their boss and single owner, who allows them to continue working as a muliplatform publisher.
Last edited:
I'm nobody
Member
I had same reaction
Swift_Star
Banned
This doesn't make any sense. MGS without Kojima and Castlevania without Igarashi is pure trash. A company without their talent is worthless.
Lognor
Banned
You're as annoying as this no-name PS fanboy? Not a good thing to admit.
MaulerX
Member
I don't know why people keep ignoring Viva Piñata. That game was/is amazing and brought my kids and I alot of joy.
yurinka
Member
Yes, it tells that they reinvest less than the other ones on future growth.
Last edited:
fart town usa
Gold Member
Oh for sure, didn't mean to imply that Rare was trash for generations, just seemed like none of their stuff really took off and them being a dedicated Kinect team didn't help matters, lol. Poor souls.
I always wanted to play Kameo, that game looked fun.
I'm nobody
Member
I'll admit doing the same laugh at this reply
Bo_Hazem
Banned
Just before the acquisition mass exodus was happening:
This major Activision Blizzard resignation exposes a troubling new trend
ABetterABK figurehead Jessica Gonzalez is leaving Activision Blizzard, highlighting how the 'Overwatch 2' and 'Diablo 4' developer is losing amazing talent.
Activision Reportedly Lays Off Multiple Raven Software QA Developers
Raven Software developers confirm that Activision Blizzard is laying off members of its QA department despite promises of pay raises.
gamerant.com
Call of Duty: Warzone QA workers continue walkout in protest of layoffs
Contract workers were laid off last week
www.polygon.com
Activision Blizzard Devs Walk Out, Call For CEO To Resign | Digital Trends
An article claims that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick knew of reports of sexual misconduct at the company.
www.digitaltrends.com
Bo_Hazem
Banned
ultrazilla
Gold Member
daTRUballin
Member
Not even close to being true.
tmlDan
Member
or they release low quality, low budget games such as Arceus, Mario Golf Super Rush, Mario Party....and they still sell.
Thats likely the real reason
KingGhidorah
Banned
Sony used to have a LOT of debt during PS3 era, but seems like PS4 has improved their balance sheet quite a bit
according to this data from marketwatch
they have about 45 billions in cash and short term investment
they have about 11 billions short term debt and 9 billions long term debt.
I remember in PS3 era, they used to have debt bigger than their cash portion, but looks like PS4 massive profit has helped their financial a lot
so in summary, Sony has very good balance sheet, but it's still no where in Microsoft or Apple's level. Those giants are at least 2-3 levels above Sony's playing field
Last edited:
Nickolaidas
Member
More like, how important it is to Sony that Bungie employees won't go back to MS.
Ass of Can Whooping
Member
It's important to Sony because there's an industry wide shortage on talent. They're not worried about them going to MS. They're worried they'll leave and it'll take them ages to refill those spots.
Last edited:
daTRUballin
Member
Does Kinect Sports not count? Came out almost a decade before Sea of Thieves. That was their first major hit under Microsoft. But yes, it did take them 8 years to get there. And then SoT was even bigger.
People always act like Rare is some failure of a studio, but in reality, they've been consistently releasing hits for the last decade plus. With the exception of Kinect Sports Rivals.
SSfox
Member
Not happy to hear this, no hate for Bungie people, but Sony killing one of the only Japanese studio they owned and then they throw billions into another studio that will even stay multiplatform , that just sounds so wrong to me, just saying.
Not liking this westernization of Sony. Call me when you acquire something that is actually interesting.
Not liking this westernization of Sony. Call me when you acquire something that is actually interesting.
kingfey
Banned
They arent a failure. Its just that, without a talent the studio wont produce big hits like it used to do. Keeping those talents is a must, when you buy a big studio.
Yeah, but so many in the industry are contractors. All it takes is a better contract or a more exciting project and they're on to something else. It's so easy to poach key people.
Bungie literally left MS because they didn't want to make Halo forever. The real creative people and talent get bored with the same thing over and over. And making a new IP is always very risky even for the best devs - if the games doesn't resonate, the company stock in gamer minds and its actual stock plummets in this industry (which I don't agree with but it is reality unfortunately - only as good as your last game or maybe two). So really not sure why Sony is spending so much to essentially buy one IP that was purchased for only 200 mill a year or two ago. But hey, I'm not a business guy so I'll trust that Sony sees some remarkable value in this dev even though Destiny isn't really super popular.
I hope this deal was cooking for a while and it well thought out because it would be childish to have bought them in reaction to Activision because they're Bungie..
Last edited:
Edgelord79
Gold Member
Hawking Radiation
Member
You don't run a business like that. Everything would have been mapped out years ago. I posted before about this when I said its not like these guys sit around and wait for one or the other to make a move then dig into the wallet to buy a developer. Sony would have identified what Bungie brings to the table ages ago and how they can benefit from that studio long before the proposal was made.
Also I agree that Bungie was milked for Halo at MS and the studio wanted to break away from that. Sony currently doesn't have a AAA FPS GAAS game in their stable. Bungie have had how many years now building up Destiny IP and that's what's key here and the reason I believe Sony approached to buy them. This opens up the door for Bungie to be given that creative freedom they never had at MS having to only pump out Halo games. They'll have the full backing of Sony and I believe they will be on to a new IP soon enough taking what they've learned from Destiny.
We might yet see Bungie coming up with their 'Halo' for PlayStation. The same way that game became Xbox flagship IP.
Last edited:
Amiga
Member
I'm assuming this is a joke comment.
Hendrick's
If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
This was clearly something Bungie wanted in the contract to protect their people. I guarantee the sale was contingent on it and other things. This was just one item on their long prenup.
Last edited:
daTRUballin
Member
And what makes you say that Rare has no talent currently? Are the old people the only ones that are capable of making video games?
It's been 20 years. Not many people work in the same place that long anyway. At some point, you WILL have to eventually replace them. I don't get this mindset.