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Sony has invested another $1b in Epic Games

theres only been returnal so far thats used UE right, from sony first party?

Maybe, more games will use UE5 in the future from Sony?

Also, from how much money Fortnite makes it just makes sense to be invested. It actually surprises me that MS hasnt purchased in any shares for how many games use UE.

Days Gone too.

UE games will primarily come from their external partnerships i.e Deviation or the ones they recently acquired like Haven

The in-house studios with their own engines will probably continue to use those
 

Lone Wolf

Member
It’s a smart investment. UE is used everywhere. Reasons like this is why Microsoft bought Havok physics engine.
 

Dolodolo

Member
ReadySet Heroes and Predator: Hunting Grounds by a quick google search.

But I imagine they're investing for a reason afterall.
I reveal a terrible secret.
They are investing to make even more money when Epic continues to rise and enter the stock market.
There is nothing more behind this.
Do not thank :)
 

GHound

Member
It's an unfortunate time any time someone gives more money to Epic.
Which is exactly why this is well within my expectations.
58qsiw.jpg
 
I wouldn't mind if Sony partnered with Epic to offer some sort of crossbuy for Sony games on PC. I ain't paying twice to play Sony games on PC and I would favor their store over Steam if games there were crossbuy with PS5.

I have all multiple storefront applications installed so I don't even care at this point, whatever saves me money.
 
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Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Sony acquired EPIC.
Unreal Engine exclusive for Playstation.
Hahaha Sony acquire EPIC?
That would require Tim Sweeny and Tencent to get rid of everything they have in Epic.
Two things that absolutely wont happen.

Heck even with this 1 billi investment Sony only has like 3.5%

They wouldn't, it would/could be a byproduct of the investment.
1 Billion in Epic is a drop in the ocean.
Epic probably wouldnt even call Tim Sweeney to tell him a another 1 billion showed up.
Reach over 10% then maybe Tim Sweeney bothers waking up to listen to what you have to say.
 

oldergamer

Member
Eh. That was a 3-year budget laid out a year ago. Not a lump sum they set aside. Things have likely changed. Sony's language regarding investments and acquisitions has become increasingly aggressive. I fully expect them to alter that initial budget plan.
This investment wouldn't have been a sudden thing, it would have been part of overall plans. I highly doubt this will change plans and screw up everything they forecasted. I don't think you really get how these companies work.
 

BeardGawd

Banned
Makes sense. Unreal is becoming the default game development engine and has been making huge inroads for movies and tv shows as well. There are also very few companies and IPs that would lend themselves to the Metaverse. Epic and Fortnite are one of the few. It's why Sony is trying to launch so many GAAS. And why MS wants Activision.
 

Varteras

Gold Member
This investment wouldn't have been a sudden thing, it would have been part of overall plans. I highly doubt this will change plans and screw up everything they forecasted. I don't think you really get how these companies work.
I never said it was sudden or unexpected. I'm sure Sony was working on this for awhile. But plans do change over time. Sony has to react to the market and the market just saw a $68.7 billion acquisition take place long after they stated their budget. If Sony feels that they need to spend more now than they previously predicted, they'll adjust the budget. The question will be when, by how much, and would they be willing to go over budget under certain scenarios. I know how these companies work, thanks.
 

jaysius

Banned
Nah, not necessarily. It could just be an investment. From the looks of it, Epic shares will only become more and more expensive.
Yup, it’s people getting excited about money news when they don’t understand money news.

Google was one of Uber’s biggest investors, did they want to buy it or own it? Nope!

This is just how people make money, nothing more.

As little as people like it, Epic Gamestore is making money and growing, this is how that service gets bigger.
 
Investors earn money by investing on profitable companies, I assume Sony knows or expects Epic to continue being protitable and grow in the following years due to UE5 (not only in gaming, but also for movies, tv shows, ads, architecture...). Pretty likely this investment isn't to get exclusives for PS, or anytning related to the EGS. Only a strategical investment to make money and improve their relationship with a strategical partner.
I think ppl automatically believe that "investing" in a company means some kind of shady deal or something else is going on. Like sometimes companies invest to make money. It's just putting your money in a place that you believe you will get a return, like putting your money in a bank, except your returns could be much great but also you risk losing some.

If you're an entity, having cash sitting there is not doing much for you. So, they invest that money either back into itself or in other companies or ventures. Also, no one seems to care what LEGO is plotting? They could be building their digital robot army to take over the metaverse... Virtual Lego Land, that's probably it!
 
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oldergamer

Member
I never said it was sudden or unexpected. I'm sure Sony was working on this for awhile. But plans do change over time. Sony has to react to the market and the market just saw a $68.7 billion acquisition take place long after they stated their budget. If Sony feels that they need to spend more now than they previously predicted, they'll adjust the budget. The question will be when, by how much, and would they be willing to go over budget under certain scenarios. I know how these companies work, thanks.
I agree that plans change. Just not quickly when talking about large sums of money like 1 billion. Unless the money is already set aside and falls under an investment umbrella, I don't see them otherwise changing plans to make an increase to investment.

FYI, I've more recently been exposed with planning at the company I work for ( note its not publicly traded as of yet, but also comes with less scrutiny then a public traded company ) and i'm seeing companies don't change plans easily. I'm certain this came out of the money they set aside ( note they went on record saying it wasn't all for development acquisition, or even gaming specifically). This seems like investment to make certain they are not left out of the "metaverse" ( I fucking hate that term btw ) in some manner.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Maybe, but looking at the value growth since 2020 it really does justify it as ”just” an economic investment:



My point is, it could\should be more than just that. I'm not saying Epic will make some exclusive game for PlayStation or anything like that. But a "strategic partnership" should come from this level of investing.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
I think ppl automatically believe that "investing" in a company means some kind of shady deal or something else is going on. Like sometimes companies invest to make money. It's just putting your money in a place that you believe you will get a return, like putting your money in a bank, except your returns could be much great but also you risk losing some.

If you're an entity, having cash sitting there is not doing much for you. So, they invest that money either back into itself or in other companies or ventures. Also, no one seems to care what LEGO is plotting? They could be building their digital robot army to take over the metaverse... Virtual Lego Land, that's probably it!

It's also because Sony has partnered with Epic a million times on different things over the years. It's not about being shady. It could be as small as Sony getting extra Epic engineers to work with Unreal 5 to make games work best on the PS5. Or as big as if Sony puts their games on EGS, they don't have to pay the full 15% back to Epic. Maybe they'll get to only payback 10%. Who knows.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Probably more for their extremely expensive CLED screens for movies/series and Sony Venice 2 cameras. Seems like they're going after dominating that category of high-end cameras, pushing ARRI aside.


could be for the tech for films, Disney uses unreal engine for the Mando series and others. maybe Sony investing in that for films and not game side
 

Varteras

Gold Member
I agree that plans change. Just not quickly when talking about large sums of money like 1 billion. Unless the money is already set aside and falls under an investment umbrella, I don't see them otherwise changing plans to make an increase to investment.

FYI, I've more recently been exposed with planning at the company I work for ( note its not publicly traded as of yet, but also comes with less scrutiny then a public traded company ) and i'm seeing companies don't change plans easily. I'm certain this came out of the money they set aside ( note they went on record saying it wasn't all for development acquisition, or even gaming specifically). This seems like investment to make certain they are not left out of the "metaverse" ( I fucking hate that term btw ) in some manner.
Oh for sure! I do not believe in any way that this particular investment Sony is making into Epic will, alone, have them change their budget plans. After all, this is exactly the kind of thing that budget was made for and Sony was likely already considering such an investment into Epic a long time ago. Contrary to popular belief, it was not a budget purely for acquiring studios for PlayStation. I seriously doubt someone at Sony suddenly went, "Hey! Fuck it! Let's throw more money at Epic. How does a billion sound??"

My comment was more aimed at how some people might get the impression that the $18 billion budget they planned out last year is something set in stone that can never be changed and that this investment means Sony is "running out of money" to potentially buy anyone else.

And yeah, a few years ago I worked for a company that had clients on a global scale and operations all across the country. I worked under the head of the sales division who frequently had meetings with the chief financial officer. Who was a total prick, by the way. But the head of sales loved me, so he would let me in on things they discussed sometimes. I worked there for over 6 years, so I got a good feel for how companies ebb and flow. How they would plan budgets and how those budgets would have to adjust over time. Very rarely, I think only once in all that time, was it a sudden course correction we needed to make. Competitors making moves we didn't expect. Outside interferences on the industry. Opportunities popping up we hadn't planned for. All of these scenarios contributed to a change in plans at one point or another. Though they were almost always carefully planned and executed over years. Like I said, with that one exception. Which was actually thanks to the owner's idiot son who should have never been allowed to make any company decisions.
 

intbal

Member
All future Sony movies to be shot with Unreal Stagecraft tech and look just as cheap as The Mandalorian.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
could be for the tech for films, Disney uses unreal engine for the Mando series and others. maybe Sony investing in that for films and not game side

Yeah and that screen costs like $5M or so to replace green screens. The Mandalorian used it and seems like Sony wanna keep that tech exclusive to Sony Venice cameras and making ARRI and other look too outdated. After all it's a Sony tech started by Sony Innovation Studios and shared with Unreal Engine:

 
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It's also because Sony has partnered with Epic a million times on different things over the years. It's not about being shady. It could be as small as Sony getting extra Epic engineers to work with Unreal 5 to make games work best on the PS5. Or as big as if Sony puts their games on EGS, they don't have to pay the full 15% back to Epic. Maybe they'll get to only payback 10%. Who knows.
yea. they could actually just genuine like working together. they seem to have a very good working relationship.... maybe time for acquisition? :messenger_tears_of_joy: jk
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Probably more for their extremely expensive CLED screens for movies/series and Sony Venice 2 cameras. Seems like they're going after dominating that category of high-end cameras, pushing ARRI aside.

But why would Sony invest in Epic for this? What am I missing?
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
But why would Sony invest in Epic for this? What am I missing?

Some big movie/series makers are more comfortable with Unreal Engine, so consider Atom View as Sony's PlayStation and Unreal Engine as PC. Now with how expensive the tech they made, if not shared it'll still be amazing for Sony Pictures and the ones directly cooperating with them, but sharing the tech with Epic means they gonna sell way more Venice cameras and they are creeping now and pushing ARRI from its leadership. Just like how Sony Alpha did to Canon and Nikon. Also means they gonna sell a lot of Sony CLED panels as well.
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Some big movie/series makers are more comfortable with Unreal Engine, so consider Atom View as Sony's PlayStation and Unreal Engine as PC. Now with how expensive the tech they made, if not shared it'll still be amazing for Sony Pictures and the ones directly cooperating with them, but sharing the tech with Epic means they gonna sell way more Venice cameras and they are creeping now and pushing ARRI from its leadership. Just like how Sony Alpha did to Canon and Nikon. Also means they gonna sell a lot of Sony CLED panels as well.

I don't think I like that type of exclusivity. Seems like it could hurt creativity by some creatives to lock people into using Sony only cameras with this Unreal Engine movie\TV making.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
At least the engine itself is great. Their policy with the store is still heavily criticized.
We used to hate everything about epic. Their store, Tencent and Fortnite.

But now that Sony loads their trucks with money then the grass starts to look pretty good over there.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I don't think I like that type of exclusivity. Seems like it could hurt creativity by some creatives to lock people into using Sony only cameras with this Unreal Engine movie\TV making.

That's called business, mate. You have what like 12 years of exclusivity? When you invent something out of the blue you get the right to keep it or share it as you like.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
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