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Sony pictures CEO: "next consolidation will be in the game business"

Bryank75

Banned
Companies also have treasury stock. And if they issue new shares, the going price will be that (although dilution occurs).

The market cap still holds as it doesnt matter whether a company or mom and dad hold shares.

If you own a house for $1M entirely, but then split the house 50/50 with a family member on paper so you both own it. You each own $500k. But the house is still worth $1M.

They can issue new stock but shareholders don't generally like that. Microsofts outstanding shares have only declined recently for instance...


Buybacks etc are more common than new shares being issued.

Either way once issued the stock belongs to the buyer...not MSFT and the value is irrelevant to daily business. They cannot buy anything with shares held by other people or institutions
 
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AJUMP23

Gold Member
Maybe they are going to acquisition a movie studio to gain some more IPs for their movie properties.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Maybe they are going to acquisition a movie studio to gain some more IPs for their movie properties.
MGM would have been the best option, that is gone now...

I don't think they'd do anything as big as ViacomCBS but it would make them a superpower basically in film.
 

Dabaus

Banned
No worries bro. Thank you for sharing the post most of us would have missed otherwise.

On topic, I think (1) Sony has merged or bought a few big studios/publishers, and that's what he is referring to, or (2) He has been in discussions with SIE regarding how the gaming industry is being consolidated, which means that there has been internal discussions and possible strategic shifts.

Or (3), which I think is more likely at this stage, is that Sony Pictures' budget got redirected to PlayStation to respond to the industry consolidation. In that case, expect more PS acquisitions.
When you look at sonys biggest revenue and profit drivers Movies, Music, Film, Gaming, anime, and image sensors, theres only so much they can expand and grow in most of those markets. We know theyve allocated at least 18 billion for the next 3 years.

Movies- Besides licensing IPs they to distributers, its unlikely we see big moves here. Most Movie studios are already bought up. MGM was the only mid sized one left (I think?) and they recently got bought out by Amazon. I doubt sony would make a move on say Paramount or Warner brothers as whole, thats unlikely.

Music: Sony has alot of market share here, so much so that each new acquisition is starting to come under scrutiny from anti trust. Music buy outs are also alot cheaper than other media mediums. We may see some activity here but it’ll probably be small and inexpensive things.

Anime: They Have both of the largest streaming services for anime. No need to spend alot here. Unless theyre thinking of a multimedia japanese conglomerate like Kadakawa, which they should IMO. Realistically they probably wont spend alot here.

Image sensors: I dont know enough about this to comment but sonys recent comments about IP acquisition doesnt align with heavy investments with this.

That leaves us with gaming, which is where i think most of sonys interest and money will be spent is going to go. I don’t know if that flat out means publisher acquisitions or just focus on partner studios buying them out and growing them. As I said Sony is looking for IP acquisitions but that doesn’t necessarily mean only in gaming. Look at how much leverage they’re getting which is Spider-Man at a Disney maybe they’re thinking of looking for more popular IP that they can use for gaming and movies.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
Sony has Spider-Man (which isn't on Disney+), MIB, lots of comedies, TONS of huge TV shows. They own the two BIGGEST game shows on TV AND Seinfeld. Sony Pictures has fallen behind HBO, Disney/FOX, Paramount, Universal, and hell even MGM in terms of direct-to-consumer.

Seinfield has been on other mediums. And because of the deal with Sony is coming to Netflix. Spiderman though big is only couple of films, MIB doesn't have the pull it once did. Sony made the smarter play to be honest if you look at the landscape.

Paramount+ and CBS all access is now all one service, netflix is huge, amazon is making some moves on the back end that will surprise some people soon. Disney+ is still kicking ass, and then you have Peacock.

Sony is making the smarter move honestly. Especially when they just made 4 billion for just some of their content on netflix/Disney for limited time.

The service part will come when their shows like Last of us on HBO, and the likes get more press.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
When you look at sonys biggest revenue and profit drivers Movies, Music, Film, Gaming, anime, and image sensors, theres only so much they can expand and grow in most of those markets. We know theyve allocated at least 18 billion for the next 3 years.

Movies- Besides licensing IPs they to distributers, its unlikely we see big moves here. Most Movie studios are already bought up. MGM was the only mid sized one left (I think?) and they recently got bought out by Amazon. I doubt sony would make a move on say Paramount or Warner brothers as whole, thats unlikely.

Music: Sony has alot of market share here, so much so that each new acquisition is starting to come under scrutiny from anti trust. Music buy outs are also alot cheaper than other media mediums. We may see some activity here but it’ll probably be small and inexpensive things.

Anime: They Have both of the largest streaming services for anime. No need to spend alot here. Unless theyre thinking of a multimedia japanese conglomerate like Kadakawa, which they should IMO. Realistically they probably wont spend alot here.

Image sensors: I dont know enough about this to comment but sonys recent comments about IP acquisition doesnt align with heavy investments with this.

That leaves us with gaming, which is where i think most of sonys interest and money will be spent is going to go. I don’t know if that flat out means publisher acquisitions or just focus on partner studios buying them out and growing them. As I said Sony is looking for IP acquisitions but that doesn’t necessarily mean only in gaming. Look at how much leverage they’re getting which is Spider-Man at a Disney maybe they’re thinking of looking for more popular IP that they can use for gaming and movies.
Yes, all very good points. They have already made great progress in all these other areas, but only made small incremental growth (albeit very good, consistent, and sustainable) in the gaming segment. I think out of those $18 billion, they will spend at least 30%-40% in gaming.

Regarding IP acquisitions, I think they are already moving in that direction: first Marvel and now Star Wars. They must be thinking if they'd had 3-4 more studios like Insomniac, they could have done more of these contracts. They may take more steps in that direction.
 

Dabaus

Banned
Yes, all very good points. They have already made great progress in all these other areas, but only made small incremental growth (albeit very good, consistent, and sustainable) in the gaming segment. I think out of those $18 billion, they will spend at least 30%-40% in gaming.

Regarding IP acquisitions, I think they are already moving in that direction: first Marvel and now Star Wars. They must be thinking if they'd had 3-4 more studios like Insomniac, they could have done more of these contracts. They may take more steps in that direction.
In my post I wrote off movie studios as if it were out of the realm of possibility but with both wanerbrothers having financial issues and paramount retreating from the theater business I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Sony swooped in and got either one of those movie divisions. Other big players in film are kind of on the sideline at the moment. Disney would get crucified with anti trust violations, Fox is no longer in the movie business. Whose that even leave? Universal?

It may upset a lot of people if Sony were to buy either one of those movie studios Paramount or Warner Bros. because they want them to focus on gaming and I totally get that but they would use those movie IP’s for leverage from other third parties to cut deals for game content.

With that said I don’t think sony pictures guys comment lend credence to this.
 
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reksveks

Member
In my post I wrote off movie studios as if it were out of the realm of possibility but with both wanerbrothers having financial issues and paramount retreating from the theater business I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Sony swooped in and got either one of those movie divisions. Other big players in film are kind of on the sideline at the moment. Disney would get crucified with anti trust violations, Fox is no longer in the movie business. Whose that even leave? Universal?

It may upset a lot of people if Sony were to buy either one of those movie studios Paramount or Warner Bros. because they want them to focus on gaming and I totally get that but they would use those movie IP’s for leverage from other third parties to cut deals for game content.

With that said I don’t think sony pictures guys comment lend credence to this.
WB getting sold again from Discovery after a couple of months?
 

kebaldo

Member
According to Macrotrends

Nintendo Net Worth as of September 10 2021: $65.49B
Sony Net worth as of September 10 2021: $134.61B
Microsofts Net worth as of September 10, 2021: $2222.23B

Want more?

Apple Net Worth as of September 13, 2021: $2462.5B
Googles Net Worth as of September 13, 2021: $1878.6B
Amazon net worth as of September 13, 2021: $1756.92B.


There is a reason why Nintendo and Sony haven't been gobbled up by tech giants outside of Japan.

The biggest of the three and after all these years still the less relevant of the three. Ms need's to buy fucking Sony and produce the XboxStation Series 6, so we can have quality and quantity lol

Sony buying Rockstar on Wednesday confirmed
Rockstar buying Sony will be announced later at the Apple conference.
 
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It's sometimes not a good thing. Consolidation usually lets the industry be a lot more efficient and in turn could lead to more and better things. Since all the digital distributors will release just about anything and retail who is more selective, is dying. Consolidation probably won't be a bad thing. The weird developers can still release their weird games but the big boys dont' each have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on HR and accounting departments.
For most businesses, "efficiency" simply means simply gutting departments and a certain percentage of staff to save on overhead.
 
When you look at sonys biggest revenue and profit drivers Movies, Music, Film, Gaming, anime, and image sensors, theres only so much they can expand and grow in most of those markets. We know theyve allocated at least 18 billion for the next 3 years.

Movies- Besides licensing IPs they to distributers, its unlikely we see big moves here. Most Movie studios are already bought up. MGM was the only mid sized one left (I think?) and they recently got bought out by Amazon. I doubt sony would make a move on say Paramount or Warner brothers as whole, thats unlikely.

Music: Sony has alot of market share here, so much so that each new acquisition is starting to come under scrutiny from anti trust. Music buy outs are also alot cheaper than other media mediums. We may see some activity here but it’ll probably be small and inexpensive things.

Anime: They Have both of the largest streaming services for anime. No need to spend alot here. Unless theyre thinking of a multimedia japanese conglomerate like Kadakawa, which they should IMO. Realistically they probably wont spend alot here.

Image sensors: I dont know enough about this to comment but sonys recent comments about IP acquisition doesnt align with heavy investments with this.

That leaves us with gaming, which is where i think most of sonys interest and money will be spent is going to go. I don’t know if that flat out means publisher acquisitions or just focus on partner studios buying them out and growing them. As I said Sony is looking for IP acquisitions but that doesn’t necessarily mean only in gaming. Look at how much leverage they’re getting which is Spider-Man at a Disney maybe they’re thinking of looking for more popular IP that they can use for gaming and movies.

Sony is not getting KOTOR, Spiderman, and Wolverine on PS4 so Disney can use Spiderman in the MCU. That's silly talk. Spiderman is not as important to the MCU today, with the F4 and XMen coming, as they were in 2015. Even the director for the SM MCU trilogy is moving on to the F4.

Sony has Spider-Man (which isn't on Disney+), MIB, lots of comedies, TONS of huge TV shows. They own the two BIGGEST game shows on TV AND Seinfeld. Sony Pictures has fallen behind HBO, Disney/FOX, Paramount, Universal, and hell even MGM in terms of direct-to-consumer.
That's not enough to compete with Netflix, Hulu+Disney/Fox, Amazon, and HBOMax. I don't even think that lineup can compete with Peacock and Paramount+, both of which offer sports on top of their thinning lineup. The best thing they have going for it are evergreen sitcoms like Seinfeld and Married with Children and Spider (most of which would be disconnected from the MCU), which again is simply not enough.
 
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jakinov

Member
For most businesses, "efficiency" simply means simply gutting departments and a certain percentage of staff to save on overhead.
when it comes to merges and acquisitions it's likely to reduce redundancies. I don't think many businesses will arbitrarily target X percent.
 

aclar00

Member
Though, seriously, we can all see that consolidation is (unfortunately) coming. MS kickstarted this into 4th gear, and Tencent and EA and Embracer have been riding the wave.

I'd love to see more context for that quote. It could mean something entirely different based on the overall conversation.

Given what's happening in China, i wonder it Tencent will sell subsidiaries/divisions.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
The biggest of the three and after all these years still the less relevant of the three. Ms need's to buy fucking Sony and produce the XboxStation Series 6, so we can have quality and quantity lol


Rockstar buying Sony will be announced later at the Apple conference.
Santa Monica and Imsomniac will work as support team for GTA V online mode.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Given what's happening in China, i wonder it Tencent will sell subsidiaries/divisions.

Very possible. Leyou games absolutely fell apart after Tencent bought them.... so Sony might want the Warframe dev and a few bits and pieces.

Sumo digital is another one but I doubt Tencent would get rid of them cause they get consistent work and are a regular income.

Personally I'd prefer Sony to buy Kadokawa, IOI, Asobo or MiHoYo. If they went crazy big... Square or Capcom, who both have a lot of film and anime potential.
 
WB getting sold again from Discovery after a couple of months?

John Malone relinquished his Discovery voting shares for the merger.

It's been said the reason for that is to structure the new entity for flexibility to sell later, either piecemeal or as a whole. Sony would face intense competition though as Amazon, Apple, and Disney were listed as potential buyers if Warner Media Discovery ends up selling.

Some people speculate that they are trying to raise the value of the new JV before cashing out, making a lot of money in the process. I don't think Sony has a chance in hell to outbid the main potential buyers if WMD is only selling as a whole. If they do sell piece meal, as was rumored to have been something Jeff Bewkes considered before the ATT buyout, then it's likely Sony can compete for some core assets. I would say WBIE, Netherealm, and Rocksteady would be at the top of the list.
 

Dabaus

Banned
What do you guys make of these Microsoft acquiring take 2 "Rumors?"

I dont believe it myself and almost all the people saying it openly on twitter and what not are extremely partisan xbox fanboys. My question for them would be, how do YOU, a literal twitter who with a psychonauts avatar know what behind the scenes deals microsoft are making but gaming websites and journalists havent picked up on it? Surely theyd be aware of something that major, and if these twitter nobody's can speak openly of it, surely they can too right?
 

yurinka

Member
In a virtual Q&A at the Bank Of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, Tony Vinciquerra, CEO of Sony Pictures said this.

Let's speculate.
Is Sony buying a publisher? Is he talking about what Microsoft is doing?

Edit: here is the link https://deadline.com/2021/09/spe-ce...res-entertainment-venom-shang-chi-1234832379/
SIE recently acquired Housemarque, Firesprite and Nixxes, I assume if they continue soon will be in a similar fashion of acquiring dev studios and not pubilshers.

SIE's Pixel Opus studio is working on a PS5 UE5 game in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation and one of Sony's goals is to increase collaboration between their different divisions, and they also planned to highly increase the headcount of their existing gamdev studios. So maybe Sony Pictures Animation and Pixel Opus end making a stronger bond than to only collaborate for a single game and move a lot of the Sony Pictures Animation staff to Pixel Opus.

What do you guys make of these Microsoft acquiring take 2 "Rumors?"
I'd say it's an unrealistic fanboy driven 'rumor' that I didn't heard. I think MS may do some small acquisition in the following years, but I don't expect them to make another big acquisition at least this generation.

They now have a lot of work to do to integrate all the acquired teams in the recent years into a common workflow, editorial vision, overall catalog/launch schedule. business model strategy, company culture, cross colaboration between studios, etc, integrating them into their GamePass focused strategy and turn it into a profitable business and with that to recoup their related huge investments. It isn't only a lot of work that requires years, it's also more difficult than it sounds.
 
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Leyasu

Banned
Are there any pubs like Bethesda left to purchase?

I can easily see Sony acquiring more studios for content, as they line up their ducks for their revamped and expanded PS now (following the GP model) at the end of this gen.

Plus Microsoft continuing their moves as they fill their content portfolio.

The industry is going to look alot different in 5+ yrs I feel
 
Are there any pubs like Bethesda left to purchase?

I can easily see Sony acquiring more studios for content, as they line up their ducks for their revamped and expanded PS now (following the GP model) at the end of this gen.

Plus Microsoft continuing their moves as they fill their content portfolio.

The industry is going to look alot different in 5+ yrs I feel

Of equivalent size I can only think of Capcom
 

Dabaus

Banned
Are there any pubs like Bethesda left to purchase?

I can easily see Sony acquiring more studios for content, as they line up their ducks for their revamped and expanded PS now (following the GP model) at the end of this gen.

Plus Microsoft continuing their moves as they fill their content portfolio.

The industry is going to look alot different in 5+ yrs I feel
Id say virtually all Japanese publishers are Bethesda sized or smaller in terms of price. Western Devs prices are extremely over inflated IMO.
 

Dabaus

Banned
Very possible. Leyou games absolutely fell apart after Tencent bought them.... so Sony might want the Warframe dev and a few bits and pieces.

Sumo digital is another one but I doubt Tencent would get rid of them cause they get consistent work and are a regular income.

Personally I'd prefer Sony to buy Kadokawa, IOI, Asobo or MiHoYo. If they went crazy big... Square or Capcom, who both have a lot of film and anime potential.
Looking at cash on hand, sony went from 44 billion to 19 billion dollars in less than a year...any idea what happened? Did they subtract the 18 billion they plan on spending from that or does the stock market uncertainty effect sonys cash on hand that much?
 

MrLove

Banned
“But I think the next consolidation will be in the game business” — one that Sony knowns well

SE or Sony buy out From Software
 

Bryank75

Banned
Looking at cash on hand, sony went from 44 billion to 19 billion dollars in less than a year...any idea what happened? Did they subtract the 18 billion they plan on spending from that or does the stock market uncertainty effect sonys cash on hand that much?

I believe that macrotrends and some others were calculating it incorrectly previously... including things like receivables and inventory. Dunno how they did that, but they did... so it was a correction.

They are forecasting 10+ billion profit this year, so it should be quite healthy at the end of the year.

Also their debt is very low (around 10 billion or less) , so they could buy most stuff they want anyway.

They spent about 1.6 billion on music acquisitions in the last 6 months and 1.2 billion on Crunchyroll and probably other acquisitions I don't know about that are smaller. So you could work that into how things are looking.
 
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Dabaus

Banned
I believe that macrotrends and some others were calculating it incorrectly previously... including things like receivables and inventory. Dunno how they did that, but they did... so it was a correction.

They are forecasting 10+ billion profit this year, so it should be quite healthy at the end of the year.

Also their debt is very low (around 10 billion or less) , so they could buy most stuff they want anyway.

They spent about 1.6 billion on music acquisitions in the last 6 months and 1.2 billion on Crunchyroll and probably other acquisitions I don't know about that are smaller. So you could work that into how things are looking.
Im going on a limb and assuming theyve subtracted the 18 billion plus the 1.6 and 1.2 billion transactions would get 44 billion close to 19, so maybe thats what theyre goin off of? Ive googled how sony lost nearly half of its cash on hand in 2021 and all the articles that come up are how well theyre doing financially.
 
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Sony be like:

Its Me Sport GIF by My Spy
Consolidation means less. The article talks about less studios and less output from the movie side and that the gaming side is next..
 

Bryank75

Banned
Im going on a limb and assuming theyve subtracted the 18 billion plus the 1.6 and 1.2 billion transactions would get 44 billion close to 19, so maybe thats what theyre goin off of? Ive googled how sony lost nearly half of its cash on hand in 2021 and all the articles that come up are how well theyre doing financially.

I prefer your concept of what happened.

Either way, I want to see them do a big buyout to expand PlayStation. It's time to grow in a big way.

Especially with Ubisoft and Blizzard in disarray and Tencent probably wondering WTF to do...

It's time to buy a sure thing like Kadokawa or Square or Capcom. Make PS5 an absolutely necessary purchase for every gamer.
 

Dabaus

Banned
I prefer your concept of what happened.

Either way, I want to see them do a big buyout to expand PlayStation. It's time to grow in a big way.

Especially with Ubisoft and Blizzard in disarray and Tencent probably wondering WTF to do...

It's time to buy a sure thing like Kadokawa or Square or Capcom. Make PS5 an absolutely necessary purchase for every gamer.
I couldnt agree more. Also assuming that cash on hand website is even correct...if a company like sony had 20 BILLION DOLLARS just disappear, there would be news articles and investigations for what happened. Im going to just assume the website has its numbers wrong.
 
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coffinbirth

Member
“There are probably too many films studios and we may see one or two less over the next five to ten years.”

“But I think the next consolidation will be in the game business”

Did ANYONE actually read this? That's ALL he said. Just a general opinion, haha.
Why is this a thread?
 

reksveks

Member
“There are probably too many films studios and we may see one or two less over the next five to ten years.”

“But I think the next consolidation will be in the game business”

Did ANYONE actually read this? That's ALL he said. Just a general opinion, haha.
Why is this a thread?
People like to create fan fiction
 

Bryank75

Banned
I couldnt agree more. Also assuming that cash on hand website is even correct...if a company like sony had 20 BILLION DOLLARS just disappear, there would be news articles and investigations for what happened. Im going to just assume the website has its numbers wrong.

Oh... just looked at something.

Sony bought 34% of M3 inc, a medical tech company..... they are worth about 52 billion dollars (5.71 trillion yen).

This was previously a part of the short term assets I believe and may have been moved to longterm assets.

You can see that 34% of 52 Billion is about 17.6 Billion and when you add the expenditure on music and anime...it lines up pretty well.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Sony please buy Capcom, Square Enix, Kadokawa
Queen Bow Down GIF by A24

They already have a partnership with Kadokawa’s parent company.
Im not really down for Sony to buy publishers. MS was the first console company to do so, but if Sony is gonna buy a publisher. Sega would be a good choice. They get Atlus JRPG’s along with it, fighting game and tons of iconic IP’s
 
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Dabaus

Banned
Oh... just looked at something.

Sony bought 34% of M3 inc, a medical tech company..... they are worth about 52 billion dollars (5.71 trillion yen).

This was previously a part of the short term assets I believe and may have been moved to longterm assets.

You can see that 34% of 52 Billion is about 17.6 Billion and when you add the expenditure on music and anime...it lines up pretty well.
Oh wow, really? I hope thats separate from their 18 billion dollar expenditures for IP.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Oh wow, really? I hope thats separate from their 18 billion dollar expenditures for IP.

Yeah, it's just a medical online consultation company. They are an amazing investment, given the virus and everything...

They also do stuff with Olympus medical solutions. Probably a big area for Sony in the future.

They just got fully into banking in the last few years and it's one of their bigger earners now.
 

Dabaus

Banned
Yeah, it's just a medical online consultation company. They are an amazing investment, given the virus and everything...

They also do stuff with Olympus medical solutions. Probably a big area for Sony in the future.

They just got fully into banking in the last few years and it's one of their bigger earners now.
Mind linking the article? Im not seeing anything where sony spent that much on them.
 

Bryank75

Banned
They already have a partnership with Kadokawa’s parent company.
Im not really down for Sony to buy publishers. MS was the first console company to do so, but if Sony is gonna buy a publisher. Sega would be a good choice. They get Atlus JRPG’s along with it, fighting game and tons of iconic IP’s

Also a good option, cheaper but lots of potential.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Mind linking the article? Im not seeing anything where sony spent that much on them.


Go down the page to shareholders... Sony is the top one at 34%.

You can see the value of stock on the TSE.
 
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