Maxwell Jacob Friedman
leads to fear. Fear leads to xbox.
Housemarque and blupoint
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Who should SONY buy?
- Thread starter EverydayBeast
- Start date
BlackTron
Gold Member
I honestly don't see the big deal. Sony needs to do what they do, ensuring that good games keep being made for PS. They can do that without paying big bucks for a brand name. It seems that whenever a very well known, respected studio gets bought out, the results are dubious. To make this purchase worth it, MS will need to foster these studio's success instead of trying to ride on past accomplishments. Based on what we know, it could be great, or a LOT could go wrong. Personally, I doubt this will be end up worth the 7 billion MSFT coughed up for this. They certainly seem shit at even managing their most important studio with their most important game, 343. But who knows, anything can happen. Tides shift rapidly in this business.
If Sony buys any studio, it should be a modest deal where they see potential to invest in, to help them create a new game, and MAKE them valuable. Foster creativity, make new stuff. That's what made PS4 a success. Instead of saying "Last of Us was a real success, let's copy that", it really should be "Sony's management style supported an entirely new game that became a success, let's copy that".
If Sony buys any studio, it should be a modest deal where they see potential to invest in, to help them create a new game, and MAKE them valuable. Foster creativity, make new stuff. That's what made PS4 a success. Instead of saying "Last of Us was a real success, let's copy that", it really should be "Sony's management style supported an entirely new game that became a success, let's copy that".
Bryank75
Banned
They are already making new studios...
They need to limit the content XBox and other competitors can get their hands on.
Walter Matthau
Gold Member
Companies are successful when they distinguish themselves from the competition, not copy them.
Bryank75
Banned
That just shows that you have no idea what is going on in the real world...I think sony are more likely to up and sell themselves at this rate
BlackTron
Gold Member
That's by entire point, instead of worrying about taking from the other guy by attrition, make your own.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
From a tactical standpoint (ignoring practicality and expense) Sony just need to lock down SE, From, and Bamco. Sublicense on an exclusive basis Konami's fallow IP's, and get some sort of preferential arrangement with Capcom.
On the cheap side buying Bluepoint and Housemarque would be good choices for consolidation and expansion.
On the cheap side buying Bluepoint and Housemarque would be good choices for consolidation and expansion.
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Bryank75
Banned
Why not both?
Dabaus
Banned
If Sony wanted (or even can...) go tit for tat and make an industry shaking purchase then Ubisoft is the best pick. Think about it,
-Assassins creed
-Far cry
-watch dogs
-Tom Clancy games like splinter cell, rainbow six, and ghost recon.
-The division
Plus whatever else they have.
Sqaure and capcom aren’t going anywhere. Japanese laws would prohibit it and take 2 Is really only worth it for one or 2 franchises. Ubisoft lands you 4 or 5 huge franchises and watch dogs could be sort of a gta knock off of they wanted it be.
-Assassins creed
-Far cry
-watch dogs
-Tom Clancy games like splinter cell, rainbow six, and ghost recon.
-The division
Plus whatever else they have.
Sqaure and capcom aren’t going anywhere. Japanese laws would prohibit it and take 2 Is really only worth it for one or 2 franchises. Ubisoft lands you 4 or 5 huge franchises and watch dogs could be sort of a gta knock off of they wanted it be.
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BlackTron
Gold Member
Both is fine, but one strategy is mission critical (make original, good games) and the other is expensive and risky (spend billions on studios with largely stagnating franchises to be turned around).
Bryank75
Banned
Assuming the Japanese government are protecting from acquisition..... yeah. I agree.
But they still need to stop Capcom, Sega and Square from putting content on streaming and gamepass.
John Wick
Member
Sony should be sensible. They are better off bolstering their existing studios. Make ND a two team studio. Same with Santa Monica etc. Media Molecule should be expanded.
If they want to buy then first buy Blue Point, Housemarque and maybe Sumo Digital. Then go for From Software and Kojima.
If they want to buy then first buy Blue Point, Housemarque and maybe Sumo Digital. Then go for From Software and Kojima.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
One thing people seem to keep forgetting is Sony are much more involved in all sorts of media than MS are. So any future expansion would likely be in things that strengthen their portfolio in all fields of entertainment.
In terms of ambitions and interests, they are a very different type of enterprise to MS, so what's best for their business overall is not going to be the same in a streaming future where IP is all-powerful.
In terms of ambitions and interests, they are a very different type of enterprise to MS, so what's best for their business overall is not going to be the same in a streaming future where IP is all-powerful.
SilentUser
Member
Honestly, I hope they do the usual approach: make deals with studios first do produce games, like it happened with ND, SuckerPunch and Insomniac. After helping to build those studios, Sony bought them.
Seems like they are doing this with KojiPro and Blupoint Games, so they would be nice acquisitions, imo.
However, Sony needs RPGs studios to diversify their portfolio. They could start a few studios or approach small studios. Would like to see them getting some exclusive new IPs from Level-5.
Seems like they are doing this with KojiPro and Blupoint Games, so they would be nice acquisitions, imo.
However, Sony needs RPGs studios to diversify their portfolio. They could start a few studios or approach small studios. Would like to see them getting some exclusive new IPs from Level-5.
Papacheeks
Banned
Which company has more power in Asian markets?
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Capcom also backed MS heavily during the 360 era, and it really didn't work out for them.
Digital Gex
Banned
"heavily"
Timed exclusive for Lost Planet. Steel Battalion for Kinect. First Dead RIsing exclusive for the gen.
a bunch of multiplats shared with the PS3.
"heavily" lol.
Piku_Ringo
Banned
How bout they invest in (not buy) Leslie Benzies’ new studio?
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Yeah, heavily. The initial push on exclusives was strong, but it fizzled quickly when it became apparent they'd backed the wrong horse. What's worse is that they experienced the phenomenon that once a new IP is established as an exclusive (like LO and DR were) moving it multi-platform never seems to stick, exact same thing happened to Respawn/EA with Titanfall, it sees to taint the franchises going forward.
Digital Gex
Banned
There was no strong releases, Capcom had like two exclusives maybe 3 and two were timed.
sixamp
Member
shadow of their former selves? are yo u smoking some crack? Doom 2016,doom eternal, prey, dishonored, wolfensteins, not even mentioning elderscrolls. those are amazing franchises that have all come out recenlty and have been good to great
duhmetree
Member
Buying MGS and Silent Hill would keep Kojima busy. Buying Castlevania would feed and expand upon the Bloodborne niche/theme.
Bloodborne 2 needs to be funded and greenlit. TOP PRIORITY.
A team like Larian Studios should be a hot commodity. Sony could really use a RPG team. A true AAA RPG experience worth getting lost in?
Bloodborne 2 needs to be funded and greenlit. TOP PRIORITY.
A team like Larian Studios should be a hot commodity. Sony could really use a RPG team. A true AAA RPG experience worth getting lost in?
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Bryank75
Banned
All I have played from them in the past 10 years is Skyrim and Doom 2016... no desire to play more Doom, had my fill and those open world Bethesda games are all the same, janky stuff with bad dialogue.
Papacheeks
Banned
Yea, and look at how much money the have made with Nintendo and Sony compared to xbox.
Monster Hunter, and Street fighter and resident evil are doing well.
LostDonkey
Member
Hello games.
Then they can have that tripe all to themselves.
Then they can have that tripe all to themselves.
Allnamestakenlol
Member
Dyslexia kicked in and I read that as "who should buy sony." Lol
Triggerhappytel
Member
I don't really want to see more industry consolidation - especially at the accelerated pace some publishers have been going - but it seems inevitable that Sony will make more acquisitions over the first half of this generation, in part because they've talked about organically expanding and in part because they will probably need to answer Xbox Studios' growth in some capacity to future-proof themselves.
That being said, I hope they don't make any massive acquisitions such as a major publisher like Take Two or THQ Nordic, or large developers like Bungie or PlatinumGames (not that I think any of these are realistic; just giving examples). I think they should focus on small developers who have consistent output but obviously need more cash and resources to grow. I think Sony have only acquired developers with whom they have a established working relationship, so that puts the likes of Bluepoint, Housemarque, Arrowhead and possibly Lucid Games (Destruction AllStars) in good stead. IMO they should be aiming for developers around this size who can grow steadily until they have the size and support where they can put out genuine AAA hits, like how we've seen with Sucker Punch.
Furthermore I would like to see them grow their current studios, hopefully to the point where they can be two concurrent development teams, although with games becoming bigger and more complex I'm not sure how realistic that is. According to LinkedIn (cannot find numbers on their websites) Naughty Dog has 466 employees and Santa Monica Studios has 340 employees, and I guess for games on the scale of God of War or Uncharted 4 the actual number of internal developers needs to be *300+ (not including outsourcing and other stuff - I recall reading that over 2000 people worked on TLoU2 in total!) so they would both have to grow to not far off double their current size, which may not be realistic depending on studio culture, management etc. I think Media Molecule has two studios but has remained fairly small, which again could be a studio culture thing.
Anyway, I would like to see them grow internal studios first, but if they are going to make acquisitions (I think Bluepoint is inevitable and Housemarque's sale might be dependent on how Returnal performs) then I would rather see them pick up the smaller devs with the long-term intention of growing them.
*That being said, Sucker Punch has 162 employees on LinkedIn. I have no idea how they achieved such wizardry with what is a relatively small studio!
**Also Insomniac has 365 employees on LinkedIn and are probably one of the most prolific big studios out there, so again I have no idea how they do it because I think unlike Naughty Dog they have a distinctly anti-crunch culture at the studio! I know they have two completely separate offices so perhaps one is much bigger and the other works on smaller games like Edge of Nowhere, submariney thing, maybe Ratchet (?), etc.
That being said, I hope they don't make any massive acquisitions such as a major publisher like Take Two or THQ Nordic, or large developers like Bungie or PlatinumGames (not that I think any of these are realistic; just giving examples). I think they should focus on small developers who have consistent output but obviously need more cash and resources to grow. I think Sony have only acquired developers with whom they have a established working relationship, so that puts the likes of Bluepoint, Housemarque, Arrowhead and possibly Lucid Games (Destruction AllStars) in good stead. IMO they should be aiming for developers around this size who can grow steadily until they have the size and support where they can put out genuine AAA hits, like how we've seen with Sucker Punch.
Furthermore I would like to see them grow their current studios, hopefully to the point where they can be two concurrent development teams, although with games becoming bigger and more complex I'm not sure how realistic that is. According to LinkedIn (cannot find numbers on their websites) Naughty Dog has 466 employees and Santa Monica Studios has 340 employees, and I guess for games on the scale of God of War or Uncharted 4 the actual number of internal developers needs to be *300+ (not including outsourcing and other stuff - I recall reading that over 2000 people worked on TLoU2 in total!) so they would both have to grow to not far off double their current size, which may not be realistic depending on studio culture, management etc. I think Media Molecule has two studios but has remained fairly small, which again could be a studio culture thing.
Anyway, I would like to see them grow internal studios first, but if they are going to make acquisitions (I think Bluepoint is inevitable and Housemarque's sale might be dependent on how Returnal performs) then I would rather see them pick up the smaller devs with the long-term intention of growing them.
*That being said, Sucker Punch has 162 employees on LinkedIn. I have no idea how they achieved such wizardry with what is a relatively small studio!
**Also Insomniac has 365 employees on LinkedIn and are probably one of the most prolific big studios out there, so again I have no idea how they do it because I think unlike Naughty Dog they have a distinctly anti-crunch culture at the studio! I know they have two completely separate offices so perhaps one is much bigger and the other works on smaller games like Edge of Nowhere, submariney thing, maybe Ratchet (?), etc.
FromDuskTillGameOver
Member
AND Disney DUH!
ButchCat
Member
Glad I wasn't the only one
.To answer the question. No one, instead I think Sony should create a mobile division to stay relevant in Japan .
namekuseijin
Banned
Oculus
kyliethicc
Member
they gotta buy the studio who made Knack. it'd be a huge get for Sony
