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PlayStation's spending spree is radically different to Xbox's

The acquisition style and plan between the 2 companies is rather obvious unless you are being obtuse.

Small studios that bounce around are entirely different beasts compared to 3rd party publishers. These studios bounce around from 1 agreement to the next. Acquisition means you dont need to worry about signing them for the next game, and the studio gets the comfort of having funds to truely support the staff and company between games. Buying a company you already work closely with in this sense is organic.

For zenimax, the studios are already funded, and projects already in developement for multiple platforms. There is no close relationship with the individual studios looking to foster talent. Its simply moneyballing for exclusives in an attempt to play catch up. The zenimax deal, and how much ms over paid, shows just how desperate they are to try and catch up to Sony's stable of quality studios.
 

Bryank75

Banned
MS buying Fine Aged Ribeye
Sony buying Walmart last day discount chuck

Certainly applies to Nixxes anyway. Completely underwhelming and for me disappointing..... Hermen getting his cousins all in on the gravy-train.

Why waste the time and money?
 
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The real question is, if Sony had the resources at its disposal that MS had, would it still be following its present strategy or would it mirror that of Microsoft? History points to it prehaps being more along the lines of Microsoft, there was a time when Sony was also quick to snap up studios as well. Sony's strategy is let's be real, a matter of reality versus what it prehaps would like to do.
Sony, the company that tried to money hat every third party game it can would 100% be more aggressive than MS. I think they would have scooped up a few major third parties like square or capcom.
 

GymWolf

Member
xiCUVrX.jpg
I goggled organic growth and this was the first result...

how-to-grow-cannabis-feature-e1554064047410.jpeg
 
You think it's as easy as having the deepest pockets. MS has since the beginning had all the money to buy every single studio that's been on sale or open to a deal. It's not like the Studios or companies for sale desire to be bought by a company like MS or Sony. Many of them don't want that.

Plenty of studios reject selling to Microsoft or Sony because of a myriad or reasons. In the case of MS, their very own Xbox division knows what they can handle and their limitations, and just wouldn't even entertain making an offer to a Studio when they know it wouldn't work for them, accommodating some teams to their infrastructure, management or policies.

There are some things no amount of money can buy. Or do you think MS lost their biggest team ever, Bungie, because of money? Some people simply don't wanna work for a particular corporation and throwing all the money in the world at them won't change that.
 
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Derktron

Banned
Errrr, newsflash - 2 things can be true at the same time. 3rd party exclusives do exist.

Sony publishing whatever as a 1st party is not the brands approach. As soon as Sony published jank like Fallout 76, say goodbye to the quality they are known for.
You are missing the point, stop treating Sony like some kind of damn god. Plain and simple. You just proved my point, if your precious company cared enough about that they would have not gotten into the deal with Bethesda for those two games to be exclusive to PS5...................................................................................................................Oh.............................another............................thing...........................this...............one...................is.....................good......................if Sony cared, the rumors that Sony wanted to get Starfield exclusive to PS5 if they really cared so much about quality. I like Sony but you are just like the rest of those people on Twitter. Too blind to see what is in front of you. Goodbye and good day. This conversation is over.
 

Bryank75

Banned
It's obvious. PC ports. As others have said. They excel at it.

Waste of time, waste of money...a distraction from their actual customers and serving them.

PS5 owners still here with no native versions of games that came to PC already. No SSD expansion. A UI that needs a lot of work in terms of optimization.

The only games that should ever go to PC from PS are MLB and multiplayer games. That's it.

Putting Uncharted or GOW on there is like Nintendo putting their Mario games on PC. Absolutely defeats the entire purpose of making them in the first place.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
Waste of time, waste of money...a distraction from their actual customers and serving them.

PS5 owners still here with no native versions of games that came to PC already. No SSD expansion. A UI that needs a lot of work in terms of optimization.

The only games that should ever go to PC from PS are MLB and multiplayer games. That's it.

Putting Uncharted or GOW on there is like Nintendo putting their Mario games on PC. Absolutely defeats the entire purpose of making them in the first place.
I disagree entirely but I think we've been through this before. Getting Sony ports to pc a year or two out isn't going to hurt them at all. It's basically free money for them. If they go day and date then that's a different conversation.
 

Bryank75

Banned
I disagree entirely but I think we've been through this before. Getting Sony ports to pc a year or two out isn't going to hurt them at all. It's basically free money for them. If they go day and date then that's a different conversation.

I just want to add that I've seen many people posting that they wont buy a PS5 already due to the ports.... so I think it's already hit in some way. Just will be visible at the end of the gen with lower sales.
 

Bryank75

Banned
They are not just for PC porting. They have helped Sony (as well as others) over the years support/polish their first and third party games as well. They are a support studio.

It was mentioned in the damned press release.

Why do you IGNORE this, and only fixate on your living meme?


Rick And Morty GIF
 

Vognerful

Member
They are not just for PC porting. They have helped Sony (as well as others) over the years support/polish their first and third party games as well. They are a support studio.

It was mentioned in the damned press release.

Why do you IGNORE this, and only fixate on your living meme?
I know this was mentioned in the article but I can’t help but feel this is just PR talk. What games have they helped Sony with in the recent years? or any other company.
 
It really isn't that complicated. There's no 4D chess being played on acquisitions that makes one strategy any more clever or intricate than the other. Sony was making a more aggressive style of move on Bethesda than any they've made in year's past with Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, and rumors are that they were trying to secure Starfield as an exclusive as well. And, let's be honest, why the hell wouldn't they be? That game looks like it could really become something special if it delivers on Bethesda's big ambitions and what they said in that Washington Post interview.

Microsoft had apparently been talking to Bethesda for years before, and I can't tell if Sony's newly aggressive attitude towards Bethesda made Microsoft pull the trigger much more quickly, but it almost certainly had to factor into the equation, especially with Google and Amazon on the sidelines. Every acquisition is a considered one and is about the securing of one's interests. Microsoft for their plans certainly loved the idea of owning all those game studios and the legendary IP Bethesda owns, so they went out and spent the money to get it, same as Sony is doing in other areas. Bethesda is perfect for Game Pass. Bethesda makes Game Pass a juggernaut way beyond what it could have been without them. There's nothing frenzied about Bethesda and Xbox. It's fucking brilliant if you have the money for it.

Again, if you have the money for it... Let's not pretend Sony wouldn't have gladly went out and done the exact same if they could afford to do it. To take on that entire organization, keeping even the publishing, marketing and all other departments intact is a feat that few companies could ever hope to achieve and then manage. Microsoft being a $2 trillion dollar company is one such company.

It's also a matter of what the different studios feel fits the best for them, and surely the money also plays a huge factor as well. Sony's strategy currently is one in which they don't treat PC as a first class citizen the way they do playstation console owners by doing day and date releases on PC for their major games. Maybe nixxes is an effort to begin to change that, I don't know. So the potential for Bethesda under Sony would presumably put at risk Bethesda's relationship with the PC gaming community, so it's the money, it's the relationships, it's the company priorities.

In each and every possible studio acquisition that trifecta has to be there. The money, the relationship, the priorities. Insomniac clearly valued more than anything making games for Playstation, continuing to have hold of that very lucrative Spider-Man intellectual property, and they already have an excellent relationship with Sony, plus the money was clearly right. So it made total sense for them.

My take is I've seen a couple articles now seemingly trying to make Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda seem sloppy or "frenzied" while trying to massage playstation fan feelings about its significance, telling everyone it will be okay and Sony has a plan. Of course Sony has a plan, they must have a plan, but make no mistake Sony would have wanted Bethesda too, they just couldn't afford to spend what Microsoft spent to get it. Everyone of these articles nowadays is entirely about the Bethesda acquisition in a direct or indirect fashion without saying so because of how big it was.

And people may not want to accept this truth, but it is a move that represents a major shift in influence and power unlike anything we have seen for decades in the games industry. It's honestly a move which tops Microsoft launching the 360 a year before the PS3 and the PS3 coming in at the price it came in at. Console sales are always nice, but it's not the only way to make that money anymore. Game Pass on Xbox and PC + Bethesda with the studios already existing in Microsoft's stable has changed the game. It won't be about outselling Sony's consoles, it will just be about finding success with their current model in a way that is growing and sustainable long-term. I strongly believe it will be sustainable and grow long term. It's already experiencing record growth just since late last year, and I see Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Redfall, Starfield and a range of other titles expanding its value to Microsoft. And then there's the other elephant in the room, Windows 11 hype.
 
Honestly, who cares? Everything that Bethesda has released has been available on every single platform up until now. Starfield is slated for late 22', my guess is early 23. ES6? Who knows.

In the mean time, other studios are developing new IP that no one has laid eyes on. Some people act as if the only games coming out for the next 10 years is Starfield and ES6.

In the here and now, Sony knows what's best for Sony, if they choose to make a big purchase, so be it. Market leaders don't follow the followers. They lead.
 
Lol its like saying Bill gates spending spree is radically different than your regular gaf user :)

Ofcourse, its different. You comparing one of the biggest company on planet with Sony which is nowhere near MS in terms of overall financial power. Sony spending based on their budget and MS spending based on their budget.

MS deals in billions and Sony millions.
 

zaanan

Banned
Then why did Sony accept to have Deathloop and Ghost Wire Tokyo be exclusive to PlayStation even before the company was bought by Microsoft? -- You sound really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, ignorant.
-1 not enough “really”s
 

Hezekiah

Banned
The article missed the forest for the trees.

PlayStation's "spending spree" of two whole acquisitions is formalising its long-standing partnerships as first party endeavours. While this allows Sony to invest deeply into proven talent they know will be at home in the PlayStation family, it doesn't change anything - and just adds yet another studio making yet more third person action adventure games, which is what the vast, vast majority of Sony studios already make. They're quality titles, no doubt, but if you're looking for literally anything else, Sony simply doesn't have an offering. If Microsoft's Zenimax purchase was apparently lacking breadth, Sony's purchases are borderline myopic.
Yes absolutely, it's not as if Sony does platformers, media creation, racing or shooting games 😂.
 
Lol its like saying Bill gates spending spree is radically different than your regular gaf user :)

Ofcourse, its different. You comparing one of the biggest company on planet with Sony which is nowhere near MS in terms of overall financial power. Sony spending based on their budget and MS spending based on their budget.

MS deals in billions and Sony millions.
Lol didn’t Sony buy Crunchyroll for 1.2 billion like 6 months ago? I agree with your overall sentiment, but this is weird take. Also Sony has like 45 billion cash on hand as well. (Note: Am msft and sony investor)
 
Lol its like saying Bill gates spending spree is radically different than your regular gaf user :)

Ofcourse, its different. You comparing one of the biggest company on planet with Sony which is nowhere near MS in terms of overall financial power. Sony spending based on their budget and MS spending based on their budget.

MS deals in billions and Sony millions.
Playstation sales in Billions, Xbox in millions
 

Bryank75

Banned
Lol its like saying Bill gates spending spree is radically different than your regular gaf user :)

Ofcourse, its different. You comparing one of the biggest company on planet with Sony which is nowhere near MS in terms of overall financial power. Sony spending based on their budget and MS spending based on their budget.

MS deals in billions and Sony millions.

I just posted the exact figures from their accounts...

Stop downplaying Sony's financial position.

Over the past 6 months Sony music spent 1.6 billion on acquisitions and Sony spent 1.2 billion on Crunchyroll which is awaiting approval.
Saying Sony only have millions is so ignorant.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
Also...yes Microsoft is a 2 Trillion dollar company...but that means the shares that institutions and the individual shareholders own are worth 2 Trillion...... it is not some money Microsoft have access to. They got money from those stocks at the IPO and that is the only point they get cash from them.... from that point on it is the investors that gain from the price going up. I don't think many people here understand that!

Saying MSFT has 2 trillion dollars is like saying a race horse has all the money that people won betting on it.....
A lot of people don't actually understand this. They've seen it on here and parrot it because they believe that's what it means and view it as something to be personally proud of 😅.
 

ksdixon

Member
Sony can afford to do it. Anyone who says otherwise is being dense. The real question is always ROI. Is there enough ROI there for them to invest in that acquisition? I can assure you the money (outside of some base cash reserves they must keep on hand) is not just sitting there not generating interest. Whenever you invest you have to consider opportunity cost of what else you could've invested that money into.

Simple: Bethesda has much better ROI for MS than for Sony and that's why MS made the acquisition and Sony didn't. That and MS has a good relationship with them. MS can use Bethesda to shore up not only XBOX but also PC gaming and therefore Windows. It's a multi marketplace approach.

I think Sony has come to a similar realization and that's why they're testing PC releases. They see the potential market they're not serving. They have to toe the line between fiercely protecting PlayStation ecosystem business (a locked store) and increasing market value by going to other marketplaces. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sony releasing a PC store akin to EPIC down the line if the ROI is there. The investment to bring up a PC store and maintain it might not be worth it for them though so they'll probably just haggle with STEAM and EPIC for more favorable store cuts.
Wouldn't they just release on Epic Store, given they invested into Epic? It's like throwing the same pot of money around. Then get further sales 2 years later when releasing to Steam?
 
I just posted the exact figures from their accounts...

Stop downplaying Sony's financial position.

Over the past 6 months Sony music spent 1.6 billion on acquisitions and Sony spent 1.2 billion on Crunchyroll which is awaiting approval.
Saying Sony only have millions is so ignorant.
MS spends that much like every year in charity that you are not even aware of. . MS can only be compared with Companies like Google and Apple not Sony. Lets keep Sony and MS comparison to gaming only lol.

I mean their retired chairman Billy Gates spends billions in charity including billions that he gave for covid vaccine research.


Retired and unemployed Bill Gates got more cash than Sony lol
 
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Bryank75

Banned
MS spends that much like every year in charity that you are not even aware of. . MS can only be compared with Companies like Google and Apple not Sony. Lets keep Sony and MS comparison to gaming only lol.

I mean their retired chairman Billy Gates spends billions in charity including billions that he gave for covid vaccine research.


Retired and unemployed Bill Gates got more cash than Sony lol

As the founder, he had a lot of stock....his personal wealth is separate in legal terms to the company.

As I explained above, the market cap of the company is really nothing to do with the wealth the company has access to..... that is how much the shares that share holders have is worth.

The only cash that MSFT has is the 120 billion in cash on hand....but that is held back by their pretty significant longterm debt of 55 Billion.

Also in terms of overall longterm / fixed assets the two are not far off at all.
 
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Warablo

Member
Microsoft is playing catch up because they found game development wasn't worth it unless every game was a HALO success. So they stopped investing into game development early on, but now they have a killer app with Game Pass.

They need to play catch up and starting a studio from scratch is hard and takes a long time.

Sony had the market lead, so they were just doing time exclusives for the time being.
 
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SaucyJack

Member
As the founder, he had a lot of stock....his personal wealth is separate in legal terms to the company.

As I explained above, the market cap of the company is really nothing to do with the wealth the company has access to..... that is how much the shares that share holders have is worth.

The only cash that MSFT has is the 120 billion in cash on hand....but that is held back by their pretty significant longterm debt of 55 Billion.

Also in terms of overall longterm / fixed assets the two are not far off at all.

His wealth is probably about half what it used to be though 🤪

Go Melinda.
 

ZehDon

Member
Yes absolutely, it's not as if Sony does platformers, media creation, racing or shooting games 😂.
Yes absolutely, it's not as if I said the vast majority of Sony's studios make third person action adventure games - meaning some make Gran Turismo, AA-tier platfomers, under-performing "media creation".

I suggest reading a post before responding to it.
 
Xbox division made billions as well. Go check some of the previous year earnings.


And we comparing overall financial power of companies. Sony not even same league, they just beating MS in gaming consoles department that's it.
I mean I was obviously kidding abt Millions to Billions but you made me curious and I saw that Playstation was almost double the revenue of Xbox last year $12B to $22B

Looking back thru the years Xbox isn’t even touching Playstation records of a few years ago. The overall financial power of their respective gaming divisions isn’t even in the same league.
 
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Three

Member
Sony, the company that tried to money hat every third party game it can would 100% be more aggressive than MS. I think they would have scooped up a few major third parties like square or capcom.
Sony has the resources. However with $7billion dollars you can pick up far more exclusive games with an exclusivity contract across many more studios especially as you are only combating a small xbox install base and would pay less for securing them. Securing those exclusives would be more costly for MS and they could have "moneyhat" the third party games too (as if a $7b acquisition is not a moneyhat). MS needed Bethesda more hence why they paid so much and Sony didn't. Just because they didn't it doesn't mean they couldn't. It's far more beneficial for Sony to do exclusives with third parties.
 
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