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Why former PlayStation boss Jack Tretton is trying to buy a billion dollar game company

cormack12

Gold Member
Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/why-fo...n-buy-billion-game-company?utm_source=twitter

Everyone wants to acquire a gaming company these days it seems, including former Sony head Jack Tretton.

Speaking to IGN, Tretton says during his time at Sony and since, he’s seen a gradual shift has allowed small studios to be less reliant on large publishers to get their games into the world.

“Thanks to the online stores, anybody can be a publisher,” Tretton says. "So the good news is, the barrier to entry is dropped significantly. It's still very costly to build a game, but a fraction of what it was back in the days when you had to do a AAA, a hundred million dollar project to see the light of day on the shelves.”

But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to release such a game. He says that as indies look for more sources of funding, he’s seeing increasing interest in mergers and acquisitions [M&A]. But indies are reluctant, he says, because they don’t want to lose their independence, and going public themselves to earn money from investors is an expensive, complex proposition. How, then, can an indie raise money from investors while remaining independent, small, and secure?

Enter Tretton and his new company: PowerUp. PowerUp is a SPAC: a special purpose acquisition company. As Tretton explains concisely, SPACs are companies that exist for the sole purpose of acquiring or merging with an existing, private company and taking it public as a combined entity. It’s an easy route for smaller companies to become publicly traded while simultaneously getting extra financial backing, and potentially, an experienced group of industry professionals at their back who can offer advice, support, and direction. In the case of PowerUp, Tretton says that also means letting the studio stay independent by remaining a minority owner.

“We want to have more of a mentorship role where maybe we take a board seat, but we're not interested in joining the management team or taking the management team over,” he explains.

There are hundreds of SPACs out there, but PowerUp is relatively unique as a games industry-specific endeavor. Tretton says the lack of SPACs in the approximately $200 billion dollar games industry, especially as acquisition becomes a hotter topic, was part of what prompted him to start PowerUp with a group of leaders who are already familiar with the game space.

So what’s behind the surge in games industry acquisitions lately? Tretton’s theory is that the boom is tied to the sheer number of gaming companies compared to 15 or 20 years ago combined with the skyrocketing figures that the biggest gaming companies are raking in each year. There’s simply more to be acquired, and more money to do it with. And, he adds, that’s a good thing.

“You've got some strategic mergers and acquisitions that I think are good for the industry, because if an Activision becomes part of a Microsoft or a Zynga becomes part of a Take-Two, that creates room for a new Zynga or a new Activision to pop up, and maybe somebody who is a fraction of the size of an Activision or a Zynga becomes the next Activision or a Zynga, and those guys are going to pull up smaller companies with them,” Tretton says. “So I think it's a sign of growth in the industry and a sign of the value of the industry and it's all positive.”
 

mansoor1980

Member
somethings up
F6lbzaCd1biByWTBPvfKQwYhRVgM2iST_xvP93U-Kac.jpg
 

Zeroing

Banned
I liked Jack Tretton perhaps better than Shawn Layden..but both are definitely better than Jimbo LOL.

Tretton = House > Layden >>>>>>>>>> Jimbo

Just my opinion
yeah, I was watching an Engadget video about the Vita and they talked how Sony PlayStation changed during Trentton, House and Layden.

Jim was good at the PlayStation Europe but that was it.
Many of the people that make a good impact on PS4 are long gone.

I blame the CEO of Sony for messing up the division of PlayStation.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
What makes Jimbo so much worse than the other corporate suits?

I think people think the president calls all the shots. From hardware, software, plans, strategies and finances.

Things that have happened since he has been in charge:

Japan studios losing alot of key members and studios
Cost of games gone up $10
Porting exclusives for the first time ever to PC

Not much of a reply to MS’s aquiring of publishers
No BC on PS5
More talk of online games ( people assume this means less single player games )
Micro-transactions in GT7 lol

Personally Im more bothered that we’ve only been shown Two new 1st party titles since 2020 September. Spiderman 2 and Wolverine. Id like some more news on 1st party games. That will show what Jim is really doing and the true 3rd party exclusives, like a Bloodborne etc. Final Fantasy 16 is a great choice.

The treatment of Japan studios Ill wait and see, them getting FF16 exclusive is alot more important to japanese gaming than a smaller japanese title.
Plus Playstation rehires alot of employee’s like the Liverpool studios lot. We’ll see what they have planned, otherwise the way Japan studios being treated will be another disappointment.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Everyone wants a picture with Phil!

Joking aside, how did all off you people have these pictures on hand?!
I'm gonna blow your mind right now.

There is this company that created a search engine on the internets before or after Al Gore, one of the two, called,
aloy-i-know.gif


I much prefer this one, however,
 
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I think people think the president calls all the shots. From hardware, software, plans, strategies and finances.

Things that have happened since he has been in charge:

Japan studios losing alot of key members and studios
Cost of games gone up $10
Porting exclusives for the first time ever to PC

Not much of a reply to MS’s aquiring of publishers
No BC on PS5
More talk of online games ( people assume this means less single player games )
Micro-transactions in GT7 lol

Personally Im more bothered that we’ve only been shown Two new 1st party titles since 2020 September. Spiderman 2 and Wolverine. Id like some more news on 1st party games. That will show what Jim is really doing and the true 3rd party exclusives, like a Bloodborne etc. Final Fantasy 16 is a great choice.

The treatment of Japan studios Ill wait and see, them getting FF16 exclusive is alot more important to japanese gaming than a smaller japanese title.
Plus Playstation rehires alot of employee’s like the Liverpool studios lot. We’ll see what they have planned, otherwise the way Japan studios being treated will be another disappointment.
Truthfully, a lot of that seems petty to dislike him for. Sorry folks but next gen games are 69.99 going forward across the board with or with out Jim. Hell who was in charge when they went up to 59.99? Don't remember anyone getting hate then.

Japan is only sad if you ignore it's major shortcomings and the fact it was restructured. Studios get shut down, but a lot of the time it's the right thing to do. They've all made this decision before.

Didn't they start PC ports way back on the ps3 with some smaller games? I feel like this was started well before the recent bitch fits from some. And how is there no bc on the PS5, I swear I've play last gen games on mine. I guess it's all perception.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Truthfully, a lot of that seems petty to dislike him for. Sorry folks but next gen games are 69.99 going forward across the board with or with out Jim. Hell who was in charge when they went up to 59.99? Don't remember anyone getting hate then.

Japan is only sad if you ignore it's major shortcomings and the fact it was restructured. Studios get shut down, but a lot of the time it's the right thing to do. They've all made this decision before
That was the 360 guys that did that one.
Tea Time Drink GIF by VH1

Hell, I remember they said their first party games would not do $60 and stay at $50, then Halo 3 happened. :pie_roffles:
 
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Zok310

Banned
Great speaker and presenter. However, he reigned over the worst years at PlayStation so he cant be that good at managing.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Great speaker and presenter. However, he reigned over the worst years at PlayStation so he cant be that good at managing.
Also brought us the $399 PS4 and had some great games greenlit prior to his departure.
18qijmvcxrpvjgif.gif


PS3 was still that crazy Ken (love him or hate him with exotic designs) vs the west struggle of control.
 
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BIG DICK PHIL

also, i think the gamers higher are fully in support of a "gaming convergence" and they are probably ready to fund a unified gaming market. at the consumer level, that will likely be a single service of sorts
 

jimmypython

Member
What makes Jimbo so much worse than the other corporate suits?

For starters, the Japan studio is shut. Also the X/O function swap issue for Japan is not very pro-gamer there.

Jim's decisions so far are just purely for business without any disguise. At least Layden, House and Tretten showed a more pro-gamer optic.
 
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