Support NeoGAF

[DeepEnigma]

I have to give it to Sony, they're good at picking up trendy words from the gaming community and using it to their advantage.

Educate yourself. It's been a corporate used term for decades.

Creating an Organic Growth Machine

Reprint: R1205F Many CEOs don’t seem to care about organic growth. They either give up on it, in the belief that their companies will inevitably become low growth, or they cede responsibility for it to the operating units. Those are big mistakes. In an uncertain business environment, all...

hbr.org

Organic growth - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The mechanisms and rate of growth of firms experiencing organic growth was extensively studied by Edith Penrose in her 1958 book The Theory of the Growth of the Firm.[3][4]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I wonder what would happen to the quality of squeenix titles if Sony purchased them? Would they improve?

I dream of a ps1/ps2 Squaresoft golden era return.

Screw acquisitions, btw.

probably all the executive branch, managers and some legacy creative should be fired

 

[SmokedMeat]

I was told Sony doesn’t do this.

 

[Three]

yeah but you’ll note that this was before MS decided to acquire ABK

sometimes businesses have to change how they operate because of competitors having done something that changes the game

It isn't even a change of stance in this case. He says:
"We’re growing our studios organically and we’re growing through acquisition"

 

[Pedro Motta]

This is a nothing burger and the salt in this thread is already over 9000.

 

[Thirty7ven]

This means they want to buy established IP.

 

[Pop]

When they allow Microsoft to go rampant and buy up whoever they want, this was bound to happen.

Sucks but it is what it is

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I was told Sony doesn’t do this.

Game has changed, you either adapt to the new market conditions or you just become another SEGA.

 

[Varteras]

This means they want to buy established IP.

Sony to Prioritize Strategic Investments in IP Going Forward - PlayStation LifeStyle

Sony Group has said that it'll continue to prioritize strategic investments in PlayStation IP going forward.

www.playstationlifestyle.net

Yep. They said it plainly a couple weeks ago. Will anything materialize? Who knows. But they are clearly making moves in that direction. In order for their plans to work any time soon, they need a large boost in headcount and owned IP. Organic growth of both will take quite a while.

 

[Zathalus]

So business as usual then? Sony has done 11 video game related acquisitions in the past 2 years, I didn't see this stopping anytime soon.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Game has changed, you either adapt to the new market conditions or you just become another SEGA.

There’s the excuse. It’s not bad anymore.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Company hiring employees to fill open positions? ….seems like hogwash

 

[balls of snow]

The world is theirs now. Get a good one.

 

[DeepEnigma]

There’s the excuse. It’s not bad anymore.

Where did he say it wasn't bad? We all knew this was coming, and yes, it's bad for the industry.

Both can exist at the same time.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

There’s the excuse. It’s not bad anymore.

That's not the "gotcha" you think it is since I'd prefer platform holders not doing these big 3rd party publisher acquisitions, be them MS, Sony or even Nintendo.

 

[mansoor1980]

The world is theirs now. Get a good one.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Where did he say it wasn't bad? We all knew this was coming, and yes, it's bad for the industry.

Both can exist at the same time.

I notice I never see the same level of reactions.

I never see anyone say “What the fuck Sony?!”

Hopefully I’m wrong.

 

[SmokedMeat]

That's not the "gotcha" you think it is since I'd prefer platform holders not doing these big 3rd party publisher acquisitions, be them MS, Sony or even Nintendo.

That’s good. Consolidation sucks.

I want to see these large publishers remain multiplatform. Sony players already lost Bethesda, and that sucks.

 

[JimboJones]

Inorganic I can’t believe PS actually buy in to this stupidity.

Sniffing their own farts

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I notice I never see the same level of reactions.

I never see anyone say “What the fuck Sony?!”

Hopefully I’m wrong.

I can assure you I'll be among the first ones to critique Sony if they buy a big publisher like Squeenix, Capcom or Sega.

 

[Robbinhood]

Sony never looked to acquire a publisher before but now its in their best interest. MS caused this.

 

[64bitmodels]

I wonder what would happen to the quality of squeenix titles if Sony purchased them? Would they improve?

I dream of a ps1/ps2 Squaresoft golden era return.

It exists already. It's called indie devs. You really don't need another acquisition for it. We're getting Sea of Stars, and Chained Echoes came out not too long ago.

Also, their HD2D titles like Octopath are also very good. People complain about FFXVI without realizing that square still does Turn based and still does it very well.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

I really don't want Capcom or FromSoft locked down to one platform. I enjoy playing games on PC

Sony wouldn’t be able to afford to lock Capcom to just Playstation. That’s like half it’s revenue.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I can assure you I'll be among the first ones to critique Sony if they buy a big publisher like Squeenix, Capcom or Sega.

Same.

 

[Jigsaah]

I give up.

I actually questioned whether Sony NEEDED to do anything in the MSFT/ABK thread in response to their deal. Apparently I was wrong.

Sick of being wrong.

 

[64bitmodels]

I can assure you I'll be among the first ones to critique Sony if they buy a big publisher like Squeenix, Capcom or Sega.

even moreso for me since i primarily play their games on PC. Having Resident Evil or Yakuza locked to Playstation forever would make me just a bit tilted.

just a bit.

64 bits, maybe.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Do they really need a manager to identify what is worth buying?
.....

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

The whole organic thing is fucking stupid. When and where did the organically grown studio term come from?
A sad Sony-only fanboy?

Who here thinks that Sony organically grew their Film and Music studios starting back in the 80s’ come on show your hands.

 

[adamsapple]

Do they really need a manager to identify what is worth buying?
.....

The managers job will probably be creating the numerous portfolio files to present to top-brass, not just googling company names

 

[Zok310]

Seems like they dont plan on using an auto loader shotgun when it comes to mergers. More likely going to sit and discuss what they weak in by genre and work on filling that gap.

 

[yurinka]

The whole organic thing is fucking stupid. When and where did the organically grown studio term come from?
A sad Sony-only fanboy?

Who here thinks that Sony organically grew their Film and Music studios starting back in the 80s’ come on show your hands.

The organic/inorganic growth are standard terms from economics related to growth strategy types for companies.

Organic growth refers to grow by focusing on tweaking and improving the products and channels you allready have: stuff like Sony did by tweaking their game subs, hiring more people for all their gamedev teams, collaborating with other Sony divisions to use their gaming IPs in movies or tv shows, or acquiring/securing teams who already were working mostly only with them (Insomniac, Housemarque, Bluepoint, Firewalk, Haven, Lasengle, Valkyrie...).

Inorganic growth refers to grow/get market share by focusing on acquisitions of people who make other products (Bethesda, ABK and almost all the other recent MS acquisitions, Bungie, Zynga etc).

Do they really need a manager to identify what is worth buying?
.....

Yes, to spend billions acquiring a company with hundreds or thousands of employees isn't like to buy a tv. There are a lot of things to consider that will be worth it in the long term, that will integrate well with their existing team, that possible synergies can be created, that they'll recoup the investment in X years, that won't be blocked by regulators, that this potential option is better for them than that other one, to identify if it's better to acquire that company or if instead is better to only invest on it, analyze if it's a good idea to make a join venture with someone to build something, etc.

 

[ulantan]

I was told Sony doesn’t do this.

Gotta compete

 

[DenchDeckard]

I was told Sony doesn’t do this.

They don't?


but they do now? They've kinda been forced to I guess. Can't blame them. Begun the acquisition wars have.

 

[Hudo]

Can they afford Square or Capcom?

Do Capcom's majority shareholder, which is a family that also holds high positions within the company's management, want to sell? Capcom are doing pretty good for quite a while. If they'd be willing to sell, it would most likely be 3 times the market cap.

 

[Hudo]

I was told Sony doesn’t do this.

Actually, you've been told that it's ok if Sony do it.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I can't get excited over this...
If it was last gen I would think: "Cool! More small studios to make creative little games and grow over time with Sony funding!"
But now it's : "Meh... more workers for the GAAS factory line."

If it's not a completely unnecessary publisher they are buying.

The organic/inorganic growth are standard terms from economics related to growth strategy types for companies.

Organic growth refers to grow by focusing on tweaking and improving the products and channels you allready have: stuff like Sony did by tweaking their game subs, hiring more people for all their gamedev teams, collaborating with other Sony divisions to use their gaming IPs in movies or tv shows, or acquiring/securing teams who already were working mostly only with them (Insomniac, Housemarque, Bluepoint, Firewalk, Haven, Lasengle, Valkyrie...).

Inorganic growth refers to grow/get market share by focusing on acquisitions of people who make other products (Bethesda, ABK and almost all the other recent MS acquisitions, Bungie, Zynga etc).


Yes, to spend billions acquiring a company with hundreds or thousands of employees isn't like to buy a tv. There are a lot of things to consider that will be worth it in the long term, that will integrate well with their existing team, that possible synergies can be created, that they'll recoup the investment in X years, that won't be blocked by regulators, that this potential option is better for them than that other one, etc.

Regulators? After ATK nothing will be blocked, it would be hipocrisy.

 

[yurinka]

I was told Sony doesn’t do this.

Sony never said they won't make acquisitions. In fact they said multiple times that will continue acquiring, but recently said that will leave them for the mid/long term.

Regulators? After ATK nothing will be blocked, it would be hipocrisy.

The ABK acquisition was someone with a 8% (MS) gaming market share acquiring a company with 4% (ABK) market share.

In the case of Europe, regarding high end consoles was the company with 20% (MS) market share acquiring the company that makes under 8% (ABK/Cod) of the revenue and is played by less than 8% of the userbase of the direct competitor who has 80% market share (Sony).

In game subs Sony has over twice the subs than MS, generates way more revenue and unlike MS game subs are a profitable business for them.

After the acquisition, even ignoring the ABK revenue decrease of putting their games day one on GP and removing some of their games from PS, MS would continue behind Sony in both gaming, consoles and game subs.

There was no point on the regulators side to stop the ABK acquisition, other than the CMA assumptions that maybe the cloud gaming market that right now is basically nothing (it's only a small portion of game subs, game subs generate less than 10% of the game revenues and Sony is the market leader by over 2:1 vs MS) could grow and become very relevant and that CoD would become there way more relevant than it is in console, PC and mobile to the point it would damage competition in the cloud gaming market. It's a lot of bold and not very realistic assumptions, even if understandable.

If the big acquisition would have made by the dominant market leader in some markets like console or game subs, Sony, then the regulators could have had more reasons to stop it because it could have been considered a monopolistic action because it would have made others almost impossible to compete against them specially in certain markets like EU or Japan.

 

[Gorgon]

i.e. MS will be buying more so we need to do it too.

"We"? You work for Sony or something? "I" certainly don't need to aquire any company.

It's fine to change course and adapt. I think they turned around PS+ extremely quickly after repeatedly saying this wasn't the way forward. Then you suddenly see big 1st party games like Horizon show up. Nothing wrong with that.

All I will criticize is that they repeatedly seem to be caught off guard in terms of their vision, or lack thereof, and have to pivot to change their stances. And it's happened multiple times.

It has happened plenty of times to MS too. The difference is that MS has shot themselves on the foot more often than Sony. Any company will have to change their strategy in response to the competition. Both MS and Sony will do it. It's a dance. Is this any surprise?

I really don't want Capcom or FromSoft locked down to one platform. I enjoy playing games on PC

They won't be locked to consoles. The releases on PC may be delayed but they will come. Too much cash to be made.

 

[Warnen]

The one that buys Sega wins…. I’ll take my paycheck.

 

[graywolf323]

I can assure you I'll be among the first ones to critique Sony if they buy a big publisher like Squeenix, Capcom or Sega.

Same.

I mean I’m not going to celebrate it but I don’t know if I’ll criticize them for reacting to Xbox saying their goal is to put PlayStation out of business

if Sony had done this unprompted I definitely would have criticized them, if the ABK deal had been blocked but Sony still went ahead and picked up a big publisher I would have criticized them, but if they do it now after MS acquires the largest third-party publisher? I mean they have to do something to ensure they stay competitive especially on the IP front

 

[Gorgon]

The one that buys Sega wins…. I’ll take my paycheck.

Aquiring companies like SEGA, Square-Enix, and/or Capcom would be great for Sony's business. Unfortunately for me, I care about those companies as much as I care about ABK, which is to say, nothing.

Now CDPR, Larian, From Software, and Warhorse Studios on the other hand...

 

[F0rneus]

Sony: Our turn

Which is FUCK AWFUL.

 

[Gorgon]

I mean I’m not going to celebrate it but I don’t know if I’ll criticize them for reacting to Xbox saying their goal is to put PlayStation out of business

if Sony had done this unprompted I definitely would have criticized them, if the ABK deal had been blocked but Sony still went ahead and picked up a big publisher I would have criticized them, but if they do it now after MS acquires the largest third-party publisher? I mean they have to do something to ensure they stay competitive especially on the IP front

MS has already aquired, one way or another, Bethesda, id Software, Obsidian, inExile, Ninja Theory, and now ABK with COD and Diablo. If Sony doesn't respond in kind what will Sony be left with? They need to aquire well known and cherished IPs, because otherwise they'll end up going the SEGA way. It would be impossible for them to compete only with their own IPs if MS buys out all the major players. Can anyone blame Sony?

If we like or not the way things are going is irrelevant.

 

[MikeM]

"We"? You work for Sony or something? "I" certainly don't need to aquire any company.

 

[Gorgon]

?

 

[8BiTw0LF]

Thank you Microsoft...

 

[CLW]

Sony buying Xbox confirmed

 

[Pasta la Vista]

I'll do it. Hire me. I'm cheap.

 

[Astray]

or the brightness.

Fuck no it's not.

Every merger in the gaming biz has delivered worse games and dire consequences to beloved ips and studios, at best you are looking for things to stay as they are.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Fuck no it's not.

Every merger in the gaming biz has delivered worse games and dire consequences to beloved ips and studios, at best you are looking for things to stay as they are.