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[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Haven't seen a thread here yet, so posting.

According to this report, Sony are exploring a deeper expansion into the Korean game development scene. These seem to be primarily focused on further collaborations and partnerships, but they could also end up spanning into acquisitions. For example, Shift Up are currently working on Stellar Blade. Assuming that game hits internal targets for market performance, I can picture them being acquired similar to how Returnal turned out well enough for Sony to acquire that developer.

Here are some portions of the article (Google translated):

Sony recently paid attention to the Korean content industry and is working hard to secure allies. This is because the proportion of video game production is gradually increasing in Korea, where PC online and mobile games were the main focus, and attention is increasing.

In addition to the achievements of the video game versions of Battlegrounds and Black Desert, Neowiz's P's lie, Shift Up's Stellar Blade, and NCsoft's TL are attracting attention as they are developed as video games one after another.

Sony is promoting business alliances and collaborations with them. In particular, with Pearl Abyss ahead of the release of 'Red Desert', Sony is discussing partnership plans including equity investment to secure exclusive content.

Neowiz, Com2uS, NCsoft, etc. are also considered partners who are predicted to expand collaboration with Sony.

While this could primarily be focused on GaaS/live-service, I personally hope this is also a signal that Sony have re-evaluated their (overly, IMO) aggressive GaaS plans for 1P content and are scaling back the planned funding there and cutting down on some redundancies. That money could be better served towards traditional AAA games and, additionally, expanding into AA traditional (and maybe 1-2 very unique GaaS) titles leveraging legacy IP that might not require AAA-scale budgets. Hopefully it means that for the GaaS strategy Sony ease up on the 1P marquee studios for that and tap into up-and-coming 3P devs, like some of these Korean studios, with 1P providing assistance & help where able and getting the polish where it's in prime condition.

I'd imagine this is the start of what we can see from Sony's push into developer & publisher collaborations, partnerships, and acquisitions with 3P entities, particularly in the face of heightened acquisition attempts of direct competitors. This will be interesting to see play out!

EDIT: As for the poll; while it's unlimited choice, try to limit your picks to the 3 most important things you feel should be part of Sony's strategies. Or, single thing if you think they don't need to do anything beyond what's already been publicly expressed and spoken to investors.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I've always been against industry consolidation, but my stance has changed after seeing Microsoft's internal docs.

It's clear they want to buy almost everyone and everything. The industry will be consolidated anyway. So Sony should start buying, too. At least with Sony, we know we will get high-quality and big-budget games on time.

In Korea, however, they should partner with studios and publishers to make GaaS and live-service games. Some single-player games like Stellar Blade and Project M would also be great. No acquisitions.

They need to acquire publishers and developers for more exclusive games in the West, e.g., CDPR, Larian, Remedy, etc. They don't need to acquire SquareEnix, but Capcom and FromSoftware would be great purchases.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I've always been against industry consolidation, but my stance has changed after seeing Microsoft's internal docs.

It's clear they want to buy almost everyone and everything. The industry will be consolidated anyway. So Sony should start buying, too. At least with Sony, we know we will get high-quality and big-budget games on time.

In Korea, however, they should partner with studios and publishers to make GaaS and live-service games. Some single-player games like Stellar Blade and Project M would also be great. No acquisitions.

They need to acquire publishers and developers for more exclusive games in the West, e.g., CDPR, Larian, Remedy, etc. They don't need to acquire SquareEnix, but Capcom and FromSoftware would be great purchases.

Why? They already get all the content without needing to buy them.
Kadokawa would be very expensive just for FromSoftware, what would they do with the visual novel studios and Manga magazines?

 

[killatopak]

Koreans are like the ultimate masters of microtransactions. Please no GAAS.

 

[graywolf323]

Why? They already get all the content without needing to buy them.
Kadokawa would be very expensive just for FromSoftware, what would they do with the visual novel studios and Manga magazines?

Sony already has anime, it‘d make sense to then also have manga because they could easily adapt anime of their own hit manga properties

as long as they didn’t screw with Spike Chunsoft, I‘ve long been saying that if Sony was going to respond with ‘publisher’ level acquisition that Kadokawa makes sense for what they’ve been trying to do with cross-media

 

[mansoor1980]

Partner with 3P devs & pubs

Fund more traditional AA games

Fund more traditional AAA games

Reduce PC support to GaaS/live-service games only​

​​​

 

[StueyDuck]

Last thing consoles need is Korea junk.

Until they prove they can do more than make pretty graphics I'm out

 

[Sleepwalker]

Dont buy korean scam artists, thanks

 

[Heisenberg007]

Why? They already get all the content without needing to buy them.
Kadokawa would be very expensive just for FromSoftware, what would they do with the visual novel studios and Manga magazines?

They can buy FromSoftware from Kadkoawa in exchange of helping Kadokawa other areas. Sony already has a 14% (?) share in FromSoftware, not Kadokawa.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

they better make sure Stellar Ass delivers an 80+MC.

 

[Heisenberg007]

they better make sure Stellar Ass delivers an 80+MC.

Yes! The game does look great though. If there aren't major blunders in there, I expect an easy 80+

Also, that

 

[Silent Viper]

I've always been against industry consolidation, but my stance has changed after seeing Microsoft's internal docs.

It's clear they want to buy almost everyone and everything. The industry will be consolidated anyway. So Sony should start buying, too. At least with Sony, we know we will get high-quality and big-budget games on time.

In Korea, however, they should partner with studios and publishers to make GaaS and live-service games. Some single-player games like Stellar Blade and Project M would also be great. No acquisitions.

They need to acquire publishers and developers for more exclusive games in the West, e.g., CDPR, Larian, Remedy, etc. They don't need to acquire SquareEnix, but Capcom and FromSoftware would be great purchases.

Oh man.

Detailed justification you have given. Thank you.


Buy PA and make Black desert better

 

[FoxMcChief]

Cool.

 

[squarealex]

Mobile or some Korean MMO

 

[rodrigolfp]

Fund more games and put definitive PC versions sooner.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

look.. sony is trying to spend Microsoft outta business!!!!

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I've always been against industry consolidation, but my stance has changed after seeing Microsoft's internal docs.

It's clear they want to buy almost everyone and everything. The industry will be consolidated anyway. So Sony should start buying, too. At least with Sony, we know we will get high-quality and big-budget games on time.

In Korea, however, they should partner with studios and publishers to make GaaS and live-service games. Some single-player games like Stellar Blade and Project M would also be great. No acquisitions.

They need to acquire publishers and developers for more exclusive games in the West, e.g., CDPR, Larian, Remedy, etc. They don't need to acquire SquareEnix, but Capcom and FromSoftware would be great purchases.

I think stuff like this, falls under what sony calls organic growth. Sony tends to buy studios that they have either done a lot of business with, or that tend to make stuff for them exclusively.

I don't have an issue with acquisitions like that. When I have a problem when what is being acquired was making content for everyone and their acquisition means that can happen anymore.

 

[March Climber]

Last thing consoles need is Korea junk.

Until they prove they can do more than make pretty graphics I'm out

You’re thinking of Chinese games(aside from Mihoyo). Korean games come out regularly and have ranged from good to bad.

Wukong
Lost Soul Aside
The Day Before
That one chibi game

All pretty looking Chinese games still stuck in development hell.

 

[akaFullmetal]

Shrug okay if guess, probably be gass related though.

 

[JaksGhost]

They can buy FromSoftware from Kadkoawa in exchange of helping Kadokawa other areas. Sony already has a 14% (?) share in FromSoftware, not Kadokawa.

Sony owns 14.09% of the shares of Kadokawa. They increased their stake last year along with Tencent with them both having a little over 30% combined.

 

[vkbest]

Why? They already get all the content without needing to buy them.
Kadokawa would be very expensive just for FromSoftware, what would they do with the visual novel studios and Manga magazines?

If MS buys Activision, pandora box is open.

"They already get all the content without needing to buy them.

Yes, until MS buys that company too.

That is the reason because those operations should be blocked.

 

[StueyDuck]

You’re thinking of Chinese games(aside from Mihoyo). Korean games come out regularly and have ranged from good to bad.

Wulong
Lost Soul Aside
The Day Before
That one chibi game

All pretty looking Chinese games still stuck in development hell.

I mean apart from wu long (isn't team ninja Japanese)

The rest of that list isn't proving much of a point

It's both Korean and Chinese games that are essentially empty shells with pretty graphics

 

[March Climber]

I mean apart from wu long (isn't team ninja Japanese)

The rest of that list isn't proving much of a point

It's both Korean and Chinese games that are essentially empty shells with pretty graphics

My keyboard autocorrected Wukong to Wulong. Wukong is stuck in development hell and is also Chinese developed. Trying to mash Korean and Chinese devs/games together into one big mess doesn’t work if it’s mainly one side that’s messy and that side having most of the issues releasing anything aside from pretty tech demos.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Korea has lots of talented devs and a thriving game dev scene. Sony has made many clever decisions with regards to acquisitions in the last couple of years. Investing in Korean devs would just continue that streak.

 

[93xfan]

And who should MS buy to counter this?

 

[Crayon]

I guess, whatever.

I can't wait to see how stellar blade turns out. Is it more than just a pretty ass.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I've always been against industry consolidation, but my stance has changed after seeing Microsoft's internal docs.

It's clear they want to buy almost everyone and everything. The industry will be consolidated anyway. So Sony should start buying, too. At least with Sony, we know we will get high-quality and big-budget games on time.

In Korea, however, they should partner with studios and publishers to make GaaS and live-service games. Some single-player games like Stellar Blade and Project M would also be great. No acquisitions.

They need to acquire publishers and developers for more exclusive games in the West, e.g., CDPR, Larian, Remedy, etc. They don't need to acquire SquareEnix, but Capcom and FromSoftware would be great purchases.

Basically what I feel is the best option for them, too. They may have to lock down one or two bigger publishers and bring them into the fold. After all, we know now Microsoft drafted a proposal to acquire Square-Enix, who have virtually zero historical relationship with Microsoft in terms of a favored platform. That target was clearly aimed at removing a strong 3P ally from Sony and cutting off access of that content from PlayStation and its customers, which is correlated with the Zenimax exclusivity decision by Mr. Nice Guy Phil Spencer himself.

So while I would rather acquisitions of these publishers wasn't a thing, and quite a lot of people would wish that as well, I guess it is going to be unavoidable for Sony and probably even Nintendo so lock down a couple of publishers. Personally for Sony, I think a Japanese/Asian publisher would have to be among them, at the very least. Western publishers is a tougher bag, but maybe as you said, that could be more developer-focused rather than publisher-focused.

Maybe there's room for an acquisition in Korea, my money would be on Shift Up but that will depend on how Stellar Blade goes.

Sony already has anime, it‘d make sense to then also have manga because they could easily adapt anime of their own hit manga properties

as long as they didn’t screw with Spike Chunsoft, I‘ve long been saying that if Sony was going to respond with ‘publisher’ level acquisition that Kadokawa makes sense for what they’ve been trying to do with cross-media

Do you think Sony already having Crunchyroll and Funimation as anime streaming platforms could complicate a few things with getting Kadokawa? Or am I vastly overestimating Kadokawa's hands in the anime market and confusing that with manga share?

I think stuff like this, falls under what sony calls organic growth. Sony tends to buy studios that they have either done a lot of business with, or that tend to make stuff for them exclusively.

I don't have an issue with acquisitions like that. When I have a problem when what is being acquired was making content for everyone and their acquisition means that can happen anymore.

Technically speaking, I don't think Sony going after specific publishers means that content is no longer available where it had been before. We're seeing with Bungie that Marathon is going to be a multi-plat game. We saw similar with Wipeout and a few other Psygonsis games after Sony acquired them decades ago.

If MS buys Activision, pandora box is open.

"They already get all the content without needing to buy them.

Yes, until MS buys that company too.

That is the reason because those operations should be blocked.

Yep, this is the main reason why they would probably feel further gaming acquisitions are inevitable. You've got a direct competitor clearly aiming their own acquisition strategy at cutting you off from key 3P partners, potentially squeezing you for more cash & giving up negotiation power to keep that content coming for your customers, while they profit off your platform and can use that money to further reduce your market options.

It sucks, but this seems to be the reality of the situation. Even if the ABK deal eventually falls apart, I don't think that is going to deter Sony from expanding their acquisitions/partnerships/investments strategies and I perfectly understand why. I'd even say, that's a good thing.

 

[Gobjuduck]

Korean games are always pretty but extremely boring. So this collaboration makes total sense for Sony.

 

[Hudo]

Well, the Koreans know a thing or two about Gacha and Games-as-a-service so it makes sense to go to the experts, I guess.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Basically what I feel is the best option for them, too. They may have to lock down one or two bigger publishers and bring them into the fold. After all, we know now Microsoft drafted a proposal to acquire Square-Enix, who have virtually zero historical relationship with Microsoft in terms of a favored platform. That target was clearly aimed at removing a strong 3P ally from Sony and cutting off access of that content from PlayStation and its customers, which is correlated with the Zenimax exclusivity decision by Mr. Nice Guy Phil Spencer himself.

So while I would rather acquisitions of these publishers wasn't a thing, and quite a lot of people would wish that as well, I guess it is going to be unavoidable for Sony and probably even Nintendo so lock down a couple of publishers. Personally for Sony, I think a Japanese/Asian publisher would have to be among them, at the very least. Western publishers is a tougher bag, but maybe as you said, that could be more developer-focused rather than publisher-focused.


Yep, this is the main reason why they would probably feel further gaming acquisitions are inevitable. You've got a direct competitor clearly aiming their own acquisition strategy at cutting you off from key 3P partners, potentially squeezing you for more cash & giving up negotiation power to keep that content coming for your customers, while they profit off your platform and can use that money to further reduce your market options.

It sucks, but this seems to be the reality of the situation. Even if the ABK deal eventually falls apart, I don't think that is going to deter Sony from expanding their acquisitions/partnerships/investments strategies and I perfectly understand why. I'd even say, that's a good thing.

I think MS general strategy is clear by now. And only the most avid zealots would deny it.

Their strategy is a simple case of, ok, we can't compete with Sony first party. Unless we buy studios. But we can't just go and buy talent, what can we buy that would do the most damage to Sony. Who are their biggest third-party partners?

Activision, Bethesda, SE....etc.

Its the same strategy with getting timed exclusives... just dialed up to 11. Why get a mortgage if you can just buy the bank?

 

[Crayon]

Their strategy is a simple case of, ok, we can't compete with Sony first party.

Or hardware or strategy.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I think MS general strategy is clear by now. And only the most avid zealots would deny it.

Their strategy is a simple case of, ok, we can't compete with Sony first party. Unless we buy studios. But we can't just go and buy talent, what can we buy that would do the most damage to Sony. Who are their biggest third-party partners?

Activision, Bethesda, SE....etc.

Its the same strategy with getting timed exclusives... just dialed up to 11. Why get a mortgage if you can just buy the bank?

Yeah that is their strategy on the whole, but ironically it could lead to MS doing more damage to themselves than Sony. We've already seen a good number of talented individuals leave various teams over the past couple of years. I think ones like Marcus Brown & cohorts (Playground Games) and Shinji Mikami are more telling signs of potential friction and dissatisfaction among the creatives and upper management.

So MS could end up getting all these IPs and technologies, but losing critical talent that can actually create worthwhile results with them. At which point the value of those acquired assets drops sharply. Now the 3P market itself could suffer big damage with that; the talent whom leave could in theory try making replacement IP but there's no guarantee they will have the same level of success on their own vs. sticking with what was acquired. I'm betting MS are counting on that trepidation as a motivator to keep that talent around. It may work with some, but certainly not all of them.

And we can see what happens when the key talent leaves. It wasn't an acquisition, but look at The Initiative. That was a honeypot to lure in key talent from many other studios but since Xbox's upper management is garbage, the studio fell apart and Crystal Dynamics had to be contracted to salvage Perfect Dark. That could repeat itself in a much grander fashion with these big publisher acquisitions of theirs.

 

[ulantan]

Well, the Koreans know a thing or two about Gacha and Games-as-a-service so it makes sense to go to the experts, I guess.

Sony own fate go they are already the master

 

[ergem]

MS will retaliate by buying whole Korea.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I think MS general strategy is clear by now. And only the most avid zealots would deny it.

Their strategy is a simple case of, ok, we can't compete with Sony first party. Unless we buy studios. But we can't just go and buy talent, what can we buy that would do the most damage to Sony. Who are their biggest third-party partners?

Activision, Bethesda, SE....etc.

Its the same strategy with getting timed exclusives... just dialed up to 11. Why get a mortgage if you can just buy the bank?

Yep, this is pretty much it. But I think Sony is a secondary target at best. The primary target is complete control of must-play IPs, so in the future, they can stop game releases and make all those must-play games a Cloud / Game Pass exclusive.

That's where the real money is: no ownership, rentals only, monthly revenue, and now very soon, in-game advertisements.

However, I also believe that this pace will be Xbox's downfall. This bubble will burst soon, especially if Activision falls through,

 

[Heisenberg007]

I think stuff like this, falls under what sony calls organic growth. Sony tends to buy studios that they have either done a lot of business with, or that tend to make stuff for them exclusively.

I don't have an issue with acquisitions like that. When I have a problem when what is being acquired was making content for everyone and their acquisition means that can happen anymore.

Yes, that has been the traditional Sony way, but I think it's about to change very soon. Sony will acquire a multiplatform publisher and make it exclusive; there is too much evidence of that. For example:

1. Sony raising more money to invest in entertainment,
2. Explicitly saying that gaming is the next big area for acquisitions,
3. Sony hiring M&A Directors to handle larger acquisitions
4. Upon buying Bungie, Jimbo laying the ground saying that other acquisitions will not be like this (i.e., won't be multiplatform)
5. Jimbo recently saying in the court that he does not see Starfield's exclusivity as anti-competitive. Xbox fans cheering for this, but think about it: why did he say that? It's because they are planning to make certain games Sony exclusive just like Starfield.

I also say this because Sony's traditional organic partners have all been acquired pretty much. Kojima isn't willing to sell, but Insomniac, HouseMarque, Bluepoint, etc. have all been acquired by Sony. Now they are acquiring studios that they don't even have a long-term relationship, e.g., Haven, Firewalk, Nixxes, Bungie, etc.

What will they acquire next? There are no more long-term partners left. The next big acquisition will be left-field.