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Sony Interactive Entertainment head says PlayStation isn’t done with acquisitions yet

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
I was, too, but then I noticed that Sony is all behind Media Molecule. They are now almost 100 developers.

Honestly, I don't know what MM is doing or what they should be doing. Apart from supporting Dreams or creating side, quirky projects with a smaller group of 10-20 people, I think they need to make proper AAA platformers (like Astrobot or Sly or R&C) or 2D Metroidvania-type games (like Hollow Knight or Ori). PROPER games.

They could also attempt making something like Hades, but they need to put themselves out there. They are very creative and very good but they just haven't been making projects that people buy, talk about all the time, and recommend their friends.
This. An AAA platformer would be great for Media Molecule they already have the talent. That short Dreams campaign could've been bigger, what they had there was really good
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
The game with the biggest amount of GOTY awards of a year means it's the most highly acclaimed game of the year, since many of these award are voted by players, other ones by developers, and most of them by gaming media, who play most important games and are supposed to have an informed opinion.

Means that the most common opinion is that the GOTY is this game and that is the result of the most factual and unbiased way we have to decide the GOTY is this one. You may disagree and decide that Barbie Horse Rubber is your GOTY, that's fine. But doesn't mean most people agree or that you're right and everyone else is wrong.



Before releasing Dreams they mentioned that all Media Molecule projects have been profitable, something 'easy' because they were a small team. Last year Sackboy was released, so they also partly got their spotlight.

Hermen said a few time he's ok with smaller, quirky games like Dreams or Sackboy and that they plan to continue with these kind of games.

Media Molecule mentioned while ago (as I remember was somewhere after Dreams launch) that they were planning (or already working on it) to bring Dreams to more platforms like PC or mobile in some way. Something I think it would be a very smart move. Not sure right now but as I remember they also mentioned that in addition to this and supporting Dreams they were also working on their next game.

In their website I see they have open positions for 22 different job roles, which many of them seem to be for Dreams or similar games and other ones are generic for any project. Knowing their size it means they are highly growing their studio and is a good sign, if they were in a problematic position they wouldn't be growing that much.

I also think that a CG movie or tv series about LBP would have potential and also could help the studio.
Yeah it looks good to see MM grow. Sumo Digital and Xdev developed Sackboy so MM is probably working on something bigger
 

yurinka

Member
Well, aren't they building a new one anyway?
Here's hoping the next one will be Japanese.
But I won't hold my breath.
Someone rumored they have a secret, unannounced new Japanese studio.
Someone else rumored they were in talks to acquire Arc System Works.
I'd more than welcome both.

Yeah it looks good to see MM grow. Sumo Digital and Xdev developed Sackboy so MM is probably working on something bigger
Someone should call Jimbo and ask him to buy Sumo too.
 
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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
s2a06uL.gif
 

Amiga

Member
Sony see the writing on the wall. they know closed console platforms are coming to an end. they plan to transition to content publishing.
consoles could stay as low price gaming entry points. but a large part of the market will transition to PC.
 

Unknown?

Member
Sony see the writing on the wall. they know closed console platforms are coming to an end. they plan to transition to content publishing.
consoles could stay as low price gaming entry points. but a large part of the market will transition to PC.
Ya no... It'll be streaming. If people have cheaper alternatives where consoles end up losing huge marketshare they aren't going to buy an expensive PC.
 

yurinka

Member
Since Sony owns EVO so it would make sense, I guess.
In addition to this, they also had a deal with Kadokawa to help them develop their manga/anime/games IPs worldwide, plus Sony has many anime stuff and may want to promote some anime they don't own but have on their services. And their last anime game sold over 6 million units (maybe around 7 as of now). And they are also working in the fighting game of one of the two top grossing pc games of the last decade (they want to grow in PC), specially big in Asia (where they want to grow).

And they do that with a pretty small studio, so they must be very profitable and cheap to acquire. And made dozens of PS exclusive games since PS1, as Sony wants for the studios they acquire. And also would add variety and quality to their catalog, something Hermen mentioned yesterday they pursue for people they acquire.
 
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EDMIX

Member
For comparison, GoT released almost an year after DS, its on a single platform and already sold more than it.
? Its not a Race to Sony, using your logic GoT failed to move Spiderman numbers, it would be like saying its a failure to Sony and be like "durr for comparison, Spiderman release-"
it just can't be seen as enough of a success considering the investments made.
What investments, give a number sir.....
Those celebs and actors easily cost 10-30 million dollars
I'm calling BS on that for any game role and do you have a hard figure for how much it COST THEM TO BE IN DS?
For reference, HZDs budget was around 50 million
Nope. HZD cost around 100 million.


Maybe next time look it up from the publisher vs reddit, wiki to move some narrative
Now try and guess

Now imagine

lol ^

Just stop man, these posts start to get more fucking embarrassing as it goes on lol

You can hardly handle basic math but you want us to believe that a game did not satisfy it's investments without actually telling us exactly accurately what those investments actually were...

What was Sony expecting? Do you actually have any link or official post by anyone from Sony computer entertainment that talks about what hard number they objectively wanted? Because that's why you're reaching so hard with telling us about actors costing lots of money so that way you're entire argument is simply a number that cannot be calculated.

It reeks of a desperate fake narrative. Using your logic no fucking game should be profiting if it's using actors then lol

And then your entire argument becomes "Now try and guess" or "now imagine" lol

I don't even understand where you're getting any of this from why would any of the actors be working on something like this for 3 years? Are you trying to tell me they were doing voice acting up until the minute before they game released? I mean do you actually believe that when the game is available for download the last boss was just completed by the team in the game was ready or something?

My God.

Good luck with that sir.
 

Amiga

Member
Ya no... It'll be streaming. If people have cheaper alternatives where consoles end up losing huge marketshare they aren't going to buy an expensive PC.
what will push the transition is cheap gaming PCs. it's so easy to build a minimum spec PC these days. small Asian vendors are putting out many devices a year. Valve had a few guys put together the Steam Deck as a side gig. a PC with half the specs of a Series S could run any game.
 
what will push the transition is cheap gaming PCs. it's so easy to build a minimum spec PC these days. small Asian vendors are putting out many devices a year. Valve had a few guys put together the Steam Deck as a side gig. a PC with half the specs of a Series S could run any game.

Good luck convincing most console gamers to build a shitty low spec pc
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
Nope. HZD cost around 100 million.


Maybe next time look it up from the publisher vs reddit, wiki to move some narrative
?




Maybe it isn't including marketing budgets, i don't know. Either way its much better put than a passing comment saying "While he worked on a budget of around $100 million for games like God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn" where he isn't even talking about HZD specifically.
 
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EDMIX

Member
?




Maybe it isn't including marketing budgets, i don't know. Either way its much better put than a passing comment saying "While he worked on a budget of around $100 million for games like God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn" where he isn't even talking about HZD specifically.

"claims that the PlayStation 4 exclusive cost over €45 million"
"while the exact figure is being kept under wraps"

That was a claim, that was something that was never confirmed until Sony THEMSLEVES fucking confirmed its budget. He is magically NOT talking about HZD, yet fucking says the game and states a 100 million budget?

You are so fucking desperate to bend a narrative, a fucking claim that was debunked by the actual former CEO of PlayStation, is now more important to force a narrative, then facts by the fucking people that even over saw that budget in the first place.

So don't believe Sony, but believe "claims" and you? A person struggling with basic math.

Good luck with that man.

(added to that good ole ignore list)
 

Guilty_AI

Member
"claims that the PlayStation 4 exclusive cost over €45 million"
"while the exact figure is being kept under wraps"

That was a claim, that was something that was never confirmed until Sony THEMSLEVES fucking confirmed its budget. He is magically NOT talking about HZD, yet fucking says the game and states a 100 million budget?

You are so fucking desperate to bend a narrative, a fucking claim that was debunked by the actual former CEO of PlayStation, is now more important to force a narrative, then facts by the fucking people that even over saw that budget in the first place.

So don't believe Sony, but believe "claims" and you? A person struggling with basic math.

Good luck with that man.

(added to that good ole ignore list)
This c l a i m was made by Guerrila themselves mate, read the article(s) properly next time before going on a rant.
 

Amiga

Member
Good luck convincing most console gamers to build a shitty low spec pc
They don't have to build it, the vendors do it for them. It's already happening in Asia and some other parts of the world. It's just a matter of time until someone dose it with a large scale enough to push the price even lower.
 
They don't have to build it, the vendors do it for them. It's already happening in Asia and some other parts of the world. It's just a matter of time until someone dose it with a large scale enough to push the price even lower.

If cheap PCs were going to end console gaming it would have happened years ago.

People like the simplicity of a console. That is never going to change
 
They don't have to build it, the vendors do it for them. It's already happening in Asia and some other parts of the world. It's just a matter of time until someone dose it with a large scale enough to push the price even lower.

Roughly how good are these 500$ PCs when compared to the consoles?
 

Amiga

Member
Roughly how good are these 500$ PCs when compared to the consoles?

technically worse obviously for the single purpose of gaming. but for PC it's a multi-use device. and it's open for anything. and available everywhere. that PC gaming is all about high end rigs is myth. those sub 720p PC graphic settings are made for an existing market.

If cheap PCs were going to end console gaming it would have happened years ago.

People like the simplicity of a console. That is never going to change
It's not zero sum. it's a shift in market share. once publishers have %50 of their market on PC they will start slowing down their commitments to consoles. that will push more PC adoption. consoles will have mostly late ports like Hades.

Sony are doing the right thing to prepare. they will need to diversify beyond their current comfort zone.
 
technically worse obviously for the single purpose of gaming. but for PC it's a multi-use device. and it's open for anything. and available everywhere. that PC gaming is all about high end rigs is myth. those sub 720p PC graphic settings are made for an existing market.

Well if someone is looking to do some gaming a console will probably be a better option for them. I don't think so someone is going to choose a 720P PC over these consoles if they really want to game. However for those that don't really game that much it might be a good option since the PC can be used for work as well. I honestly don't see it becoming a big market like consoles are.
 

Unknown?

Member
Well if someone is looking to do some gaming a console will probably be a better option for them. I don't think so someone is going to choose a 720P PC over these consoles if they really want to game. However for those that don't really game that much it might be a good option since the PC can be used for work as well. I honestly don't see it becoming a big market like consoles are.
Ya but he's talking about a hypothetical future and streaming will be better for cheap casual gamers than some weak cheap box.
 
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technically worse obviously for the single purpose of gaming. but for PC it's a multi-use device. and it's open for anything. and available everywhere. that PC gaming is all about high end rigs is myth. those sub 720p PC graphic settings are made for an existing market.


It's not zero sum. it's a shift in market share. once publishers have %50 of their market on PC they will start slowing down their commitments to consoles. that will push more PC adoption. consoles will have mostly late ports like Hades.

Sony are doing the right thing to prepare. they will need to diversify beyond their current comfort zone.

Lmao no. PC is a large platform no doubt about that, but you're honestly insane if think they're all going to follow Hades in some trend of late ports because of "market share". It doesn't work that way.

Developers with the capabilities to launch on all platforms simultaneous will continue to do so.

See you in another 20 years when the "PC will kill consoles" discussion is still going on
 
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Amiga

Member
Well if someone is looking to do some gaming a console will probably be a better option for them. I don't think so someone is going to choose a 720P PC over these consoles if they really want to game. However for those that don't really game that much it might be a good option since the PC can be used for work as well. I honestly don't see it becoming a big market like consoles are.
SKorea has several billionaires who made their fortune just from PC games based on their local market. this trend moved to China and now it's moving West. Fortnite was a game based on this Asian model.
 

lils

Member
sony: we're not done with acquisitions
monopolies commission: i'm about to end this man's whole career

i know it won't happen, but i can dream
 

Mozzarella

Member
I dont know why many people are cheering for this, personally i dont like it when big corporations buy the smaller studios, it sets up for monopoly by 2 or 3 big corpos and its not good for the competition and for the creativity and freedom of expression. This is same as US media and film industry which is basically owned by the same 4 or 5 corporations. It's worrying.
If this keeps going then it will be Sony and Xbox and Nintendo (japan) basically owning all smaller studios, is that good for gaming? i dont think so.
Mindless console fanboys are so weird man...
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
I dont know why many people are cheering for this, personally i dont like it when big corporations buy the smaller studios, it sets up for monopoly by 2 or 3 big corpos and its not good for the competition and for the creativity and freedom of expression. This is same as US media and film industry which is basically owned by the same 4 or 5 corporations. It's worrying.
If this keeps going then it will be Sony and Xbox and Nintendo (japan) basically owning all smaller studios, is that good for gaming? i dont think so.
Mindless console fanboys are so weird man...
They didn't buy any big IPs. No one lost anything with these acquisitions. The talent is just gonna get more support.

There is not much controversy here even if some people are really trying with their "organic" shit.
 
Seems like the majority of Sony’s acquisitions are developers or studios who pretty much exclusively or primarily develop for PlayStation anyway. I don’t see Sony acquiring a company on the scale of SquareEnix, Take Two Interactive or a Bethesda-sized company anytime soon. It just isn’t their style and obviously very expensive. I even really have doubts about the Arc System Works acquisition rumors. Guess we’ll have to see what happens.
 
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hlm666

Member
If cheap PCs were going to end console gaming it would have happened years ago.

People like the simplicity of a console. That is never going to change
These things were not happening in the past. These things with Steam Deck like UI's make them pretty much as simple as a console to use.

 
LMAO, not fucking happening bud. Keep dreaming.
I think Take Two are worth more than Bethesda to my knowledge and Microsoft purchased Bethesda for 7.5 billion, so they could probably throw in a few more dollars(for Microsoft) and make it happen. Admittedly, I doubt it’s going to happen, but you never know.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Sony see the writing on the wall. they know closed console platforms are coming to an end. they plan to transition to content publishing.
consoles could stay as low price gaming entry points. but a large part of the market will transition to PC.
lol no, people has been saying this since PS3 era, both console and PC market will grow.
PC gaming is still too technical for me as todate.

The simplicity of a gaming console is why I game on console.

So what about PC multifunction capabilities? Easy.
My PS5 just sit beside my mid-end gaming PC on the same table :messenger_beaming:
I just turn on both PC and PS5, with a roller chair it makes no difference.
Alot of gamers has setup like this nowdays.
 
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These things were not happening in the past. These things with Steam Deck like UI's make them pretty much as simple as a console to use.


Yes they have happened in the past. There were these little things called steam machines that were a massive flop.

The console audience is not going to swap to PC no matter how you try to disguise it as a console
 
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sublimit

Banned
Personally i'd actually prefer to see the rumor of a newly formed all-star team of Japanese developers being true rather than a new acquisition. Although to be honest i don't believe that rumor to be true.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
This c l a i m was made by Guerrila themselves mate, read the article(s) properly next time before going on a rant.

The source the article is using.
Guerrilla is the only Dutch studio to participate in the Champions League of the global game industry. The studio creates "blockbuster games" that are played by millions of gamers around the world. With a production budget of more than 45 million euros – Guerrilla does not want to name the exact amount – Horizon Zero Dawn is the largest Dutch media production ever.

It's mere guesswork by the journalist.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
The source the article is using.


It's mere guesswork by the journalist.
How the hell is this journalist guesswork when it was a number given by guerrilla themselves? I don't get how some of you think sometimes

But you know what? two can play that game.
Article

quote he used to "prove" i'm "misinformed"

"While he worked on a budget of around $100 million for games like God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn"


Now lets take a look at the original interview that the previous article uses as source to see the exact words used:

Actual quote: "Game development “seems to double in cost every platform,” Layden said, noting that his budgets for recent big PlayStation 4 titles each hit $100 million."

He doesn't even mention HZD anywhere near that number.

Now tell me, which one is more trusthworthy?
A number given by guerrilla themselves as the production budget for HZD - or a random approximation that could be refering to about any game? In fact, he doesn't even mention if its necessarely a game from a PS studio.
 
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Rivet

Member
Where is all the organic growth? I kidd i kidd

What you say makes zero sense. Organic growth means you hire people in your already owned studios and expand existing teams.

Sony definitely does massive organic growth, like a lot of corporations. They expanded most of their studios to multiple games teams like ND or Sucker Punch.

I don't understand why having external growth (buying studios) like here would mean you stop with organic growth. Most corporations actually do both.

Sony never said they would do ONLY organic growth. So why always talk about organic growth when there's external growth ? Feels like people don't understand the words they're using.
 
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yurinka

Member
Xbox fanboy Dealer_Gaming made that rumor up. lol
I don't know who he is, but even if he made it up it makes a lot of sense for like half a dozen reasons where they perfectly think with Sony's acquisition philosophy and would help them in areas where they want to grow.

Sony never said they would do ONLY organic growth. So why always talk about organic growth when there's external growth ? Feels like people don't understand the words they're using.
I assume that by 'organic growth' Sony means to hire more people to grow their already existing internal teams and also make acquisitions of studios with a long tradition of working exclusively for them. I mean, studios who already were successfully working for them for a while, have a good relationship with them and helps them grow or improve in an strategic area where Sony wants to grow or improve.

At least when they don't use 'organic growth' sentence they mention their growth strategy in that way.

Sony definitely does massive organic growth, like a lot of corporations. They expanded most of their studios to multiple games teams like ND or Sucker Punch.
Yes, all their internal teams are growing a lot. A few examples for their smaller (under 100 people) teams:
-Team Asobi has open job positions in a dozen areas
-Bluepoint has 17 open job positions
-Media Molecule has open job postions in 22 areas

Firesprite, one of their biggest studios, has 40 open job positions. Many of their teams have been growing these years, now all of them are growing.

How the hell is this journalist guesswork when it was a number given by guerrilla themselves?
Guerrilla gave a number ('over 45M', could mean 300000000M) that matches the budget of their studio for that game. But in addition to the people of their studio, many other people worked on it. According to Moby Games there are 2140 people listed in the game credits of the games. This matches with many other AAA games, where the lead studio provides around 1/10 of the total people credited in the game credits. Plus then you have the marketing campaing budgets that typically for AAA games is pretty similar to its development budget.

People from Sony mentioned their recent AAA games had a budget of over 100 or over 150 million dollars and the next ones can go over 200. Looking at their games from the last 4 years or so, they had a total of over 1500 or over 2000 people working on them (obviously not everybody works during the whole process) and development time of 4-6 years. Which in a rough estimate matches the 100-200 million range comparing to other AAA games who mentioned their total or development budget and we also know their amount of people listed in the game credits and amount of development time.
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
How the hell is this journalist guesswork when it was a number given by guerrilla themselves? I don't get how some of you think sometimes

But you know what? two can play that game.
Article

quote he used to "prove" i'm "misinformed"

"While he worked on a budget of around $100 million for games like God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn"


Now lets take a look at the original interview that the previous article uses as source to see the exact words used:

Actual quote: "Game development “seems to double in cost every platform,” Layden said, noting that his budgets for recent big PlayStation 4 titles each hit $100 million."

He doesn't even mention HZD anywhere near that number.

Now tell me, which one is more trusthworthy?
A number given by guerrilla themselves as the production budget for HZD - or a random approximation that could be refering to about any game? In fact, he doesn't even mention if its necessarely a game from a PS studio.

A number given by Guerrilla Games?

Guerrilla is the only Dutch studio to participate in the Champions League of the global game industry. The studio creates "blockbuster games" that are played by millions of gamers around the world. With a production budget of more than 45 million euros – Guerrilla does not want to name the exact amount – Horizon Zero Dawn is the largest Dutch media production ever.

1. The journalist said "more than 45 million euros.
2. It says "Guerrilla does not want to name the exact amount."

How did the number come from them when it says Guerrilla didn't want to give the exact amount and they're not even quoted giving the 45 figure?

So who would I believe? An amount NOT given by Guerrilla Games or figure of around $100 million by Layden?

The choice is easy.
 
Someone rumored they have a secret, unannounced new Japanese studio.
Someone else rumored they were in talks to acquire Arc System Works.
I'd more than welcome both.


Someone should call Jimbo and ask him to buy Sumo too.
Tencent bought the whoule Sumo Group for 1.3b$ not long ago
 

Lupin25

Member
? Its not a Race to Sony, using your logic GoT failed to move Spiderman numbers, it would be like saying its a failure to Sony and be like "durr for comparison, Spiderman release-"

What investments, give a number sir.....

I'm calling BS on that for any game role and do you have a hard figure for how much it COST THEM TO BE IN DS?

Nope. HZD cost around 100 million.


Maybe next time look it up from the publisher vs reddit, wiki to move some narrative




lol ^

Just stop man, these posts start to get more fucking embarrassing as it goes on lol

You can hardly handle basic math but you want us to believe that a game did not satisfy it's investments without actually telling us exactly accurately what those investments actually were...

What was Sony expecting? Do you actually have any link or official post by anyone from Sony computer entertainment that talks about what hard number they objectively wanted? Because that's why you're reaching so hard with telling us about actors costing lots of money so that way you're entire argument is simply a number that cannot be calculated.

It reeks of a desperate fake narrative. Using your logic no fucking game should be profiting if it's using actors then lol

And then your entire argument becomes "Now try and guess" or "now imagine" lol

I don't even understand where you're getting any of this from why would any of the actors be working on something like this for 3 years? Are you trying to tell me they were doing voice acting up until the minute before they game released? I mean do you actually believe that when the game is available for download the last boss was just completed by the team in the game was ready or something?

My God.

Good luck with that sir.

You’re arguing with someone who believes a few lines in a game as a mo-capped, supporting actor takes multiple years to accomplish… and costs $10-$30 million… Which in reality, probably took less than weekend lolol.
 
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yurinka

Member
Tencent bought the whoule Sumo Group for 1.3b$ not long ago
True, I didn't know it:

Well, not sure if now Jimbo offers Tencent $2B they would accept. I assume not.

I researched the previous games of the Bluepoint staff that did work on Demon's Souls and many of them did work in many top games and top studios like Retro Studios, Blizzard and many more. They are capable of delivering top non-remake AAA games.


A number given by Guerrilla Games?



1. The journalist said "more than 45 million euros.
2. It says "Guerrilla does not want to name the exact amount."

How did the number come from them when it says Guerrilla didn't want to give the exact amount and they're not even quoted giving the 45 figure?

So who would I believe? An amount NOT given by Guerrilla Games or figure of around $100 million by Layden?

The choice is easy.
Even if Guerrilla is the one who said 'more than 45', it could be 46 or 3049273947203940.
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
I think Take Two are worth more than Bethesda to my knowledge and Microsoft purchased Bethesda for 7.5 billion, so they could probably throw in a few more dollars(for Microsoft) and make it happen. Admittedly, I doubt it’s going to happen, but you never know.

Take Two unlike Zenimax, is a publicly traded company that is in no way shape or form hurting for sales or looking to sell. They own arguably the biggest franchise in videogame history hand make money over fist every year on the likes of NBA 2K.

Bethesda at 7.5 bill is chump change compared to T2, that would be north of 30 billy easy.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
I know this is almost impossible, but i hope Sony would go big on the next acquisition.
 
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