Game news PS5: Sony reacts to Microsft and wants to buy studios en masse in 2023
In response to Microsoft’s recent acquisitions (and attempted acquisitions), Sony seems poised to pull out the checkbook.
Sony vs. Microsoft
Microsoft and Sony have been at war with increased takeovers for several years. And if we can already say today that the American company is a step ahead of its competitors thanks to the recent acquisition of ZeniMax Media (Bethesda Games Studios, Tango Gameworks, id Software, etc.) and the current buyer Activision/Blizzard, Sony intends to be more hostile than that ever to be
In 2021, Sony said it would allocate a total of $18.4 billion over three years for investments in the entertainment industry. During this period, which should normally end in early 2024, the brand has acquired several studios, starting with Housemarque, the developer behind Returnal, but also Bungie (Destiny 2), Bluepoint Games (Demon’s Souls Remake), Nixxes Software, Firesprite, Valkyrie Entertainment , Savage Game Studios and Haven Studios. But While none of these studios can compete with Bethesda, let alone Activision/Blizzard, together they can make a difference. Because of this, Sony doesn’t intend to stop in such a good way either, and plans to extend this redemption program.
A new plan for Sony
During a Morgan Stanley Technology Q&A today, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki admitted to having spent nearly $13 billion, leaving a total of $5 billion left for potential acquisitions. But according to Hiroki Totoki, The budget could save more than $21 billion to run a new three-year buyback program.
We spent nearly $13 billion late last year. We still have a year. We aim to create a cash position of over $21 billion within three years. Next year is the last year of our current medium-term planning. We will use cash from Treasury for strategic investments and capital expenditures as well as for share repurchases. Hiroki Totoki, CFO of Sony
Obviously, this money does not only affect Sony’s video game sector, but all sectors in which the company operates (screen, cinema, etc.). With this new program, however, PlayStation can once again expand its developer family.
It now remains to be seen which studios or publishers would be willing to offer the PlayStation brand… When some think of Konami, others of course think of Square Enix, especially since the two houses have already entered into many partnerships (cf. Final Fantasy XVI, Forspoken ) and that the publisher currently has a market value of $5 billion.
