Jim Ryan: $3.6B Bungie Deal "Can Give Us Way More" Than $69B Activision Buyout

The PlayStation brand CEO, Jim Ryan, said that the Bungie deal gives them way more value than the Activision acquisition.

[-Foxtrot]

Urm. Yeah if it was literally just Destiny vs Call of Duty but Activision is made up of a fair few other games especially on the Blizzard side of things

Then you have Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, two ex PlayStation mascots from the old days

I feel this is just standard bullshit PR talk since the UK approved the Activision deal

If Destiny was enough then why pursue so many GaaS games…

[Nitrowolf2]

"If Destiny was enough then why pursue so many GaaS games…"

I mean, that's what he's getting at when he says the Bungie deal can give them more than spending $69b. It was never just about Destiny with it, they brought them in to help build their GAAS, and if that ends up working for them, while knowing not all will succeed, then yeah they could get more in the end.

It's def. Pr and a lot of ifs, and personally I feel they are overvaluing what Bungie can deliver, but all they need is one "Fortnite" "COD" mega gaas to be successful and that 3.6B would end up being pennies in the grand picture.

But again, I think they're putting way to much faith in Bungie. I mean, look at what's been going on with their own game this season, tons are upset over it, and this has been going on even before they were bought. That's who they want leading their GAAS? Remember, it's rumored that they're the reason that Faction 2 is delayed since it couldn't apparently work as a GAAS.

[-Foxtrot]

“and if that ends up working for them, while knowing not all will succeed, then yeah they could get more in the end”

Well hopefully they fail spectacularly or else PlayStation will forever be changed

Once they get a taste of that kind of money then there’s no going back and it will just get worse slowly over time.

[Einhander1972]

They can make more than one type of game... Games are expensive, the multiplayer games can help fund the single player games.

It's not one or the other, and Sony has been telling you this since the start, they still plan to keep making single player games.

And hoping Sony fails spectacularly is basically hoping that the PlayStation brand fails, because with Microsoft doing what they are doing that's what you're going to get.

[blackblades]

As what Ein said, the interview was last year. As someone else said there's like over 28 games in development at that time. 10 suppose to be live service and those 10 suppose to be spreaded out over the years. Those 10 suppose to be different genre and some based on already existing IP last of us, horizon are 2 of them. Read the full interview people would get what he is talking about. One point he made was that they will help boost single player games.

[Michiel1989]

Destiny was supposed to be their mega gaas success, it's why they left MS (and for some reason sided with activision). This is just straight up bs, there's no way that bungie will ever make even close to anything that actibliz does. also a bit dumb of Ryan to say that Bungie, a single studio, will go head to head against a company made up of 20 studios, 15 highly regarded ips and even their own publishing branch, it's just not happening.

[Jin_Sakai]

“I mean, look at what's been going on with their own game this season, tons are upset over it“

People get upset with most live service multiplayer games because you can never please everyone. At least that’s the way I’ve seen it on the internet.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@Jin_Sakai
Idk if I agree, I think it's more that at least half these games will die and end service with a very short life span, lots of GAAS games die early on and leave players high and dry. Personally, I think the smarter players/buyers will be the ones that sit on the sidelines and wait to see which games take off and maintain support.

[blackblades]

@FFF
If the service ends and you enjoyed the game can you sit there and say you had fun and enjoyed the time playing it. Isnt that what matters having fun and enjoying you're time with said game. Its not a waste time when you are enjoying a game that personally enjoy. It doesnt matter if its live service or not if a person enjoyed and had fun with it at least you had that time with it before it ended.

[derek]

@Michiel, go look up the definition of "value" b4 ranting.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@blackblades,

It depends on how much time I got with the game, anything less than a year is a bit of a waste of time and money, I'm still salty Titanfall 2 died as fast as it did, even though I enjoyed my time with it.

[OptimusDK]

@Einhander1972
im sorry but you are living in a dream wold. If they get succed with a new money printing model this is what they will continue

[Vengeance1138]

Crash and Spyro barely sell anymore and aren't enough to move any kind of needle. I'd barely count them as having any kind of impact at all.

[-Foxtrot]

My point is it’s still something

If your main meaty part of the deal is COD and Blizzard games then Crash and Spyro are nice little bonuses

[DiRtY]

Let me see...

Activision Blizzard:

Blur
Caesar
Call of Duty
Candy Crush
Crash Bandicoot
Diablo
DJ Hero
Empire Earth
Gabriel Knight
Geometry Wars
Guitar Hero
Gun
Hearthstone
Heroes of the Storm
Hexen
Interstate ’76
King’s Quest
Laura Bow Mysteries
The Lost Vikings
Overwatch
Phantasmagoria
Pitfall
Police Quest
Prototype
Quest for Glory
Singularity
Skylanders
Solider of Fortune
Space Quest
Spyro the Dragon
StarCraft
Tenchu (legacy games)
TimeShift
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
True Crime
World of Warcraft
Zork

Bungie:

Destiny.

[VariantAEC]

@DiRtY
Let me see...

Activision Blizzard:

Blur - dormant
Caesar - not sure what this is
Call of Duty - MEGATON
Candy Crush - mobile megaton
Crash Bandicoot - did well enough for a 4th entry... that being a continuation of a 25 year old franchise that originated on PS1.
Diablo - PC megaton-lite which does well enough to keep on keeping on.
DJ Hero - dormant
Empire Earth - not sure what this is
Gabriel Knight - almost sounds familiar
Geometry Wars - dormant
Guitar Hero - dormant
Gun - isn't this an RDR spin-off
Hearthstone - mobile card game
Heroes of the Storm - sounds like a phone game
Hexen - not sure what this is
Interstate ’76 - also not sure what this is
King’s Quest - mobile?
Laura Bow Mysteries - mobile?
The Lost Vikings - not sure
Overwatch - GaaS MEGATON
Phantasmagoria - heard of this one
Pitfall - Seriously? Also dormant
Police Quest - no idea
Prototype - dormant
Quest for Glory - mobile?
Singularity - I've at least heard of this
Skylanders - isn't this also dormant?
Solider of Fortune - dormant
Space Quest - no idea sounds mobile?
Spyro the Dragon - Nothing new made since reignited.
StarCraft - One of those overhyped strategy games in the same vein as Diablo with a sci-fi patina.
Tenchu (legacy games) - puzzle game dormant
TimeShift - a Time-Splitters clone?
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater - Another franchise that has come back only to vanish, at least I think something is in the works here.
True Crime - mobile?
World of Warcraft - PC MEGATON
Zork - you think this ancient text adventure game is going to sell anywhere in vast numbers enough to move the needle?

Bungie:

Destiny, Marathon and whatever else they can dream up. We only have Bungie's past and present to go by and their past was good, their present is also good. If they can land a killer Halo-esque game (maybe Marathon) then PS will be very very happy.

Obviously ABK is a major get, but CONSIDERING Xbox's past... I think they'll fumble it like they did with Mojang, Rare and basically every single other acquisition. I don't think this will impact Candy Crush (that is literally MS' type of game) or CoD (the audience is too huge and most will choke down any old slop these days so long as it's CoD-branded).

[Eonjay]

I think he means quite literally it gives them ,Sony, more to work with than less (like actual money). In the same Interview he goes on To explain that Spending 69B is a means to an end for Microsoft to pursue its goals with Subscription. However, the 4B Bungie purchase allows them to build their own content without spending untold billions acquiring everything.

He further explains that they are only acquiring where the see they have a need. So, while they are good on the single player front, they had to make a purchase that would allow them to build up their multiplayer and live service front.

You may also be interested to know that the title doesn't reflect the exact context that Jim is speaking in.

[Jin_Sakai]

I’m sure the Bungie buyout was to give their first party studios multiplayer expertise which is exactly why Factions got put on the back burner. And Microsoft will probably run Activision in the ground anyhow. They can’t even properly run the studios they have now.

[Eonjay]

You are correct. As I said below Bungie is their to teach their teams how to build lasting multiplayer experiences. Even if their games never had any MtX (spoiler: they will) this would still lead to higher profits because of this thing called PSPlus.

[S2Killinit]

@Eonjay
Ihad no idea, PS Plus has twice the subscribers than gamepass! 50 million PSPlus to 25 million gamepass.

[wiz7191]

@Jin except Activision will still operate independently just like Zenimax

[Einhander1972]

wiz7191

That's sarcasm right?

Like Phil deciding if FO76 gets canceled or rushing Redfall out the door, or just him deciding to pull the plug on all the PlayStation products.

There is nothing independent about Micrsoft's ownership of Zenimax.

[cammers1995]

The thing about crash and Spyro is that Microsoft doesn't seem to make platformers anymore. Crash and Spyro will likely sit dead ips once that deal finishes.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

*claps hands* Banjo Kazooie, I miss the rare library, wish that had gotten a pc port at some point.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I would just love a sci-fi shooter game like the ealier Halo games out of them, might not be what they want to make, but it's what i'm hoping for.

[ChasterMies]

$69B -$3.6B = $65.4B that Song doesn’t need to make from Bungie to break even on the deal. Meanwhile, Microsoft has a lot more ground to make up.

[S2Killinit]

You are only comparing what is already out there.

[S2Killinit]

@Foxtrot
This has nothing to do with the UK decision because its from 2022 interview.

Also, he never said “Destiny was enough” he said we look at acquisitions as meaningful when it allows us to do something we cant do ourselves without the acquisition.

No doubt Activision has some cash cows. But Ryan points out that MS went on spending spree because publishers are not happy with gamepass model. MS will have to make its own content because it doesnt seem publishers want to cooperat as MS had expected. The gamepass model has hit problems.

Importantly, PS Plus has 50 million subscribers to Gamepass 25 million!!

Informative stuff

[neutralgamer1992]

Fox

That’s the point. Bungie will help with GAAS structure that Ryan wants to establish. ND were already advised by bungie on their GAAS. And half of 3.6 billion went towards retaining the talent for next 10 years

[zaanan]

While I mostly agree with you, I feel like there is room for both. If they come up with a GAAS that gives them a money stream that they can then reinvest into singleplayer hits, I am all for it!

[mjchitown]

call of duty is better then destiny

[fr0sty]

It's more valuable because Bungie can create new IP that turns a profit far faster than Activision's entire portfolio will ever be able to recoup a $69 billion cost. If Bungie created another Halo-level game, and kept Destiny or another similarly successful GaaS game going, within a few games, they've paid for themselves. We have to also keep in mind they are being allowed to remain multi-platform, at least for some games, and that greatly increases the install base they can sell games to, whereas Activision's best will most certainly be held exclusive to GamePass, or at least will heavily favor it via early releases, etc.

So when it comes down to which is going to turn a profit faster, it will undoubtedly be Bungie. It's going to take a decade or more to recoup almost $70 billion, and that's just break-even for MS. Activision Blizzard's annual net income for 2020 was $2.197B. I'll let you do the math on how long, at that annual rate of net income, it would take to make $69 billion.

[ChronoJoe]

This interview is one year old Fox. It’s not a reaction to the recent news. Easy to miss that detail though.

[franwex]

I think their mobile phone unit is the real cash cow of the deal. But yes you’re correct that there’s more to Activison than COD.

[Sharky231]

The thing that is forgotten is now Sony owns the IP. They can take Destiny and make movies about the lore. It could end up being worth way more in the end. Not to mention all they need is for one of the GAAS to take hold. Then it becomes a cash machine. They can roll that money into new single player games that they are known for. Not to mention they got Bungie for 66B dollars less than the Activision deal. MS over paid for them.

[blackblades]

Heres the full interview, this site needs to change. Start posting the full thing not one thing from it making 10 different topic

https://www.reddit.com/r/PS...

[-Foxtrot]

Yeah but you can’t just link a Reddit post on here…it has to be an article

[blackblades]

Meh

[S2Killinit]

Thank you.

Also, did anyone else notice that part about PS Plus having 50 million subscribers compared to game pass 25 million? Interesting stuff.

[attilayavuzer]

Playstation has almost triple the player base so not a huge shock.

[S2Killinit]

True but its still interesting because I thought MS would have more subscriptions since its literally all their eggs in the subscription basket.

[Asplundh]

That number for GP hasn't updated now that Xbox has joined Gold into GP. It's probably a lot closer, but can't see 50 million.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Dude I get it man but accept Activision was bigger purchase even though it shouldn't have happened regardless but modern gaming these days it's full of cheerleaders imo.

[CappyBlack]

Probably not, but, even so, that would only be because they have a bunch of planned GaaS titles coming down the pipeline, and Bungie's purchase literally was just for them to help direct all the studios in how to best monetize the releases.

[Eonjay]

It was to teach their teams how to build multiplayer experiences that focused on increasing the longevity of engagement. It turns out you don't really need to go overboard with monetization. All you have to do is get gamers to keep coming back.

The longevity part is the crux here because even though Sony makes top tier games, they are mostly one and done experiences (that don't require PS Plus to enjoy).

So listening to what he is actually saying and viewing the whole picture, basically all they want to do is make their own multiplayer games that can pull people into PSPlus so the are less dependant on 3rd party to drive their subscptions. That's the biggest prize. Of course we need to be vocal and make sure that they don't get carried away with monetization but anyone who is honestly listening to him and using critical thinkingncan see that this is about replacing 3rd party dependence with 1 party content and driving subs.

[phoenixwing]

Calling it now. Only foamstars will do OK and that's only because it builds off of Nintendos squid game. Sony will fail with these gaas games. The only reason bungie does well is because they're coasting off of loyal halo fans.

[Einhander1972]

Nah, HZD:Online and TLOU:Online have a great chance of pulling people in.

[shinoff2183]

Nah. Easy pass. I'll stick to single player. These multplayer games are probably what some of the hold up is on more single player releases.

[phoenixwing]

I don't want to be proven wrong because I'd rather have single player games honestly

[Eonjay]

@shinoff2183

If you want to keep playing the single player games, you have nothing to worry about as Jim has exhaustively explained why they aren't going anywhere and why they are increasing spending on them.

But yes Sony can also make multiplayer games or put multiplayer modes into single player games.

It's not one or the other. And you will be no more obligated to play multiplayer as you are today.

I actually want them to grow so they can keep investing in single player whose profit margin is much lower than mutiplayer.

One successful multiplayer game can fund a dozen single player games.

[InUrFoxHole]

Idk man but I'm interested to see tlou mp. After dead island 2 I'm a little more confident in games that have been through rough developments. Well from certain devs anyway

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Foamstars does look okay, but just give me a Halo clone with a good single player campaign and a decent multi-player aspect.

[il-JumperMT]

I expect foamstars to flop

[shinoff2183]

Phil alot of people I know don't give two fks about bungie. There were many other better companies that could've been had. I'd argue most ps fans are more interested in the single player offerings and your kinda giving us the middle finger 1st party wise.

[Eonjay]

Not really. He addresses single player narrative games in the full interview and explains why the are not only essential but Sony is looking to double their output. He mentions fan feedback and states that this is something their fans expect and will get. How did you get the middle finger out of what he said? And that's a serious question. Who is telling you what to think?

[FGHFGHFGH]

Actually multiplat games with multiplayer almost always have more players on playstation. Like 2-5 times more. Look at ps plus to gamepass subs.

[northpaws]

Where is the middle finger? Did they cancel Spiderman 2 to make a GaaS game?

[gold_drake]

i mean .. Activision is not Just CoD, right?

odd thing to say. but its most likely the usual PR bs talk

[BeHunted]

"i mean .. Activision is not Just CoD, right?"

Activision, Blizzard and Kings have tons of Free to Play and games that makes Billions like:

Call of Duty: Warzone
Overwatch
Hearthstone
Starcraft
Heroes of the Storm
Diablo
Candy Crush Saga
Bubble Witch Saga
Farm Heroes Saga
World of Warcraft

[gold_drake]

that wasnt a question, more of a statement, my bad haha.

[CrimsonWing69]

Yea, we’ll see… not exactly thrilled about all the GaaS you have lined up to give Sony “more”.

[z2g]

lol then why were you trying so hard to stop it!?

[Jin_Sakai]

While I don’t believe everything I hear from either camp I trust Sony any day over Microsoft. They’ve always pushed visuals boundaries and storytelling in games. Sony have very talented first party studios.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I pretty much feel the same way, even though I don't like the direction Jim Ryan is taking the company, I still prefer that over Phil Spencer and Xbox.

[InUrFoxHole]

Both are bums. I trust in good dev teams.

[Stanjara]

PS made good games, then they bought Bunge so they can start making shit games.
Great value Jimbo.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Maybe if we're lucky, Sony will work their magic on them and we'll get some decent games out of it, I fully expect more than half of those GAAS games to die a horrible death though.

[Stanjara]

They are not gonna be different. Their design is to milk your money away.
The will have nice graphics with ray racing for sure.

[InUrFoxHole]

I don't understand why they just don't bring back killzone and socom... easy $

[TheKingKratos]

Then why all the crying,Jim ?!
You could have easily acquired a studio or done something instead of making Sony look bad for a lame ass Call of Duty

[PassNextquestion]

I think Sony and Microsoft are trying to do different things. If Microsoft wants to make a hugely successful subscription service they need regular new titles every month to keep people interested and on the service.

Sony isn't as fully invested in subscription service like Microsoft. Sony only needs a really good new release 1st party title every 4 months to keep people interested in the console and let the third parties fill in the other months.

[InUrFoxHole]

That's fair. Plus they have VR to work with

[Whitey2k]

I cant see why Sony can't persue EA Games despite the capital

Medal of Honour
Baseball
Soccer
Madden
Ice hockey
Road Rash
Battlefield
Apex
The sims
Command and Conquer
Dead Space
Plantes vs zombies
Mass Effect
Need For Speed
Dragon Age
Dantes Inferno (gow clone)

And probably many more and literally can compete with zenimax and Activision not with games but mobile space aswell and staying multiplat for sports and and battlefield could rake in loads

[Eonjay]

Some insight:

I know gaming media wants to have an arms race between two companies for gaslighting and views but personally I own a PlayStation and good games are on it. I don't need Sony to spend billions to keep a game off of Xbox why absorbing entire publishers or even platforms. I would rather see them invest in new games that aren't already slated to come to the system. People fail to realize that the Bethesda and Activision deals aren't bringing anything to Xbox that wasn't already coming to it.

[Whitey2k]

The problem is half the games that Ms owns now is going to be xbox exclusive anyways don't worry about the people that play on the playstation. Half of it is about needing to buy publisher's to sell and make money to make a big budget first party game otherwise Sony will be in deep trouble and first party will take a hit as they would be costly to make. That's why I suggested of Sony buying EA games not just to make it there own but to make money and to make a good first party game from there own studios

[Profchaos]

Jim please take your golden parachute and leave before you cause more problems

[Maxxaman]

Welcome to the Sony World of games like fairgame$ and its clones. This is not the playstation model I want. Just look at the toxicity of D2 audience towards the dev.
I don't see how everybody is OK with this. Fortnite is crap. My 8 year old plays it and loves it - it is literally a kiddie game and if anything should be no more than a stepping stone into the realm of gaming. If that's what we are going to be flooded with, then these are sad days. I think Ryan loathsome gaming and gamers - he can't wait for his multi millions in shares so he can get out of his role, it makes him sick having to 'serve' gamers.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Sure Jim.

[moomoo319]

Crash and Spyro are gone 🥺 nooooooo

[Asplundh]

They're going right in the dungeon beside Banjo Kazooie

[Om4ever]

So why are they so much people complaining about the acquisition ?!!??

[GoodGuy09]

I still think Sony highly overpaid for Bungie lol. Bungie hasn't really done anything yet asides from Destiny and I guess help out other studios with live service. Sure there's a new game coming but we still know hardly anything about it. Way too overpaid imo. But I suppose we'll see if it was a great investment...in a few more years lol.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Oh now all of the sudden he has faith in his studio’s? Just a few months ago he was pretending without CoD PlayStation would fold. Bungie can not compete with Activision and that’s just a fact. CoD alone is more profitable than Destiny will ever be. Personally I’d pick Destiny over CoD any day of the week but this is about money and Bungie just can’t compete. Good luck with that Jimmy boy…

[XBManiac]

Destiny 2 budget is now $140m. It makes $200m a year. Well... Sony will need some more games to recover the invest. Maybe not many. While Microsoft... will need some hundred million Game Pass full price subscribers till the end of the world to recover Activision-Blizzard-King BO.

[ModsDoBetter]

Jim & Phil are both clowns.
I miss Andrew House.
Don Mattrick wasn't the best but was leaps and bounds ahead of Phil.

[DragoonUS]

Fulll steam into GaaS games, Lots of money to make... ...from us :(

[hiawa23]

What am I missing as what has Bungie done recently other than Destiny?

[mjchitown]

hahahahahahahaha

[Zeref]

Lol if he had 70 billion to buy Activision Blizzard he wouldn't give af about Bungie 😂

Bungie is incredibly valuable but it's not Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush and Overwatch valuable. These are multiple game industry defining titles.
Destiny is a valuable IP but I don't think it's anywhere close to even the weakest of those titles, Overwatch.

That's besides all the data, knowledge and technologies that Activision Blizzard has.
Again Bungie has those things too but not even close to the amount of Data that comes with buying the whole of Activision Blizzard.

That's not even getting into all the studios that come with it. Legacy IP. It's not even close.

TLDR: This is just PR speak for "we are worried about the competition that Activision Blizzard joining Xbox brings but we will be fine because we are growing as well"

[ARESWARLORD]

😂😂 Good one Jim Ryan

[DOMination-]

I think over time Bungie will end up being a shrewd purchase for Sony. Their expertise is going to help with not just their own games but many other first party studios.

If you have 15 live service games, history tells us that 13 of them are going to fail miserably. But if they can get 2 hits, the revenue will pay for those failures very quickly before turning to pure profit. Bungie are about the best bet in the business to help make that happen. And they'll be needed to help change the mindset as right or wrongly, "live service" is looked at very negatively by "non-casual gamers".

[HyperMoused]

I for one would look foreward to a new Destalo game

[Crows90]

Close to 50 million ps plus subscribers... And they must have that mixed among all the different tiers.

[Knightofelemia]

Activision has a bigger library from the old Atari days to now and the studios they snagged up before the MS purchase. Bungie honestly is a small fry when compared to Activision.

[YoungKingDoran]

Just take me back to ps2, ogx, and gc days

[46player]

So far, the only result that I have seen from Microsoft by and game developers is them destroying the creativity of the independent developers. We’ve seen very little original content. If Starfield was on PS5 It would score about a six out of 10. There are much better options on PS5.