Sony Doesn't Need To Acquire Studios

Nicholas gives his thoughts on why Sony doesn't need to acquire studios, and that they should shift their focus to their already existing talent.

[Jin_Sakai]

They don’t but they should to stay competitive.

[S2Killinit]

They can also expand their already existing studios. Or split them off into two. There is no need to expend millions just to acquire a name if you know how to build proper studios from the ground up. The only time its prudent to buy a studio outright is if Sony wants a particular franchise they own or knows they are a studio with unique capabilities. Otherwise, there is no need.

[UltraNova]

I think Sony should hit the 1 game per 3-4 months sweet spot, wether that means buying more studios, expanding existing ones or creating new ones from the ground up.

[Sevir]

Which they have. They've been doubling in size all of their internal studios, and opening up new studios as well. Why should they only continue to focus on the ones they have when they can do both acquire new studios, form new studios from talent they have, and double their team sizes for established first party devs?

They're transitioning to a new generation and want more content delivered.

They're biggest developers are working on multiple projects at once as is. They're already committed to that strategy, they can also bring New talent into the DNA of WWS and which can benefit from the expertise from all the other studios.

[Eonjay]

Microsoft has so much money, they are the last people who need to buy someone. Can can invest the moon and starts into the studios they already have.

[Mr_Writer85]

@S2killint

Its not just the name, it's the talent and in some cases already established IPs, or at least the creative minds behind them.

[gangsta_red]

Purchasing studios shouldn't be the only option.

Build more studios from the ground up instead.

[MasterCornholio]

Sony has built studios in the past and even expanded current ones so they do know that it's an option. But I don't see any issues in taking a small studio and turning them into another Naughty Dog or SSM. That option is a good one as well and it has worked for them in the past.

[The Wood]

Do both. Build and acquire.

[SpaceRanger]

Couldn’t agree more. That organic growth is great for new grads, fresh ideas and bringing in diverse talent.

[TheColbertinator]

@gamingunited

He can do as he damn well pleases.

[NarutoFox]

@Gamingunited

Facts 😂😁

[Chevalier]

Such a idiotic idea that they should only build uo studio's. They can do both. Pretty obvious your clueless or just playing dumb as usual.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

Sony has more studios than any other gaming company. I have no idea why you said that.

[KillZallthebeast]

It would be short sighted to grow complacent. Expanding is always good as long as they maintain their quality.

[rainslacker]

I think they're fine, but if they find a studio that helps them be better, or helps them achieve some goal they have, and the price is right, then nothing wrong with acquiring a new studio. They could also just build new teams for their various world wide studio houses, which they do from time to time....most recently for psvr games

[SyntheticForm]

Agreed - one or two more studios that they could nurture and make even greater than they were previously. They've done this before and they can do it again. These studios should also make big games.

This would help fill any 'dry' season PlayStation has, even though I think that's what third parties are for.

[DarXyde]

Guerrilla, Naughty Dog, and Sony Santa Monica alone have done great work. Playstation has beaten Rockstar in receiving BAFTA GOTY for both The Last of Us (against GTA V) and God of War (against RDR2). I think Sony is plenty competitive with their current roster.

Overall, I'm not a fan of acquiring studios. If a studio works exclusively on some hardware and wants to be acquired (e.g., Playground Games), sure, why not. It's acquiring upper crust multiplatform studios that I think is bad. I don't agree at all with Microsoft acquiring Ninja Theory or the rumors of Sony acquiring Remedy. Heck, Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith was upsetting. Mind you, Monolith is the only one of those the studios I care about, but the point still stands: I believe acquiring established higher tier multiplatform studios is a bit of an ugly practice.

[Chevalier]

I think you mean Monolith Soft not Monolith Productions fyi.

Monolith is owned by Warner Bros, they did F.E.A.R, Condemned and most recently Middle Earth games.

I get what your saying though. I was upset when Ninja Theory got bought by MS as talent just goes their to die. Rare for example has done garbage since being acquired for example.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

@Jin_Sakai

Just curious to know which console maker do you think has studios that compete with Sony's?

[Double_O_Revan]

I would agree they don't NEED to, but if only to keep good studios out of the competition's hands. Ninja Theory and Obsidian are disappointing loses.

[smashman98]

Sometimes buying a studio isn't about gaining something but rather about making sure that your competition doesn't have that something. It is important that Sony buys stuff or they risk letting MS purchase all the talent.

[Atom666]

I think that would be a really terrible reason to acquire any studio. If I owned a studio and knew I was only purchased for those reasons, I'm not coming anywhere near signing that deal.

Do you have an example where this has ever actually happened?

[TheUndertaker85]

Yes. Sony is paying Activision for timed exclusivity, allowing rumors to spread about pure exclusivity that doesn't exist, NDA stops Activision from clarifying.

A clear example of this is Crash Bandicoot.

Another example is Quantic Dreams. Their titles were labeled exclusive while true exclusivity was never on the table.

Sony also purchased Naughty Dog from Universal Interactive Studios and praised their titles as exclusive, even calling Spyro and Crash Sony mascots while Sony had zero control of either IP. Sony literally had zero rights to Naughty Dog content.

[ShadowWolf712]

@Undertaker
Quantic Dream was exclusive because Sony was publishing their games. They only went multiplat after NetEase bought a controlling stake in the company and opted to publish said games on other platforms, which they're allowed to do as those are QD IPs. Had nothing to do with "making sure the competition didn't have it".

Sony also never owned Naughty Dog when they made Crash, and Naughty Dog actually WANTED to be bought by Sony to escape a very undesirable working relationship with Universal. Spyro was an Insomniac title, not Naughty Dog, and they were made for PlayStation because PlayStation contracted the games TO be made, they didn't take games already being made for every system and pay for them to only be on theirs.

Maybe do some basic research before spouting off about this. lmao

[TheUndertaker85]

@ShadowWolf712: Does Willy the Wombat ring any bells? Because it started in 1994 under Universal Studios Interactive. So how do you not contract a game already under development when they supposedly didn't?

Further the competitors at the time were Sega and Nintendo. Both of which had first party mascots where Sony has zero. Thus the choice to publish Crash Bandicoot while the IP remained with Universal Studios Interactive. Further in the future where Activision holds the rights to both Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon Sony already had timed exclusivity with Activision. Thus the one year PS exclusivity that Sony refused to comment on and contractually Activision couldn't either.

"Quantic Dream was exclusive because Sony was publishing their games. They only went multiplat after NetEase bought a controlling stake in the company and opted to publish said games on other platforms, which they're allowed to do as those are QD IPs. Had nothing to do with "making sure the competition didn't have it"." So basically QD and their titles were never exclusive and were behind a Sony contract. Which as you said made them exclusive but not exclusive. Which is exactly what I said. Sony had no real exclusivity and knew it. As their lawyers would be coming up with the contracts & NDAs.

Ah, but all of the above were "exclusive". Without any of the above ever being truly exclusive.

Oh and btw, QD talked about on numerous occasions before going multiplatform that they wanted to be multiplatform. They also want to develop multiplayer titles and have stated they couldn't because of publisher decisions. Sony was their publisher.

[Mr_Writer85]

@shadow

Damm son stop with the truth bombs.

@Undertaker

"Yes. Sony is paying Activision for timed exclusivity,"

And? MS paid for timed exclusivity for Rise of the Tomb Raider.

"NDA stops Activision from clarifying."
Same with SE and ROTTR.

"Another example is Quantic Dreams. Their titles were labeled exclusive while true exclusivity was never on the table."

At the time of release the games were published by Sony and remain a console exclusive.

"even calling Spyro and Crash Sony mascots while Sony had zero control of either IP."

Again...And? They would of required Universals permission, which they clearly got so what's the issue?

"So how do you not contract a game already under development when they supposedly didn't?"

Again in English please? You do know that Sony didn't contract all its exclusives at that time? Example FF7 was an exclusive and it wasn't because Sony published the game. It was because Square saw the PS1 was a better fit. That's pretty much the same for MGS and others.

[ShadowWolf712]

Willy the Wombat was an early concept for Crash and had no stated platform. Sony Co-Published the game with Universal which means yes, they had contracted the studio to work with them for the purposes of publication.

QD is, once again, a similar situation. Sony did not force them to not say anything about their IPs being their own, Cage outright said before QD owns the IPs and Sony handled the publishing, hence why they enjoyed working with the company. NetEase then bought a controlling share in QD and opted to self-publish, and the announcement came almost immediately. Which means -gasp- there were no NDA's and the company could talk about it if they chose! Which they already had so...

-shrug-

But by all means, keep pretending you know what you're talking about.

[Juusterey]

They just need to stop censoring them

[AspiringProGenji]

They don’t censor their studios

[Juusterey]

Didn't say their studios

[Silly gameAr]

What studios has Sony censored? You people will latch on to something, make it bigger than it really is, and will beat that horse into dust.

[ThunderGod_Cid]

They censored Devil May Cry 5, the last Senran Kagura Re:Burst and currently Sengan Kagura 7, Omega Labyrinth, Super Neptunia RPG, Dead or Alive Xtreme Scarlet, etc. It’s been all over the internet for a while. And they’re still continuing to censor other upcoming games from other Japanese developers.

[AspiringProGenji]

Wasn’t that scene in Devil May Cry 5 censored in all versions?

[BrettAwesome]

@Thundergod
Nobody except Xbox fans and losers with cartoons for girlfriends cares about those games, well maybe except for DMC5.

[The Wood]

They really do latch onto things don't they. It's weird because so much calories are spent bemoaning Sony's missteps and frailties yet zero calories trying get their preferred to actually provide gaming nutrition. People need to get their priorities in order.

[Juusterey]

what @ThunderGod_Cid said
Also zanki zero, conception, nekopara

[Juusterey]

All right @thewood
put down the bottle

[jukins]

Trish's ass has been uncensored you plebe. . . As for the rest of the censored stuff moatly young anime girls near nude or fondling modes removed.

I for one thank Sony

[The Wood]

Jussterey

Don't judge me. . . Drinking in the afternoon is totally normal

[DarkZane]

@ThunderGod_Cid Sony weren't responsible for DMC5 censoring, Capcom was. This was fixed in a later patch and the game no longer has that scene censored.

[ShadowWolf712]

Pretty much anime tiddy games involving characters of questionable age (or designed to appear as such) or items or activities in games that are intentionally made to be of "dubious consent" on the part of the characters in question. (IE a grope mode in SK in which the high school aged characters ask you to stop and you're rewarded for ignoring them, items that snip bikini straps on characters in DoA Xtreme which can have them visibly "distressed", etc.)

[BrettAwesome]

Lol. Look at that 22 sad wankers who dislike the truth 😂 <✊>

[jukins]

If you wanna see scantily clad young looking anime girls . . . . You have the internet. . .

[Juusterey]

Would you use the same argument if anything else was censored?
blood? language? anything?

[Thundercat77]

Let's start by censoring your uninformed comment.

[Juusterey]

uninformed how?

[NeoGamer232]

Censoring is a decision they make and it is about the type of things they are willing to associate with their brand.

For example, Disney does not do R-Rated movies. This was a strategic principled choice for their brand. If Sony does that it is completely up to them and what they want their brand associated with.

[Juusterey]

nobody ever said it wasn't up to them, but we still have the right to criticise them for it
bad comparison by the way
disney doesn't have blood and guts and violence but censor sexual stuff

[bluefox755]

Sure, they'll still dominate without acquiring studios, but why not? What's the harm in expanding?

[jukins]

The harm? Disgruntled employees unhappy with being bought out worrying if their position is an overlap and will be cut which leads to leaks or performance not up to standards.

On the other hand it could always work out. I know the companies always say they let acquisitions keep their identity but truthfully once you're under a big companies umbrella things change

[rainslacker]

How many people have been let go from their positions with MS recent acquisitions?

The thing about indie studios is that they usually dont have overlap, as most of that kind of thing comes from management positions not required for indie devs to operate. Maybe an hr person would lose their job as the studio transitions to the corporate hr, but they'd like just be changes to whatever liaison position there is.

Not one word had been said about people being disgruntled over being brought. Being brought would generally give more job security than hoping the studio has something lined up after the current project ends, and I'd imagine that both Sony and MS have better benefits than an indie dev can afford. MS especially is known to have a great benefits package

[ThunderGod_Cid]

They don’t need more studios to impose their censorship on.

[travestyj]

None of the studios they would buy would make games with little girl anime tiddies like the games that are getting censored so there's nothing to worry about.

[Sevir]

Censorship? If they haven't censored the last of us part 2, or Days Gone or even God of War, they aren't imposing censorship on 3rd party games, considering that decision would ultimately be made by the 3rf party... Try agsin

[Juusterey]

what?
not censoring 3 very specific games mean they don't censor?

[sprinterboy]

Anybody from the US want a sonic team racing full game code.
Edit: I'm from Europe and the stupid competition is for the US only and I won lol.

[jznrpg]

Me!

[sprinterboy]

Sent it too your message box

[Smokehouse]

If insomniac or ready at dawn wanted to join the squad officially I wouldn’t see that as a bad move. Some studios are essentially Sony studios anyways.

[porkChop]

Microsoft needed studios because they didn't have many. Sony has plenty. They could buy 1 or 2, but what they should really do is expand and invest in their current devs.

[OB1Biker]

They are doing both

[Ulf]

They don't need to put any effort in. The sheep are happy, and their wallets are open.

[ClayRules2012]

Effort is ALWAYS needed. Sony & its studios haven’t gotten the succes, praise & awards, by being lazy. With hard work, passion, and a genuine love for what you do, can/does come succes, especially when you’ve earned your Boss’s trust, as Sony’s studios have.

[Elda]

Preach.

[Hardiman]

So pushing boundaries with what's possible with games and narratives, the creative freedom and all the award winning games came from laziness?!?!

What you smokin Willis?!?!

[LoveSpuds]

Care to expand on your comment as to why I am a sheep just because I bought Bloodborne, Ratchet n Clank, Infamous, Spiderman, God of War, Horizon, Uncharted 4, Persona 5, Until Dawn, Moss, Astrobot, Yakuza, Shadow of the Colossus, etc

Are you suggesting that these are poor games and I am a sheep because I blindly bought them?

[rainslacker]

I'm a happy sheep, because Sony has been delivering quality in plenty. I think you misunderstand tha order that cause and effect happens in. Here's a hint...the order is the same as the term "cause and effect" lays it out in.

The only thing Sony had not had me happy on this gen is their censorship, but I'm pragmatic enough to know this policies aren't going to affect then much, and I can just buy those games on switch so it'll cost Sony a bit of money.

[Sevir]

We've had 6 years of quality games and several game of the year candidates and winners on PS4... Xbox One exclusives dried up in year 3 of its life cycle, and you're holding out for games. Who's the sheep?

[Chevalier]

Sheep are the ones having the wool pulled over their eyes. They talk about good games from their competitors, but, sadly can't create their own GOTY content.

[Juusterey]

haha
that's a good impression of a really stupid guy

[Father__Merrin]

they need to aquire remedy and bring alan wake as PS exclusive

[ClayRules2012]

That’d be exciting. I think Remedy would fit right in at Sony.

[SyntheticForm]

They'd fit, sure, but I also think they'd be redundant at Sony. Remedy makes narrative story games and Sony has enough studios that make these types of games.

I personally want Remedy to stay independent. Other platforms need the games that Remedy put out, and I don't see any other independent studio that makes the type of game Remedy do.

[Hedstrom]

They could expand their existing studios. Having 3 teams instead of 2 as most their studios have. But i think it would be wise of them to expand. Maybe to have some studios making Ps4 console exclusive games. That way they could spread the risk by releasing some games to pc aswell.

[AnnaDea]

Need and should are two different things.

[Pyroxfaglover]

Wish they got IOI ,..Just playing Hitman (never seemed to find the motivation for it,.. it's been just sitting there for almost two years,..) Damn WHAT a game,.. Think I will get the second season/game also,..

[Phantom68]

If they don’t they need to increase the team so they current studios so they can work on multiple IPs

[ILostMyMind]

At the moment, I think Sony should prevent good studios from being bought by Microsoft. No one deserves this fate.

[nommers]

This is the the most relevant reason. It’s more for the studios sake they get bought by Sony.

[Tross]

They don't need to, but they can. A lot of good comes from them acquiring studios.

[OB1Biker]

Doing both is best, just like they are doing.

[Thundercat77]

I believe that they could do both. A new bought established studio does not hurt, but also keep developing your own studios.

Sony has the best first party studios. They are doing a good job creating relationships, connections and trust with their talented teams.

[ACEMANWISE]

As long as gamers are happy Sony should stay put and not chase the competition around.

[nommers]

Sony doesn’t need to, but a lot of studios probably need Sony to acquire them. For protection reasons of course.

[ShadowWolf712]

Their focus has BEEN on their existing talent.

Why do folks act as if Sony needs to start doing what they've already been doing?

[AK91]

No they just need to make good games.

[4kgk76]

Sony have that Secret San Diego studio they building so they doing both.

[esherwood]

I’d say Sony still has the upper hand with studios. Most of Microsoft’s are double AA. Really shows how lopsided it was before microsofts hiring spree

[Chevalier]

It still is lopsided. None of those studios MS purchased I would say are AAA either. They need to actually release content that proves they are AAA first before anything is said and done. Last I checked Xbox isn't exactly churning out GOTY level games.

[esherwood]

Think we’re saying the same thing

[Chevalier]

I agree. Just saying that even with 7-8 more studios MS isn't churning out more AAA content.

[Starman69]

They don't need to, but should, because they're doing a fine job 👍

[Elda]

Sony really doesn't but there's nothing wrong with them adding a little more to their arsenal.

[Imortus_san]

They need to diverse the games more, that's for sure.