In the world of video game, investments and acquisitions are something we usually… But we notice very quickly that the wallet is not the same according to the manufacturers. In this context, where investment is a risk to stay competitive, Sony has decided to strengthen PlayStation’s know-how by acquiring studios, but also by strengthening its position in the entertainment industry in general. Opposite, Microsoft’s competition is becoming stronger. The American giant does not hesitate to spend tens of billions of dollars to secure not developers, but publishers with Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard. Financially, PlayStation does not make the weight facing Xbox, but you will see it, Sony has more than one round in its bag.

• Investments All Azimuths
• FACING THE CHALLENGES OF TOMORROW
• fierce competition
• Sony transformation
• Strong loss of confidence

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Investments All Azimuths

So concretely, what Sony has bought lately? Jim Ryan, the big boss of Sony Interactive Entertainment, had warned in July 2019 that the content would be more important than ever in the industry. Such was its guideline, its goal in the short and medium term. We remember that the PlayStation segment is very important for Sony, since the turnover generated by the Gaming brand represents almost 30% of what the entire company generates in the latest published quarterly results. It is therefore normal to see the Japanese giant redeem development studios, because without them, he has no games, and so no money. Since 2019, we have an acceleration of acquisitions at Sony. With Insomniac Games, Housemarket, BluePoint Games, Valkyrie Entertainment, Nixxes Software, Bungie, and Haven, Jade Raymond Studio, it’s been 7 new studios acquired in just three years. Before that, the last studio bought was Sucker Punch, the developers of Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima in 2011. And then, in a little less than two years, the Japanese giant also invested almost 1.5 billion at Epic Games, the parents of Fortnite and the creators of the Ultra Popular Game Engine Unreal Engine. Finally, it is good to remember that Sony has bought Crunchyroll, the mastodon of Japanese animals, as well as the EVO, the world-famous Baston game tournament. Finally, Japanese company accelerates the adaptation of its videoludic works on the small as on the big screen thanks to its Antennas Sony Pictures, history of transforming its gaming licenses into cross-media licenses.

But what do all these expenses cover a wide spectrum and targeting entertainment in the broad sense?

FACING THE CHALLENGES OF TOMORROW

The answer is simple. Sony places his beads while waiting for the confrontations of tomorrow. And these confrontations, they will be numerous, in addition to being intense. It is important to remember that currently the mega groups, called the Gafam have only one word in the mouth: the metaversus, namely a great virtual world where all the services of all the brands of the planet will have rue pinion. And the street is here virtual, obviously… To go in this direction, we remember that early 2022, Sony signed an amazing partnership with the famous Manchester City Club. The goal? Create an online space where fans can interact with the team within a “metapes” representing the Etihad football stadium. Sony therefore tackles different strata of the entertainment world while consolidating his control over the video game, which is more logical for a group that has a “music” segment and a “pictures” segment dedicated to movies and series. Maybe he sees in Fortnite the metaversus of tomorrow already available today? Maybe… and so it’s wise for Sony to invest some balls. Also remember that a few years ago, Sony was putting on new supports to sell its consoles: the CD with PS1, the DVD with PS2 or Blu-ray with PS3.

But in a world where the dematerialized is always more important, you have to know how to question and go where the trend is. And the latter is clearly to services. Specifically, it is at subscription catalog services, such as GamePass , inspired by the Netflix Boom, Deezer, Spotify and Company. This explains why Sony has revised and corrected its PlayStation offer more recently. The other trend are the service games, these titles that host regular updates to keep players as long as possible, and to monetize their playing time. This is the specialty of Bungie Who, as you know, has been redeemed by Sony for his expertise in the field. As for the redemption of Nixxes Software, the box specialized in PC portages, this is the proof that like Microsoft, the Japanese giant does not intend to drop the computers. Of course, PCs are integrated in many more homes than game consoles.

The game service, the catalog services, the importance of the PC in the equation… Finally, is Microsoft trapping Sony by bringing it on its favorite field?

fierce competition

It’s hard to say with aplomb that if Sony changes to the upper speed on the investment side in response to what Microsoft does. Nevertheless, it is necessarily interesting to note that the company’s buying fever started the year following the announcement of the redemption of four studios at Xbox: Ninja Theory, Playground Games, UNDEAD Labs, Compulsion Games, not to mention the Foundation of a new studio, the initiative, by Microsoft. Redmond’s firm posted a more offensive face at the end of the Xbox One, creating an Xbox One X more powerful than the PlayStation 4 Pro, and in making the GamePass offer more than allegent. And then, how do not cite the last two acquisitions of the company headed by Satya Nadella? In September 2020, the day before formalizing the pre-orders of the Xbox Series, Microsoft announced the redemption of Bethesda, the publisher who owes the Elder Scrolls and the Doom, two licenses that work very well in the United States and in Europe. Then in January 2022, it was with surprise that we were learning the acquisition project of Activision-Blizzard, the group behind the Call of Duty, World of Warcraft or Crash Bandicoot .

This time, the American company seems to take the video game really seriously, which is not necessarily good news for its competitors. Since then, immediate consequence, It is not uncommon to see in the United States or England that the Xbox Series are selling better than PlayStation 5 , consoles who all know procurement problems, recall- The except perhaps the SERIES S. This statement of sales, it tends to prove that the Microsoft strategy was the right 1. Recently, a Yugov survey showed that a PlayStation on Two player would be ready to subscribe to the Game Pass if the Activision games incorporate the catalog. In this war of wear, Microsoft now has all weapons. It has infrastructure, services, hardware and studios. After an excellent year 2021 where the American won the publisher price of the year awarded by Metacritic, there is a small scent of revenge for the Redmond firm.

The competition is therefore rough in the world of video game, and Sony must face a largely more reactive opponent than during the beginning of the life of the Xbox One. The goal for the PlayStation generator is clear: turn without leaving fans on the key.

Sony transformation

Since the Microsoft Activision-Blizzard project, which is pointing with the analysts, it is obviously the question of exclusivities for all these licenses, but especially the Failure of Sony in the face of what is. Sony has for a long time ignored the Game Pass until you receisely redesign the PlayStation More… without integrating formula including First Party titles in Day One. While Microsoft was trying to reach a maximum of people on PC, on mobiles and on the Xbox consoles, the Japanese firm decided to increase the prices of its First-Party productions. The message could be read as follows: Playing on PlayStation, it deserves. Except that analysts do now believe that the leader must follow the path open by Phil Spencer. I quote, “investors fear that Sony will not be able to keep it out if the industry moves away from the hardware-based model” declared Kazunori Ito from Morningstar Research. Sony’s mission is to continue to make incredible solo games, its trademark, but also to permanently catch up on the service games too long set aside by the Japanese group. The acquisition of Haven. Go in this direction, since the studio stated to work on a “systemic AAA, evolutionary, which will entertain and engage the players for years”. And if the battle is definitely evolving towards streaming services to play tracks on smartphones and other connected TVs, it will be necessary that Sony proves that it is able to overcome the technological and political challenges related to this evolution.

Thinning that these developments are only a detail would be disregarding the expectations of the market. Because on the side of investors, we realize that Sony may not be the so-called unbeatable colossus. Some even consider that the Japanese group could know the crisis.

Strong loss of confidence

As Microsoft had said it in the past, its competitors are no longer Sony or Nintendo, but Google and Amazon. And by dint of being repeated, this message has been heard by investors. Financially speaking, the Redmond firm is in an Olympic form. On the side of Sony, the action simply failed to find the level it had before the announcement of the ACTIVIS-BLIZZARD acquisition by Microsoft. We must even temper our words by admitting that the financial markets are particularly agitated at the moment. This future video game that Microsoft prepares necessarily the opposing forces to re-evaluate the directions that can be taken to fight. And one of them is the redemption of publishers. So, Jim Ryan and his teams can buy a square-enix, a Capcom or a konami?

Theoretically, Sony has the opportunity to go into debt to try to own a Japanese publisher. Nevertheless, Paul Tassi, a journalist at Forbes, explained that Playstation could simply not replicate. “Microsoft is building something absolutely huge” he said before adding “at one point, It seems that Sony could be eclipsed if it does not find a way forward in the same direction. ” “An advance taken by Microsoft judged” insurmountable “by the voluble Michael Pachter, well-known analyst of video game lovers. He went so far as to announce the death of the PlayStation brand in the next 10 years following the strategy put in place by Phil Spencer. A statement that has generated more passionate debates than exciting, you imagine well. On our side, we are a little more optimistic, and we think Sony has many cards in hand to continue to offer content that will push players to buy their consoles to enjoy.

In this equation, the Evo cards, Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures or Sony Music have not yet been played by PlayStation. The battle is therefore far from over.

__Commander Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

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Kratosaurion90

Mp

14 minutes ago

A real competition is good for us players. Only idiots want the disappearance of such or such builder. We have seen in recent years what a situation of quasi-monopoly is born…

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