- Thread starter
- #1,051
The best vibes then"Metroid Souls" gives me "Yakuza F-Zero" vibes
From Software is independent from Bandai Namco.
Thanks
The best vibes then"Metroid Souls" gives me "Yakuza F-Zero" vibes
From Software is independent from Bandai Namco.
FromSoft "Take all the profits for themselves" which 16% go to Tencent and 14% go to Sony, lol. And what a good strategy to just abandon the Elden Ring IP and make "Something Souls" games instead! No wonder Sony stock is down lol.You don't think they could make a new game called "Something Souls" and take all the profits for themselves? That almost explicitly what they said they are going to do!
And Sony stock is down and tencent stock is up. Did Sony hurt from this and Bandai gain?
I'm sorry but what point are you making here? They literally "Abandoned" the Dark Souls IP to make Elden Ring and that was a massive success.FromSoft "Take all the profits for themselves" which 16% go to Tencent and 14% go to Sony, lol. And what a good strategy to just abandon the Elden Ring IP and make "Something Souls" games instead! No wonder Sony stock is down lol.
So what are they going to self publish then? This isnāt hard, and they already made Elden Ring instead of Dark Souls 4 Open World. At this point āthe next game from the Elden Ring teamā will carry them easily in a new IP. They just need a lot of resources for such a big worldwide releaseā¦which they just did work towards.Bandai Namco co-owns the Elden Ring and Dark Souls IPs so how can FromSoft cut Bandai Namco out? By not making any more Elden Ring or Dark Souls games? I doubt it.
Meanwhile is FromSoft going to self-publish Demon's Soul or Bloodborne games now since Tencent helping them to cut out from Sony?
And fwiw, Bandai Namco's stock went up after this news, so no one thinks they are hurting from this.
Are you still suggesting that Bandai isn't getting cut out or are you just trolling at this point.
So what are they going to self publish then? This isnāt hard, and they already made Elden Ring instead of Dark Souls 4 Open World. At this point āthe next game from the Elden Ring teamā will carry them easily in a new IP. They just need a lot of resources for such a big worldwide releaseā¦which they just did work towards.
I have no idea what you are even talking about at this pointSo engaging in a meaningful conversation was never your intention? Got it.
Considering the size of Sony, Kadokawa and Bandai Namco, their stock movements could be based on so much more than what happens with one developerās slight change in ownership structure, to the point where I wouldnāt even factor this into the equation. In fact, looking at the 5 day trading of Bandai Namco, looks like the stock being up is mostly a correction from the tumble it took on Monday trading. Youāre reading more into the day-by-day movements of stock than warranted.So engaging in a meaningful conversation was never your intention? Got it.
If it's that easy then why didn't they self publish sooner? Elden Ring isn't their first successful game. And I doubt they are cutting off ties with both Sony and Bandai Namco to self publish everything already, because that would be a bold move that I haven't seen in a long time. Also Bandai's stock has gone up following the news tell me that there is nothing to worry about for them.
If this FromSoft investment from Tencent and Sony was that much a big negative deal to Bandai then surely even their stock would drop hard, which they haven't and instead have gone up. I'm just showing people the evidence that this isn't bad news for Bandai Namco, that's all.Considering the size of Sony, Kadokawa and Bandai Namco, their stock movements could be based on so much more than what happens with one developerās slight change in ownership structure, to the point where I wouldnāt even factor this into the equation. In fact, looking at the 5 day trading of Bandai Namco, looks like the stock being up is mostly a correction from the tumble it took on Monday trading. Youāre reading more into the day-by-day movements of stock than warranted.
In the current term, yes, and current-term changes are what typically get investor attention. So long as Elden Ring games keep getting made (and I see no reason to suggest they wonāt), Bandai Namco is fine. But in the much longer term, when From is done with Elden Ring like they were with Dark Souls, yeah, this could spell bad news for Bandai Namco and investors will respond accordingly in the moment there is follow-through on that.If this FromSoft investment from Tencent and Sony was that much a big negative deal to Bandai then surely even their stock would drop hard, which they haven't and instead have gone up. I'm just showing people the evidence that this isn't bad news for Bandai Namco, that's all.
Tencent buying a stake Guillemot Bros, which has stake in Ubisoft.
I mean, if youāre selling your company and your IP, it kinda might indicate that the company executives donāt give a crap about what happens after the fact.Microsoft Reportedly Approached Several Japanese Studios For Acquisition Talks
A new report says studios big and small were recently approached.www.usgamer.net
A tale as old as time for MS. Can't see any major JP pub ever selling to MS, their entire IP lineup will be effectively killed in one go.
I think the current rumor is that SE is moving Nier back in-house.I could see platinum taking an offer, but i donāt know what that would do for microsoft
It would pretty much guarantee the end of Bayonetta and Nier though. I think anything beyond a publishing deal would be a fools errand
Scalebound tells me that Microsoft ain't even glancing in that direction anymore.I could see platinum taking an offer, but i donāt know what that would do for microsoft
It would pretty much guarantee the end of Bayonetta and Nier though. I think anything beyond a publishing deal would be a fools errand
Ten years ago same could have been said about Obsidian after Stormland, but now it's been Microsoft's in-house studio for four years or so. Not that I think it's a likely thing to happen or even a purchase Microsoft should pursue.Scalebound tells me that Microsoft ain't even glancing in that direction anymore.
Next round of acquisitions.
Article warrants a full read as Tencent Games, both via its separate developers (all the ones mentioned in the article, plus Soleil) plus investing in many others like PlatinumGames but also via its Level Infinite publishing label is definitely one to watch, Fatshark already making waves (pun intended) among Warhammer/Warhammer 40K fans. Speaking of which, Splash Damage purchase of Bulkhead was announced soon after the Game Awards trailer for Transformers: Reactivate (Games Industry). While both studios have been inconsistent over the years, got plenty of titles on the way, an overall move away from support work towards original properties, including a new sci-fi IP & Wardogs King of the Hill. Enchancer Group, Tencent Games, Netease Games all building up to become major forces, but can they deliver? Ideal time to look over a recent roundtable discussion on tips for selling a studio as it provides some good insight into M&As, some useful tips as well."We think a good publishing strategy is to look at the whole market and do the global version [of any game] first, not to go separately step-by-step ā I don't think that's a good approach," Tencent's global games CEO Michelle Liu tells GamesIndustry.biz.
She adds: "We canāt assume one version is the right fit or approach for all regions. So the next step [is] to do very detailed and customised publishing solutions for the different regions, especially some top 'tier one' areas. We [also] need to do very deep communications with all of the community. [There are] the things we have learnt from our industry partners."
The studio will continue to work closely with their existing co-development partners, and will be adding new partners in the future.
SkyBox Labs will continue to operate independently within NetEase Games under the leadership of its three co-founders Shyang Kong, Derek MacNeil and Steven Silvester, and provide a full range of game development services to current and future partners.
NetEase will support the studio with resources and execution capabilities so that SkyBox Labs can achieve faster scale while maintaining the quality of work the studio is known for.
Where does it say that Amazon bought the rights to Tomb Raider for $600M?Amazon just bought the rights to Tomb Raider from Embracer for $600 million: https://www.videogameschronicle.com...urn-tomb-raider-into-a-marvel-like-franchise/
https://fellowshipoffans.com/news/w...of-the-rings-the-hobbit-franchises-exclusive/
S-E got robbed and Embracer just made out like bandits lol!
Where does it say that Amazon bought the rights to Tomb Raider for $600M?
Embracer Group just sold their āTomb Raiderā rights to Amazon for a deal that we can exclusively reveal as being approximately a 600 Million overall package making it Amazonās second biggest purchase after purchasing the television rights for āThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerā. Therefore, this puts into perspective the cost and prices that Embracer maybe looking for.
What is Fellowship of Fan's track record on things like this? I don't see any other outlet reporting on this seemingly huge purchase.From the Fellowship of Fans articleā¦
Would be very funny to see Sony - who is currently arguing that Microsoft shouldn't be allowed to purchase ABK because the Call of Duty IP is too massively popular - attempt to purchase a publisher with similarly massively popular IPs such as GTA, Red Dead, and NBA 2K.If ABK deal closes, it's very likely Sony will try to purchase Take Two. It will probably require a 40% premium and cost $25B for Sony (taking into account TTWO has $2B cash on hand). Pretty expensive considering TTWO has a much higher P/E ratio than Sony but likely worthwhile to secure their position against MS who would own COD and all other tier 1 ABK properties such as Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft and Overwatch. Sony would also benefit from getting Zynga to bolster their mobile efforts and when you combine Sony Music Mobile income, it would make Sony the #3 mobile publishers globally.
If Sony does buy ABK, I suspect they will still try to purchase Square Enix or Capcom. Both are relatively cheap considering their income/revenue. Square is probably more interesting because of their live service revenue (FFXIV) and mobile/merchandising income. Not to mention a close relationship between the companies.
Would be very funny to see Sony - who is currently arguing that Microsoft shouldn't be allowed to purchase ABK because the Call of Duty IP is too massively popular - attempt to purchase a publisher with similarly massively popular IPs such as GTA, Red Dead, and NBA 2K.
Not really. There is a difference when the market leader makes a move vs a 2nd/3rd place player. It would be a different analysis than with MS. Plus you have to consider that the company in question wants to sell. Activision was in a unique case plagued with scandal. T2 and the Japanese publishers don't have similar issuesIf regulators approve ABK deal, that means none of Sony's complaints were strong enough to sway regulators and therefore clears the path for them to make a similar move and likely make similar concessions.
Considering how Sony is trying its damnedest to be uncooperative and limit what Microsoft AND the FTC are able to learn from them through discovery (if anything, since they're extending deadlines on whether or not to quash subpoenas), despite being the most vocal non-governmental opponent to the ABK acquisition, I have a feeling that the level of scrutiny from such acquisitions would dissuade them from such big moves in the near future and will stick to smaller companies that aren't publicly traded like Bungie.If ABK deal closes, it's very likely Sony will try to purchase Take Two. It will probably require a 40% premium and cost $25B for Sony (taking into account TTWO has $2B cash on hand). Pretty expensive considering TTWO has a much higher P/E ratio than Sony but likely worthwhile to secure their position against MS who would own COD and all other tier 1 ABK properties such as Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft and Overwatch. Sony would also benefit from getting Zynga to bolster their mobile efforts and when you combine Sony Music Mobile income, it would make Sony the #3 mobile publishers globally.
If Sony does buy TTWO, I suspect they will still try to purchase Square Enix or Capcom. Both are relatively cheap considering their income/revenue. Square is probably more interesting because of their live service revenue (FFXIV) and mobile/merchandising income. Not to mention a close relationship between the companies.
I agree with almost everything in your post. When it comes to Square Enix, I think the only way Sony would attempt to purchase them is if Microsoft made an offer. That scenario, however, would also bring Nintendo to the table. I still hope that Microsoft doesn't purchase Sega for the mere fact that Persona is now on everything and Yakuza is more successful than ever. There's also the distinct possibility that Microsoft buying Sega would push Nintendo and Sony to attempt to make their own Japanese publisher acquisitions.Japanese publishers, especially heavily family owned and operated ones like Capcom, present their own unique challenges to acquisition. Going after any of the major Japanese publishers would also bring Nintendo to the table, who can frankly also afford any of them and provide other tangible benefits Sony/MS can't really match (room to integrate family leadership at the top levels, sustained local AND global platform success, being the biggest game publisher in the industry by a wide margin, familiar and collaborative studio culture, etc). It's not impossible but Sony already inherently benefits with JP support and I think MS doesn't have a real shot at buying any of them anyway (bar Sega, which would have to be a Sammy divestment and selloff rather than buying the whole company with pachinko/resort operations), so I just don't see the upside for Sony if it really only brings additional pressure from Nintendo into acquisitions and they now have to worry about losing publishers on two fronts. Is getting Square Enix even worth it if it directly moves Nintendo into action and they end up losing say Bandai Namco?
I could possibly see Sony going after T2, but after all the loopholes we see being thrown at COD, would they really want to if GTA and NBA2K were also cornered into decade long deals everywhere? I also think there'd be much more legitimate antitrust concern over Sony acquiring one of the "big 4+Epic" due to market position and part of the problem here is Sony's framed the exact arguments that'd be used against them by MS and others to extract those sorts of heavy concessions. I think if Sony goes after any western publisher acquisitions, EA and T2 would probably be less attractive and even off the table due to this. The smarter investment would be going a rung or two down like Embracer, Paradox, Focus, CDP, Techland, WBIE's games unit, or indeed Ubisoft probably belongs in this category. I actually doubt much industry opposition to a Ubisoft buyout, though that company brings it's own unique pitfalls (insane sized workforce, fast declining IP, somewhat intractable family leadership).
If ABK deal closes, it's very likely Sony will try to purchase Take Two. It will probably require a 40% premium and cost $25B for Sony (taking into account TTWO has $2B cash on hand). Pretty expensive considering TTWO has a much higher P/E ratio than Sony but likely worthwhile to secure their position against MS who would own COD and all other tier 1 ABK properties such as Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft and Overwatch. Sony would also benefit from getting Zynga to bolster their mobile efforts and when you combine Sony Music Mobile income, it would make Sony the #3 mobile publishers globally.
If Sony does buy TTWO, I suspect they will still try to purchase Square Enix or Capcom. Both are relatively cheap considering their income/revenue. Square is probably more interesting because of their live service revenue (FFXIV) and mobile/merchandising income. Not to mention a close relationship between the companies.
With Square Enix, I sort of doubt they'd really entertain a MS buyout. While SE isn't really a "family business" in the same way Capcom or Koei Tecmo operate, the Fukushima family still wields a heavy influence owning about a third of the company and a honorary chairmanship between them. The board is also around half longtime Enix staffers with reps from Dragon Quest and Gangan present. Key I think is that an Xbox purchase would fundamentally harm those Japan centric interests, and DQ is essentially a national treasure, so there's probably more here at stake than just money. And even financially on the whole, it's worth remembering that around 70% of SE revenue comes from Japan/Asia. It's real hard for me to see these forces agreeing to anything with Xbox.I agree with almost everything in your post. When it comes to Square Enix, I think the only way Sony would attempt to purchase them is if Microsoft made an offer. That scenario, however, would also bring Nintendo to the table. I still hope that Microsoft doesn't purchase Sega for the mere fact that Persona is now on everything and Yakuza is more successful than ever. There's also the distinct possibility that Microsoft buying Sega would push Nintendo and Sony to attempt to make their own Japanese publisher acquisitions.
Yeah, I could see Sony making an offer to purchase Take Two, but I agree that it would bring up even more antitrust concerns than the Microsoft/Activision acquisition. CDPR, Focus, and WBIE are the few publishers I could envision Sony being interested in if the Activision deal goes through. As for Ubisoft, I'm still unsure what's going to happen to them. I think the 20,000 or so employees they have makes an acquisition unappealing for many larger companies.
Sega is trying to turn around its fortunes at the moment in a post-Nagoshi upper management situation, so unless they fail to do so, I donāt expect them to be on the table.With Square Enix, I sort of doubt they'd really entertain a MS buyout. While SE isn't really a "family business" in the same way Capcom or Koei Tecmo operate, the Fukushima family still wields a heavy influence owning about a third of the company and a honorary chairmanship between them. The board is also around half longtime Enix staffers with reps from Dragon Quest and Gangan present. Key I think is that an Xbox purchase would fundamentally harm those Japan centric interests, and DQ is essentially a national treasure, so there's probably more here at stake than just money. And even financially on the whole, it's worth remembering that around 70% of SE revenue comes from Japan/Asia. It's real hard for me to see these forces agreeing to anything with Xbox.
Of course these negatives also fundamentally impact a potential PlayStation acquisition, albeit to a lesser degree, but I also feel it makes things unlikely on that end. PlayStation management's accelerating regional weakness, and straight up mobile failure, shouldn't be understated when it comes to considering the future of Dragon Quest and what that means to the founding family and old hands on deck. It really makes the revenge-buy fantasy as a response to ABK (and Bethesda before that, this fandream is nothing new) look horribly misjudged and lacking in knowledge. And it would definitely wake Nintendo, who already own a small stake in SE.
For Sega, I still think it's a longshot, but Sammy restructuring Sega off into it own neat little corner, and dealing with "less attractive" subsidiaries like divesting Japanese arcade operations or taking over western gaming (gambling) divisions kind of have me wondering if they're not priming Sega for a big ticket selloff. I agree it'd hurt some key properties (Sonic, Persona/SMT, Yakuza, Puyo Puyo, etc) but I can see it still be appealing for MS and Sega mgmt and Sega Europe's mobile and PC focused studios and properties seem like they'd integrate really well as an upside.
Although honestly, I also see Sega as a good target for Sony, I just question if they really have the same kind of interest (MS *really* wants a big JP acquisition). I also think Sega probably wouldn't draw Nintendo into the race the same way a potential purchase of SE, BN, Capcom, Konami or even KT would. Especially if it was MS (and not Sony); partly due to the fact Sega's probably as far as these kinds of JP acquisitions can go for MS and partly because they have a friendlier existing corporate relationship with MS, so partner initiatives like Mario & Sonic or Genesis NSO could possibly still continue under them.
For western studios, I think CD Projekt would make a great buy for Sony, it covers their CRPG "hole" from losing like almost all the other big non-Bioware CRPG studios to Xbox and GOG wouldn't present the same issue for regulators it would if MS tried to get them (it could also give PS a ready PC storefront or could be spun off). It also gives PlayStation Studios a nice big dev footprint in central/east Europe, which they're huge in commercially but not structurally.
WBIE would be great too and even give them a stronger footprint in the FGC with MK, casual games with Lego, etc. I think WB would hinge on how additional Discovery rights (like DC) get grandfathered in and there could be complications there for Sony (losing Tolkien stuff, existing focus on Marvel, etc). With the DC thing I almost feel like WBIE might be a more appealing target for MS or a big 3rd party pub like EA or T2.
Focus could make sense to me and nicely fills the hole QD left. I can see them and their subsidiaries (Deck13, Streumon, Dotemu, etc) and partnerships (Asobo, Giants, etc) integrating well with PS Studios. They're also privately owned so it could be a bit simpler transaction with more leeway for regulation, like Bungie or Bethesda were.
The new Sony COO emphasised the need for growth and acquiring IPs. I can see Sony wanting to safeguard their PS market share but also open up new transmedia IP expansion. Thatās where T2 provides a ton of value. It gives them GTA (the only counter to eventual COD exclusivity), the worlds 3rd biggest mobile publisher (and creates a great pipeline for turning PS studio IPs into mobile gaming IPs) and tier 1 IPs (red dead, gta) that can be turned into movies, tv shows and even anime. Also T2 would grow overall Sony revenue by 6% and PS revenue by 18%. Not a bad use of cash that Sony is sitting on.I don't think so. I think many, including myself, underestimated the IP power of Playstation studios. Per the docs, PS studios is making twice the money of both Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda combined on consoles.
This is without Bungie, or the huge growth of titles we have seen like GOWR and the potentially huge GaaS titles.
The prize of PS Studios is their efficiency and quality and I don't think Sony wants to compromise that until they have to.
If ABK closes, and its a huge if, I think Sony will buy Square Enix and some individual devs/partnerships.
If ABK is blocked, industry publisher acquistion is pretty much dead in its tracks for the big ones. EA, T2, ABK, Epic, Ubisoft will all be heavily protected. I think Sony will buy a few individual devs.
MS might try to buy another mid level publisher but I don't see the ones remaining, (JP pubs), agreeing to that.
The new Sony COO emphasised the need for growth and acquiring IPs. I can see Sony wanting to safeguard their PS market share but also open up new transmedia IP expansion. Thatās where T2 provides a ton of value. It gives them GTA (the only counter to eventual COD exclusivity), the worlds 3rd biggest mobile publisher (and creates a great pipeline for turning PS studio IPs into mobile gaming IPs) and tier 1 IPs (red dead, gta) that can be turned into movies, tv shows and even anime. Also T2 would grow overall Sony revenue by 6% and PS revenue by 18%. Not a bad use of cash that Sony is sitting on.