But Sony is already dominating both the console and exclusive games race this generation, so why does it need to acquire more studios? Let’s dive in.
Sony’s Plans to Expand
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President and CEO, Jim Ryan, has recently talked about plans to continue buying more studios on the official PlayStation podcast, a strategy he states will help the company to succeed in the future.
This comes shortly after Sony’s recent acquisition of Bungie, the developers behind the popular game Destiny, which Sony purchased for a whopping $3.6 billion, completed in February 2022.
Why Is Sony Planning to Buy More Studios?
By acquiring new game studios, Sony can offer a subscription service for older and third-party games, while bringing in more studios to create high-quality PlayStation exclusives.
This will continue to account for a large amount of Sony’s profit margin and allow it to even continue growth, without first-party exclusives being offered in the all-new PS Plus subscription service and damaging Sony’s ability to invest in the future of PlayStation.
Not only will this move help Sony keep up with Microsoft and remain competitive, it will also allow Sony to draw on where it excels; creating generation-defining, first-party exclusives that will be remembered for years, such as The Last of Us and God of War.
With new studios joining the roster, it will be exciting to see what Sony comes up with next.
Acquisitions Aplenty From Both Microsoft and Sony
Both Sony and Microsoft have been looking to invest in their platform’s futures through acquisitions. During the course of 2021, Sony acquired five new studios and Microsoft acquired eight.
However, with Microsoft’s recent talks with Activision, which could see Microsoft take on another 11 game studios, Sony has a lot of catching up to do to win this race.
This comes shortly after Sony’s recent acquisition of Bungie, the developers behind the popular game Destiny, which Sony purchased for a whopping $3.6 billion.
While Sony has stated that Destiny will not be a PlayStation exclusive, this might however impact Xbox players. Destiny 2 is already leaving Game Pass, and it’s very unlikely that we will see a day one release for Bungie games on Game Pass in the future.
What’s the Future for PlayStation?
Although there is no solid information on what studios Sony might acquire next, it is infamous for its high-quality studio exclusives.
This could lead to us seeing both Sony and Microsoft working to monopolize the areas in which they both excel. For Sony, this could lead to us seeing a lot more of the epic narrative-driven exclusives that put Sony at the forefront of the gaming wars over the past decade.
