PlayStation Boss Claims Sony Is Not In An 'Arms Race' Against Xbox To Acquire Studios

I don't understand this constant comparison with Sony. After all, Microsoft has been going its own way for at least 3 years. One form of Xbox development is acquiring independent studios that would like to pursue a policy similar to Microsoft's. Nobody is forcing independent studies to sell themselves.

Yeah sure as if that’s a choice.

Sony can't compete there, tbh.

@Cyberhu Or offering them so much money they can’t turn it down.

Either way, the need to drive a console war needs to stop.

Absolutely ridiculous. So these acquisitions and exclusivity deals with new studios are just a coincidence and not a response at all to Microsoft's recent power moves?

Here's the thing: how exactly does Sony benefit from acquiring studios that are already making games exclusively for them? They don't, they just see this as an opportunity to satisfy stockholders by showing that they're responding to the competition by expanding as well with safe investments. As one of the three huge actors in the gaming market, you can't just stay silent when the other competitor literally acquires an entire publisher.

The problem with Sony is that they will close a few studios first and then buy a few.

Another thing is that most Sony fans think Microsoft should go exactly the same way as Sony did when it comes to acquiring studios, even though they can see that they have been pursuing a different policy for a long time.

Microsoft is no longer striving to sell as many consoles as possible, because the console has become one of the forms of use for them. Their future does not depend on the quantity as in the case of Sony. Microsoft began looking for users outside of gaming-only hardware. Sony in a sense decided to limit itself to their equipment only, but this is their decision and no one is criticizing them for it.

Expecting Microsoft to do exactly the same is just plain silly and limiting a company like Microsoft. Sony is not a benchmark for an ideal ethical course of action as long as competition is within the law.

@LtSarge sony have been buying studio's here and there over the last 10-20 years so I don't get why you would think these acquisition are retaliation?

Let's face it when ever sony were next going to make an acquisition people would say its its retaliation on Microsoft buying Bethesda

Sony have acquired bluepoint and house marquee, two developers who weren't making xbox games anyway so this is totally different strategy to Microsoft who's strategy was to buy a big third party developer to limit players choices on other platforms and force them over

When you're on a tight budget you have to be very selective

Then why are you buying them if they are already making games for you? Pretty bad liar for a CEO

I enjoy Microsoft buying studios with two years GPU paid for and getting Microsoft studios games on day of release, why would I not.

It's a good deal for Sony. They know the development teams and by bringing them in house can add some cash to them. Bluepoint is their ideal studio as remasters and remakes seems to be a big pillar of their business. Sony will need more frequent releases as they know Xbox will have a constant flow of games and they don't want to be out of the media loop for extended periods of time while Xbox is paying media to talk about $1 getting you 3 months of gamepass with day n date drops!

@UltimateOtaku91 Oh I don't know, maybe it's because the last acquisition Sony made before Microsoft started going on their acquisition spree in 2018 was back in 2011 when they acquired Sucker Punch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIE_Worldwide_Studios

Then they didn't acquire any studios until 2019 with Insomniac, the year after Microsoft started acquiring a lot of studios: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Game_Studios#Subsidiaries_and_divisions

Microsoft acquired six studios in 2018, one in 2019, and all of a sudden Sony breaks out of their hiatus and starts acquiring studios starting in 2019 as well as making exclusivity deals with new studios. No coincidence at all.

Buying up studios is no guarantee. Individuals and talent always leave and new blood always comes in. Some instances, where talent stays with a studio for a long time, some; some usually leave to start their own studio

@UltimateOtaku91 No, it isn't. Sony limiting your choice by having third party studios make exclusive games is no different then Microsoft buying third party studios to make their games exclusive. At the end of the day, both are limiting what their competitor's user base can play.

Housemarque was making xbox games until Sony start paying them for exclusive games. There is no reason to believe they wouldn't have continued to do so if Sony hadn't given them money. Same as Bethesda with Microsoft.

This ain't a scene.

"It's not like we're going around and just making random acquisitions."

Yeah, that's not what MS does either. And they know it. They just don't care as long as their PR nonsense wins over malleable people who then take these statements at heart.

@LtSarge I’d want to make sure I owned the studios I liked to work with too. It makes sure Microsoft doesn’t try to bribe them away with obscene money.

I don’t think they have any intention of trying to gobble up a bunch of studios.

@RedShirtRod You don’t think acquiring Bethesda was a move to force Bethesda fans into the Xbox realm? Why else would they do it?

@LtSarge does it really matter what the reason is if these were basically Sony studios anyway? It's a response to Xbox, it's not a response... who cares? Nothing has really changed on the Sony side. They just put a ring on it.

@UltimateOtaku91 the strategies are different. But the end result is the same. Blocking games being released on their competitors console.

"We're very selective about the developers that we bring in" because our wallet is limited

Sony have just brought up a couple of studios that previously made exclusive titles for them anyway. I wouldn’t call that an arms race.

Microsoft on the other hand purchased a big 3rd party studio to fatten their rental service.

@FatalBubbles Of course it was. Buying Insomniac, Housemarque, and Sucker Punch also forces those fans into Sony's realm. Nobody is crazy enough to believe that they'll get another Sunset Overdrive on Xbox. You want their games, get a PS.

My argument isn't that one side is right and the other is wrong. It's that justifying one side while disagreeing with the other is slightly biased and narrow minded. These publishers are buying studios so you'll give them more money. Not to "nurture growth," "build relationships," or help "support artistic development." That's just PR nonsense the fans are eating up. They are doing this so you spend more money with them than the competition.

Just Sony being disingenuous as usual from nurturing their own studios instead of buying to we believe in generations whilst actively hiding the fact that so many games are still on PS4. The big difference this gen is that Microsoft and Phil are much more open about what they are doing whilst Sony seem to be trying to score points despite largely going the same way

@RedShirtRod Gotcha. Misunderstood what you were saying it appears.

@LtSarge They're pulling in like-minded workflows that can assist them on the next big Horizon/GoW/Uncharted etc. The way they abused Japan Studio. They'll buy them out, they'll have them work on new titles with better funding to turn AA games into AAA games for them, absolutely. But mostly, they need reserve capacity to send outflow work to for whatever the big crunch title is. They make it a lot grander than it is. They needed the next Raven Soft. CoD4Eva!

I just love the insuation that MS buys just anyone but Sony is "selective".... Dude's a giant ignoramus but he knows how to feed the trolls.

This article is a prime example on how to stoke console wars. Good job!

@NEStalgia That I can buy considering there was an article a while ago about how Sony Bend was worried about being absorbed by Naughty Dog: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/days_gone_2_not_given_the_greenlight_sony_bend_working_on_something_new

Insomniac will be all right on its own, but Housemarque? They'll probably get the same treatment Sony Bend received. Fail and you'll have to help your more successful older brothers.

Say what you want but there is one massive undeniable difference between Sony and MS. One ensures their games is affordable while the other charges a steep 70 pound price tag.

@LtSarge Yep. Though Bend entered with bigger chops. Housemarque is really only known for arcade games, shmups, etc. Returnal ventured out a little (with Sony money) by putting a weird cinematic overlay on top of an otherwise simple arcade shmup/roguelike. I doubt Sony's buying them for IP and big open world ambitious games. But I'm sure they need more Naughty Dog/Santa Monica/Guerilla helpers and know these guys are "work-ready" for the job.

Looks like HzD:FW will be ready for the holiday release after all!

No way Insomniac acquisition was a retaliation. They had been working with Sony for years it was a natural fit. Same with Housemarque and Bluepoint. Natural fits.

Same time. Microsoft buying Bethesda was perfect for them. They needed a more immediate and significant boost to their portfolio of studios. It was a natural fit. They could in theory now start looking at devs working closely with them Moon Studios for example.

There was never an arms race. They took different directions.

@LtSarge Here's the thing: how exactly does Sony benefit from acquiring studios that are already making games exclusively for them?

It is a defensive move, more than anything else. Aquiring BluePoint and Housemarque at this point is mostly to lock them down.

Just look what happened to Microsoft Don Mattrick didn't care enough and Double Helix got acquired from under their nose, practically killing (or storing into deep cryostasis) the whole Killer Instinct IP.

Similarly, when Rare was acquired from under Nintendo's nose (although that case is a bit more complex, since Nintendo actively passed on acquiring Rare, and rare was already on a downturn.)

Right now, it can be argued, the 3 most important studios for sony have been Bluepoint, Housemarque and Insomniac Games.

The only acquisition Sony has ever done that I think was somewhat aggressive was Insomniac, and that likely was also half-defensive. Insomniac had been mostly working with Sony almost like Rare used to do with Nintendo, but suddenly they make an XBox exclusive (that might not had been hugely successful, but was critically acclaimed) and multiplat games like Song of the Deep, and its likely Sony feared they were about to have a second party studio slip away, potentially even be acquired by Microsoft.

@Tharsman I agree with you. I just find the wording from Hulst to be ridiculous. Of course these are reactions from Sony as a response to Microsoft's actions, why else would they feel the need to be acquiring studios right now. Insomniac should've been bought a long time ago, but Sony waited until just a couple of years ago to acquire them. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what their reasoning is, they're still doing what the competition is doing because of them.

@LtSarge I dont think fear of acquisitions is only driven by XBox. It is obviously a big factor, but Sony has been doing this for decades now, and its always defensive moves in fear someone like EA might swoop in and acquire a talented studio away from them.

It is true they are not in an arms race.

I got to say that is a questionable headline, the "arms race" was not a statement by Hulst but by the interviewer, Hulst stuck to the company line of just being "selective" with their acquisitions. It's a phishing line of questioning to make up a headline they were looking for.

The problem here is Hulst proceeded to make tons of claims that can be perceived as jabs to XBox and the whole industry, to be honest. Stating their acquisitions is because these guys are talented will be read by some as "others are not as talented", and stating they are not picking random studios is implying that others out here are just acquiring studios randomly regardless of quality. That turned out to be a lot more inflammatory than the quest the interviewer engaged on.

@WCB You seem like the disputatious sort I avoid =)

@LtSarge
Shoring up studios you already worked with, even in response to Microsoft's recent acquisition, doesn't make this an arms race. I think that's all Hulst is saying here.

@Tharsman
And, idk, his statements don't seem that inflammatory to me. I mean, it seems pretty common to compliment the folks you just acquired, or else why would you have acquired them. It's like a professional courtesy to be all "these guys are the best in the business." Also Sony is selective though. So selective that this acquisition is but a tiny ripple in the grand scheme of things. So selective that there's no way to perceive this as arms race behavior because it's peanuts compared to Bethesda

I'm one of the few that doesn't care that Microsoft bought Zenimax so I'm not here to criticize that but I certainly wouldn't call the acquisition selective.

@zupertramp
"It's not like we're going around and just making random acquisitions."

Not inflammatory? Seriously? 😒

Don't really believe what Sony execs say anymore. They've lied several times now. And I see these acquisitions as a direct strategic move to Microsoft. But as mentioned Sony likes to close studios and lay people off when buying new ones. Which isn't good.

@Tharsman Surely over time it would be cheaper to own these studios than to be paying to have their games made exclusively for them. Also to have more control over what that studio makes without having to financially coerce them into making games in such a way.
Is this not one of the answer to most people on this site saying there is no sense for Sony to do this other than in response to MS Bethesda purchase?
I'd guess this is why they've been doing it for the last 20 years and not to combat a MS purchase that would happen 20 years later? It may also be to acquire their talent as well?
It does feel different to the MS acquisitions as the ZeniMax one feels like MS have no plan with that purchase other than telling the studios to get on with what they are doing and make the games exclusive while the Sony purchases feel like they follow an internal plan where Sony probably have an idea on what they want HouseMarquee to start work on next following Returnal and can now run that project.
Similar to the incoming BluePoint purchase. They'll probably have full control over what that studio does next and have had it planned for years.

@gingataisen I hear you and I'm not settng out to be stubborn but buying Housemarque is far from random and so his choice of words seem valid in response to someone probing him about initiating an arms race.

Because the arms race query really does insinuate that Sony might be starting to just go off buying anything they can afford. Which doesn't really seem the case.

@StonyKL it is not cheaper to own the studio than to pay for an exclusive, there is massive overhead to managing the studio, properties and workforce once it’s acquired, in addition to now absorbing all financial risks.

They DO get more control, potentially (not necessarily) absolute control depending on the deal reached. Sometimes contracts might allow the studio the right to refuse working on a project they feel does not fit them (remember the recent rumor of Days Gone def refusing to work on an Uncharted project?)

But yea, it’s definitively more expensive to own the studio than just financing exclusive games.

@zupertramp I'm not buying it. The answer to the query is "No, we're being selective with our acquisitions", or "This acquisition should not be viewed as a response". Everything else is extra.

Nooo… I really liked Transworld Snowboarding.