Does Sony need to respond to Microsoft’s eye-watering $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard? That’s the question on everyone’s mind in the video game industry as the Xbox maker splashes the cash on its big video game catch-up mission.
This month, Microsoft finally sealed the deal on its long-running pursuit of the maker of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, and is now working to integrate the Activision Blizzard business into the Microsoft machine.
While Xbox executives have insisted Activision Blizzard games won’t hit the likes of Game Pass until next year, Microsoft’s position in the console war, which it has admitted it has lost, looks set to rise.
Sony, with the PlayStation 5 a roaring success and its first-party games setting sales records, is not in a position to spend the kind of money Microsoft has on mergers and acquisitions. But it has opened its wallet in recent years, buying Destiny maker Bungie for $3.6 billion, and, before that, snapping up Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac for what now seems a snip at $229 million.
Does Sony now need to respond to Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard purchase with more acquisitions of its own? That’s a question CNBC put to Sony Interactive Entertainment business boss Eric Lempel, who made it clear PlayStation is still on the hunt for partners to work with, but not necessarily with a view to buying them first.
“We have a number of ways of looking at this,” Lempel said, adding that “in terms of great content, that’s where we’re focused.”
“We’ve done more M&A [mergers and acquisitions] in the past decade than we’ve ever done,” he added. “We’re always looking to work with new partners, whether that’s somebody as an external provider... or working with a developer along with the way and then acquiring them later.”
According to CNBC, Lempel cited Insomniac as a good example of this strategy. Sony had partnered with Insomniac as a ‘second-party’ studio before it bought it outright. In 2021, Sony bought PC port specialist Nixxes, Returnal developer Housemarque, VR developer Firesprite, and Bluepoint Games, the studio behind its remasters and remakes. Last year Sony bought Fairgame$ developer Haven Studios, and this year picked up Firewalk Studios.
As the industry wonders whether Sony will continue its spending spree, another question arises: is Microsoft done, or are other big video game companies next?
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
