Sony’s goal is to acquire more game developers, with at least $5 billion budgeted for this year
Recently, Microsoft’s review issues related to its acquisition of Activision Blizzard have been making headlines in the news. This $68.7 billion deal is also Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date. As the main competitor in the gaming industry, Sony has also quietly acquired game developers over the years, albeit on a much smaller scale than Microsoft.
As early as 2021, Sony stated that it would reserve 2 trillion yen (approximately $14.5 billion) for “strategic investments” in the entertainment industry over the next three years. According to Wccftech, Sony’s Executive Vice President and CFO, Hiroki Totoki, stated at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week that approximately 1.3 trillion yen has been spent since the plan was implemented, leaving approximately 0.7 trillion yen (approximately $5.08 billion) remaining.
Sony hopes to create cash flows exceeding 3 trillion yen within the next three years. The upcoming fiscal year will be the final year of the mid-term plan, during which we will allocate operating cash flows to strategic investments and capital expenditures, as well as stock buybacks. This means that Sony may also increase its investment amount if necessary.
Since announcing its strategic investments, Sony has acquired Housemarque, Nixxes Software, Firesprite, Bluepoint Games, Valkyrie Entertainment, Savage Game Studios, Haven Studios, and Bungie, as well as increased investments in companies such as Devolver Digital, FromSoftware, and Epic Games. Additionally, Sony has acquired companies such as Crunchyroll, which provides non-gaming content on the PlayStation platform.
There have been reports that Square Enix is one of Sony’s target acquisition targets. Currently, Square Enix’s market value is approximately $5 billion, which seems to be within Sony’s budget, but Sony may also continue to focus on small investments strategy.
