If you’ve been paying attention to the video game world recently, you’ll know that two of the three major publishers of games have been making significant moves. Mainly, the teams at Microsoft and Sony have been buying up key development teams to shore up their ranks and ensure that their Xbox and PlayStation platforms have the best teams making the best games for their systems. This will serve to also possibly make them console exclusives. While many gamers have been intrigued about what this could mean long-term, there is also fear that these two tech giants have a stranglehold on things and could stifle the industry in their own way. But, of course, that is something no one wants, including the publishers.
In an interview, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst noted that while it’s true that they and Microsoft have been buying up developers, he wouldn’t call it an “arms race.” His justification is that while Sony is making moves, they’re not doing it randomly or without purpose. Hurst states that the only teams they bring in fit their culture “like a glove.” He doesn’t elaborate on what qualifies a group for that statement, but they clearly have a list they follow.
Another thing that Hurst has said is that the acquisitions by them are going to continue. That means they will take even more studios to bring under their banner. We already know of their biggest acquisition via Bungie, which made quite a splash. Another team that Hurst brought up was Haven, a studio in Quebec; he noted that they were impressed by their ambition and were already working with them on a video game.
According to Hurst, one of the biggest reasons for bringing in these dev teams was to help them grow. Stating that they desire to help “stand up a studio much faster and much more rigorously than keeping them external.”
Whether you believe them on this or not is up to you to decide. We know that even with the studios they don’t own, they’re working with quite a bit. Such as the news that Sony is working with FromSoftware to create live-action adaptations of their properties to life. Thus, even if they don’t own these studios and their games, they’ll still be tied to them.
The irony is that Jim Ryan of Sony has been raising a stink about Microsoft’s recent acquisitions. The biggest one was the acquisition of Activision. Sony has been saying to all who will listen that this move could bring doom upon the industry because it would limit some of the biggest franchises, like Call of Duty, to just one system. The irony is that with the acquisition of Bungie, Sony could do the same thing with games like Destiny. Yet, no one has called them out on it; at least right now, they haven’t.
Source: PlayStation Life
