During a recent investor meeting, President and CEO of Sony Interactive, Jim Ryan, stated that the PlayStation brand was planning on further investing in its first-party studio portfolio through “organic growth and acquisitions.” This could indicate that the company has ambitions to purchase well-established studios with which it’s worked closely with in the past. The following are a few candidates that are most likely to be bought by Sony next.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | Insomniac Games
Insomniac Games’ most recent PlayStation 4 game, Marvel’s Spider-Man, sold 3.3 million copies during its first three days on the market, making it the fastest-selling exclusive on the console so far. The studio’s prior PlayStation exclusive, Ratchet and Clank, became the fastest-selling entry in the franchise shortly after it released in 2016, amassing sales the franchise hadn’t seen since the PlayStation 2 era. It’s a given that Insomniac is one of Sony’s biggest money makers. Here’s hoping that rumors from last September turn out to be true.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | Bluepoint Games
For the past decade, Bluepoint Games has done a phenomenal job remastering some of PlayStation’s most celebrated titles. While last year’s Shadow of the Colossus remake earned critical praise and commercial success, the studio is also responsible for such notable remasters as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Gravity Rush Remastered, and the God of War Collection. Now that PlayStation has been around for 25 years, the brand could look into purchasing Bluepoint so that it can recreate exclusive classics like The Legend of Dragoon and Ape Escape. Of course, Sony could also trust it with developing a new IP for its next generation of hardware.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | Supermassive Games
Though Supermassive Games is best known today for its work on the Until Dawn franchise, the studio has been developing PlayStation content for 10 years now. It began as a company responsible for crafting LittleBigPlanet DLC, then gradually took up bigger projects like Killzone HD. The developer is shifting gears with its next title, as The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is releasing on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Should Sony want the studio to continue making exclusive experiences on its platform, purchasing it may be the best course of action.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream has been inching away from the PlayStation brand lately. Though its last three games, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human are PlayStation console exclusives, the developer will be releasing its titles on PC via the Epic Games Store in 2019. This is thanks in part to a minority investment the company received from Chinese conglomerate NetEase this past January. Seeing how Detroit: Become Human is the studio’s fastest-selling title ever and has amassed 2 million copies sold so far, Sony may want to invest in Quantic Dream before it slips away.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | GenDesign
While GenDesign does consist of people who worked on Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian, it isn’t owned by Sony. The independent Japanese studio hasn’t signed a contract with the manufacturer yet, as founder Fumito Ueda stated last year that the company was being back by design fund Kowloon Nights for its next endeavor.
There may be room for Sony to swoop in and snag it while it works on what could be its next masterpiece. Given how the developer’s last title outsold its spiritual predecessors during its first week on the market, there’s reason to believe that Ueda and GenDesign’s next creation will amass more sales. The company’s acquisition could also help diversify PlayStation’s first-party portfolio.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | Ready at Dawn
It’s no secret that Ready at Dawn’s The Order: 1886 didn’t resonate well with critics when it released for PlayStation 4 in 2015. Since then, the studio has moved away from developing solely on PlayStation consoles and has instead focused on the VR space through its Lone Echo franchise.
Now that the company has more experience under its belt, Sony should acquire it so it can develop software both for its upcoming new harware and the next iteration of PlayStation VR headsets. Having a versatile first-party studio can’t be a bad thing. Sony should know this better than any other manufacturer out there, as Ready at Dawn has crafted platformers, shooters, and action adventure games exclusively for PlayStation platforms.
Studios That Sony Should Buy Next | Kojima Productions
Sony shocked the gaming industry in late 2015 when it announced that it had formed a partnership with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. While the company was quick to point out that the man’s next game would be a PlayStation 4 console exclusive, it didn’t declare that it had bought Kojima Productions outright. As this generation’s life cycle ends and Death Stranding approaches its inevitable launch, Sony should purchase the studio so that it can continue to develop software exclusively for its hardware. It should go without saying that having Kojima Productions join the likes of Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio could help bolster PlayStation’s image in the eyes of consumers even if Kojima’s games don’t make any sense.
Sony’s intentions to invest in its first-party portfolio makes sense given Microsoft’s recent acquisitions of such notable developers as Ninja Theory, Inxile Entertainment, and Obsidian Entertainment. The PlayStation brand would be wise to add some of the studios above lest its competition gain the upper hand next console generation. After all, there’s no better way for today’s hardware manufacturers to promote themselves than through exclusive software.
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