The most recent report comes from Jeff Grub, who explains that Sony’s next buyout is one of its biggest yet. The news follows an earlier report that the console manufacturer has acquired Hideo Kojima’s Kojima Productions. The video game auteur has outright “denied” this but fans remain skeptical.
— THE RED DRAGON 🔺 (@TWTHEREDDRAGON) April 14, 2022 Grubb is the same insider talking about how Sony was sitting on three big announcements heading into April. The biggest one, the PlayStation Plus rebrand, is already known, and the next is expected to be a PSVR2 showcase. Judging by how many credible people are saying the same thing, it’s starting to feel like audiences will feel disappointed if Sony’s next purchase is anything but a big publisher. If this is the case, then there are a handful of video game companies that Sony has had deep ties with over the years. The first among them is Square Enix followed by Capcom and FromSoftware. EA and Ubisoft are both in the running as well, after the latter confirmed that it is not opposed to the idea. However, it all boils down to the lack of evidence connecting these organizations to Sony. On the other hand, Sony published Kojima Productions’ lone major release so far, which is Death Stranding. Even if Kojima’s studio has several more games in development, it’s far from a big company. A far-fetched but plausible scenario here is that Sony has acquired Konami AND Kojima Productions. In this very ideal but unlikely hypothetical, Sony will have access to Konami’s treasure trove of IPs, chief among them being Metal Gear. The tactical espionage action franchise is commonly associated with the PlayStation brand, which would give Sony yet another proven entity to help it retain its claim on the first-party exclusive throne. Not to mention, Konami also owns Castlevania and Silent Hill, a pair of iconic properties that would do well on the PlayStation 5. With zero information suggesting what Sony is going to do next, we’re all at the mercy of Jim Ryan’s next statement. Speaking of Sony, the tech giant made waves after investing a billion in Epic Games after already dropping $200 million last year. Epic is probably too expensive for Sony’s taste with an equity valuation of $32 billion, but who knows? An Epic Games coup would certainly fall into the category of a big acquisition.
