Sony in Panic mode

@Pedro: This fanboy also doesn’t know Sony has 1.7 trillion in debt. Lol

Sony's marketcap is only double what they just bought Activision for. The Sony gaming division is not worth the whole marketcap. MS has the money to buy the whole company or put a $$ figure in front of Sony for just the gaming division

MS curb stomping them in service? Um, last time I checked, PS+ has over 50 million subscribers.

MS is pulling out the rug from under them on major "third party" IPs what exactly has MS gotten so far? Nothing. You don't even know if COD games are not coming to Playstation. Meanwhile Sony has had FF7 Remake for 2 years, and still no confirmation of an Xbox version. Xbox is also not getting Forspoken for a while.

MS has the more powerful hardware as someone who has both consoles, I have yet to see a clear advantage. Maybe you need to actually, you know, play consoles?

MS also has a more diverse hardware portfolio which has allowed them to sell (the S) despite the supply constraints affecting the X and PS5 to a greater degree Microsoft discontinued the Xbox One so naturally people who wanted one will gravitate to the Series S. Meanwhile Sony continues to sell the PS4 and also just announced PS VR 2. AWhere's Xbox VR machine? Also, Sony has a digital only version of the PS5 and for $100 more, it's way better than the Series S.

MS also has found a way to undercut them on cost for both games and hardware (for the time being) there has been no proof that MS is making money on Gamepass.

Lastly but most importantly: MS is years ahead of Sony in embracing and integrating with PC - expanding their customer base dramatically. great, you like PC, we all know. they've been releasing their games on PC for years now, why is Playstation still successful then?

Just step back for a moment - this is a serious list of "accumulating failures" PS is looking at. It really is. PS has an iron core of top tier IP and studios behind them, but again, DC had great exclusive games too and a dedicated fanbase. we all know you're not a Sony person, but equating them to Dreamcast just doesn't make sense at all. The Dreamcast sold 9 million units and lasted for a couple years.

damn, well said.. I've been saying exactly this when people continually say "this is fine, Sony is still on top"..

Things change and Microsoft is setting themselves up for the long haul..

They should buy sony and cut the middle man, this isn't a new strategy.

Question is if MS still lose while owning activsion and bethesda then what?

Shhh..he doesn't know the meaning of word 'free cash flow' when Sony's debt is more than their market cap with almost $200 Billion. It's not like MS who can pay all their debts tomorrow and would still have 10s of billions in liquid cash.

@SolidGame_basic: I don't expect you to understand, but I AM a Sony person. Or I was. I was there, 3,000 years ago like Elrond. PS was my favorite console brand. I've owned every PS console EXCEPT a PS5.

They have gradually lost me as they have begun charging for online, dropping features that I value like BC, and shedding the things I felt were special like Japan Studios games. This is why you see me banging drums in any thread where there's a rumor or announcement they are doing something about those kind of issues. This is why I'm excited PS5 is trying to restore BC to the platform. Back in the day they were the only platform that DID offer BC. At this point, it's such a heavily westernized and nickel-and-dime brand that it makes me sad.

Being a fan of a brand doesn't mean defending it blindly. Sometimes it's about actually seeing when it goes wrong and wanting it to do better.

It would be near impossible for MS to "lose". They are not playing the same game as Sony or Nintendo.

You know what you need to do Sony.

This isn't bad for me as none of the games they will acquire hold any interest to me. The nearest will be Diablo but I got bored half way through the third game.

But this is bad for gamers. One thing that keeps prices down is the competition. If Sony and Nintendo fall down then MS will raise their prices and gamers will lose not MS.

The fact that people treat this as a sports rivalry is scary.

If Sony are in panic mode, it must be a very subtle and slow-motion one.

Again, Microsoft's acquisition spree isn't about competing with Sony or Nintendo - anyone who thinks that is living in analog, while Microsoft are seeing things in digital. The people they're really gunning for are Google and Amazon.

Not until we know the fate of Call of Duty and the other big franchises. If Overwatch 2, COD, etc are all still coming to Playstation then they shouldn't panic.

Man I already have a few ideas of threads to troll the cows. It's going to be a pretty fun week.

Sony might as well buy EA

And EA too?

I don't like large industry consolidation but some of us are overacting. Sony will be fine. Yes this is HUGE but I feel Sony will respond.

The irony. You are the one who doesn't know the definition of free cash flow.

Free cash flow only considers the current interest payments on long term debt, not total debt. The total size of debt is irrelevant to free cash flow because the whole point of this measure is to demonstrate you can pay for your operations and pay the interest on your long term debt and still have cash left over to grow your business etc.

As for Sony itself it has a very high free cash flow % relative to the tech industry as a whole. As in twice the average, which reflects the overall nature of its businesses. For the absolute size of their company they are in a very good cash flow situation which gives them strategic options. This is the point the OP was making and he is correct.

At least you admit you don't own a PS5, so why bother trying to compare hardware? Btw, Xbox brought the concept of paying for online. Sony took that idea and made it better by creating PS+.

I love Sony Japan games, but unfortunately they haven't really stood out in many years. I mean, Shadow of the Colossus was their biggest, most famed titled, and that was 20 years ago.

The PS5 is backwards compatible with PS4, so you're using a counter point from like 8 years ago lol.

To be perfectly honest with you, never have i been more nervous in my whole life. I woke up to this and thought it was a meme. wtf

@SecretPolice said:

The others allow GamePass on their systems or Bust!!!

:P

Do... Do you know how this meme works?

MS OWNS WARCRAFT, DIABLO, CRASH BANDICOOT, SPYRO, TONY HAWK PRO SKATER AND COD LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL the meltdowns over this will be LEGENDARY.

I don't like this but Sony have themselves to blame. Lots of games, Japanese especially, that used to be on both platforms in the 360/PS3 error, Sony used their Japanese influence and made those games exclusive to just Sony in the PS4/Xbox One era. They didn't care at all for the Xbox fan base that were missing out. As a result Sony really dominated that generation. Microsoft saw this and said "two can play that game." Now MS are flexing their muscle and buying studios and even big publishers left and right just so a repeat of last gen doesn't happen again. PS fans can't cry because they rubbed it in the faces of Xbox users last gen because of the lack of exclusives. I don't like it but why should I feel bad after the antics of Sony and their fans? They didn't feel bad for Xbox gamers last gen.

Anyway, the ball's in Sony's court now. Competition is good for the players so good luck.

As they should. Nintendo too.

Holy F***. Honestly this is the first time where I think uncle phill is straight up evil. Woah uncle phil means business this is that we Microsoft have more money then you move.

Sorry, that's not how things work. Free cash flow means anything outside of obligations like salaries, interest payments, operations costs, all expenses etc. There's no evidence that Sony has enough cash to fund any of the acquisitions, people who think they can are living in a fantasy world. Their operating expenses are 75 billion dollars, hence why the debt is relevant and that cash at hand isn't a 'free cash flow'.

As for debt, debt also affects your credit rating and how you can raise it any further. There are only two options for Sony if they want to acquire publisher, a merger where Sony pays them in equity or raise more debt to pay for the acquisition. The later doesn't make any sense whatsoever because Sony's debts are almost 3/4th or more of their total assets. Raising more debt means paying higher percentage in interest so essentially not just Sony will pay a premium to acquire any publisher that cows wants them to, the actual cost will be significantly higher because they will be paying more in long term. And what will they get in return by raising all this debt: Nothing. They will either be losing money if they make those franchises exclusives or don't make those exclusives but then what's the point of the purchase? They can't subsidize the costs like MS.

Lastly Sony is not part of the big tech. They are more of a consumer appliances company. Whatever point your or the idiot alt was making has nothing to do with reality.

This is a good take

BU BU BU Sony am teh decapitated MS with Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine trailer in November 2021 according to cows...

How can this be? XD

Wasn't there some talk not long ago about Sony and Netflix partnering on something? The phrase has always been "the Netflix of gaming", but what if Netflix just had games... and movies? I really have no insight into whether that would work, just curious. This is all just wacky to me.

Agreed. Especially the bold that I highlighted; so true.

I've always enjoyed Playstation and some of my best memories stem from Playstation 1 through Playstation 4. Chrono Cross, Legend of Dragoon, SOCOM ,Twisted Metal, Syphon Filter, Grand Theft Auto, Horizon, God of War, Warhawk, etc. Playstation 5 is just slowly falling behind in what it has to offer ME. Still no VRR? No folders? I can't even properly filter my installed games on the console to A-Z without it reverting back to "recently played". No solid "console exclusive" shooters? Where is SOCOM? Resistance? Hell...bring back Haze...ehh nevermind; not Haze...lol. Instead, we get Destruction AllStars. You got Horizon & Ragnarok being developed for the PS4. Sony going back on this as well as them NOW wanting to release a competitor to Game Pass with "Spartacus"

It's been over a year and all I hear are rumors or "coming shortly". I will say I do love the dualsense and I will give props to Demon Souls, Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank, & Returnal. While Demon Souls isn't my type of game, it was well received; same goes for Returnal. I did play Ratchet & Clank and Miles Morales. I thoroughly enjoyed those two games from start to finish

I'm rooting for Sony to do better but at this point they got a ways to go. I will say, I am glad that they bought Nixxes and are porting more games to Steam

@boiled-hotdug: Sony needs to hurry up and make some announcements. Too many rumors floating around. We've been hearing Uncharted 5, SOCOM reboot, Resistance, Killzone, Sly Cooper, Twisted Metal for 1-3 years now.

I didn't say I had a PS5, but XSX is objectively more powerful and has more features. In what dimension is PS5 better hardware? The only one I can think of is the controller - it's much more feature rich.

I don't like XBoxes. I haven't owned one for years... I have no reason to. You cannot say "yeah but they did XYZ bad..." to counter my critique when I'm critiquing PS approach. I don't care about Sony not being the lowest common denominator - they can be better! If anything that's what makes charging PS+ even more galling - they had a benefit over the competition that I loved and TOOK IT AWAY.

And yes - the PS5 BC is improving. I said so in my post - explaining that's why I'm always such a vocal applauder when we get rumors about these kind of things (e.g., full BC).

@R4gn4r0k:

And candy crush, don't forget candy crush.

Objectively by what standard, teraflops? As someone who owns both consoles, I'm not seeing any big differences between the two as far as graphics are concerned. Developers aren't treating one special over the other. Sony is doing other things like enhancing sensory experience (dual sense, VR, 3d audio etc). So hardware wise, I'm not really seeing the argument that it's objectively better. You applaud the Xbox Series S, but for $100 more, you're getting a way better deal with the Sony digital system. I'm merely correcting you as you keep painting this picture as Sony being some company stick in their ways but I think you are referring to Nintendo 😄

@SolidGame_basic: where did I applaud the Series S? I said the Series S was an example of a diversified platform that is making MS grow in shares now despite the shortage, where PS doesn't have their own option. I have even less interest in a Series S than an Series X. Certainly if I bought an XBox tomorrow it would NOT be a Series S.

I'm sorry, this is very typical posting for you - I can't make sense of how you are twisting my statements around this much to blindly support PS. My post isn't about PS5=bad. In no way do I think PS5=bad. My post is about PS5 and the broader PS strategy being hampered on multiple fronts - from supply, to features, to services, to even publishing power now - compared to the competition and I hope they adapt.

I don't know what else to say. I get it. PS=good. I like PS too. That's why I am seeing all the things they have slipped on and hoping they see them to.

Interesting move. Given the size and scope or both parties involved, and the transactional figure, I imagine this needs to go through DOJ review. However, since MS isn't dominant in the gaming industry like they are in general tech, it will probably go through.

This will only further the value of Gamepass. Most of the IP they are aquiring will definitely still be multi-platform -- why stop taking in the billions of revenue?

It's hard for some people to accept. Might be a way to show justification, who knows...

Objectively the Xbox Series X is more powerful. You trying to argue as if it is in question is hilarious. Developers aren't treating one special over the other but two major publishers would not be making games for PS. "Let that sink in"😊

Yes! For $100 more than the Series S you can get the non-existent discless version of the PS5. Do you see the problem with that argument.

@boiled-hotdug: thank you - you get it. I know it is SW, but these systems and brands and our feelings about them are more complicated than black and white. You know I still have my PS2? I rarely play it, but it has a special place in my heart. And for those offended about my comments about Dreamcast - DC is literally tied with Genesis for my favorite console of all time. So I mean the best when I make these critiques. But whatever. It's SW

You literally just answered your question, and I literally already told you that PS5 has a diverse hardware strategy as well (PS5 disc, PS5 digital, PS4, Dual Sense, PS VR 2, etc). We didn't even talk about mobile yet.

The "you just don't get what I'm saying" is a lazy argument, so I guess this conversation is over since I went bullet by bullet and refuted your statements. Sorry froggy.

I enjoyed the Dreamcast. It was such a good gaming machine for me.

He clearly pointed it out his sentiment and you still don't get it. To say that it is a lazy argument is to ignore everything he stated which justifies "you just don't get what I'm saying" comment.

Isn't cod the number one played game on PlayStation for the last 5 years? What will cows do now?

@SolidGame_basic: you didn't refute a damn thing - you misrepresented or misunderstood every bullet point I made and refuse to see how they fit together into a bigger picture concern.

If you came to me and said "Xantu, Microsoft has a Series S and it's easier to get than a PS5, is PS doomed?" of course I'd laugh at the idea. That's a single issue. But it is one - lack of stock is forcing them to fall back on PS4 more.

You started a discussion about accumulating issues, and that's one piece of a bigger concern that PS MIGHT SOLVE. The point of my post was to list all of those concerns accumulating. No console will "win" in every category, but that's a lot of accumulation to ignore. I hope PS addresses it AND THE RUMORS ARE THEY WILL (at least in some respects - like their own GP variant)

It's just a forum - I think we're getting more worked up with each other than needed. I wish you the best and I'm happy to walk away from this as well because I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on it.

I could care less about call of duty, it just puts pressure on Sony to create more original IPs is the only good thing about this purchase by MS if it goes thru which it will, i am sure Sony will try to purchase big Studios as well and other big players will start doing it too like Epic and so on, man gaming will suck in the near future, it will be all about quantity

Or, it can as you said force for the creation of more innovative games to be more competitive.

Of course, after God of War PC has been receiving high positive from PC gamers and the sales went sky high, I wouldn't say they're in panic mode just yet, Sony needs to capture more PC fans and try releasing PS5 PC ports way sooner than later. Sony's gonna have to start getting aggressive on the PC market.

Fanboys of both sides will hate this idea, but i think Sony should try to have MS's Game Pass on Playstation.

It would be positive for both companies. MS would have a massive boost in GP subscriptions, and PS players would be able to play the games from Bethesda, ID, etc on their consoles.

what a cow, you still believe ps5 > xbox ?? Don't you know that 12 tflop > 9 tflop??

So, what you are saying is day 1 releases on PC confirmed. 😎

I don't see that move being beneficial for Sony unless they get a cut. I am not sure what the best mutual arrangement can be for the two companies with regards to game sharing.

@Pedro: we will see it’s just to early to tell i just don’t like subscription services but i know gaming is heading that way and if people care about own physical copy of games stick with ps2 ps1 pretty much every generation that didn’t require updates or online for games,