Sony Pictures CEO and Chairman Tony Vinciquerra revealed he believes growth in the gaming industry will lead to even more company mergers and acquisitions. The chairman is confident Sony is in a good position for said growth and will continue to purchase more talent.
Both Sony and Microsoft have been very active in acquiring new assets lately, shaping the future for the Xbox and PlayStation divisions with some major deals. While it will take years for some of these investments to make any returns on their sticker price, it seems these moves are pretty safe bets in a world where non-interactive mediums have peaked.
During the Bank Of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, Vinciquerra shared his thoughts on the subject, VGC reported. According to chairman-CEO, “the traditional medium of television and film has probably peaked and the new growth area [of consolidation] will be the games business, and who’s better positioned than Sony for that business?”
Vinciquerra thinks “there are probably too many film studios and you might see one or two less over the next five-to-ten years.” At the same time, he expects further consolidation in the electronic entertainment industry, which has already seen a significant rise in mergers and acquisitions since the pandemic.
Reports suggest more and more public and private investors have started to target the video games business. In many ways, it’s because the industry has outperformed others hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sony seems uniquely positioned, and earlier announced aggressive investment plans in its first-party studios and partnering with external developers.
Recently, the company acquired UK-based studio Firesprite, ex-developers of Wipeout, to expand its list of in-house studios to 14 teams. Sony also partnered with Jade Raymond’s studio Haven Entertainment for a new live-service IP which will be a PS5-exclusive. Sony made an additional $200 million investment in Epic Games for the “shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services.”
Sony has long sought to bring video games and movies together and is actively involved in adapting some of its iconic franchises to the big screen, including The Last of Us, Twisted Metal, Ghost of Tsushima, and Uncharted.