Sony Stock Value Drops By $20 Billion After Microsoft Buys Activision Blizzard

Good time to buy. I don't dabble in individual stocks, but this is tempting. I'd imagine a kick up with the rumored State of Play coming in Feb, Horizon, PSVR2, and GoW2 coming later this year.

This shouldn't be seen as a big deal since the stock value will recover over time. However, it is still a significant drop and will be a wake-up call for Sony. I'm interested to see how they will respond to this.

Well, they were saying on PS that this doesn't affect Sony at all because Activision Blizzard is dead and that Microsoft are evil for acquiring them when we know that Activision Blizzard were looking for buyers including Facebook. Not to mention Sony have been buying studios that they can afford and timed exclusivity of studios that they can't afford, not to have more games or more studios, just to harm players on other platforms for as long as possible. The irony...

They'll respond with more back alley deals like the one keeping FF7 Remake off the Xbox. And let's be clear; I don't blame them, but at least man up and own it. The silence is more irritating than anything. I'd respect Sony more if they came out and said, "yeah we paid extra just so Xbox fans don't get to play it. Get over it."

This is just normal stuff. It will just bounce back again as things normalise. Better get investing!

I sort of feel for Sony in one way and another I don’t.
I was there when they ruled the portable Walkman world then some how Apple slipped in Ipods and the rest is history, some how Sony missed that boat.
Then back in the day they were the king of the TV market, Samsung and LG come along and now Sony are third. Though they really have their selfs to blame there. Offering less features and charging more, messing around with low latency Dolby Vision and even today VRR etc.
Now we have the gaming division, should Sony have lead the way in a game pass type situation, should they have released a consoles with VRR and ALLM last generation. Not crimes but little things just like the TV market. See the trend from Walkman and TV market above.
Yes there are differences but it is all technology products and other companies around them moving forward or offering more features or maybe better value for money.

They'll be fine, obviously. This is what happens. If anything, it may push them to talk about their game pass a little sooner. But once Microsoft starts to talk more about their plans, things will be fine.

@XxEvilAshxX both MS and Sony do this and neither of them own up to it. I don't think they need to spell it out. This is just business. It became a meme that MS didn't have any games and now they've done something about it. Both make a crap ton of money on digital sales (and peripherals for MS). It is in both their interest to have you invested in their ecosystem simple as. I don't necessarily like it but I can understand why they do it.

All this did for me was cement my decision to move away from consoles because the future looks most favourable for my PC.

Anybody want a PS5 or XSX? 😅

That would be a good time for a bigger shark to buy Sony. Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon... one day one of them might own Playstation.

I'm not worried about this at all. Buy the dip!

Now Microsoft should buy Sony and then release the Playbox Series 6.

Seen some very interesting speculations on the net. One being that Disney would be interested to buy (the gaming/media department of) Sony, as Sony holds Spider-Man and Wolverine licenses.

Now, think back to Microsoft and Netflix nodding to each other openly for Netflix' games expansion...

@Magabro It has been said that the reason why Sony and Nintendo haven't been purchased is because of the Japanese regulations but I don't know if that's true.

@Banjo- there is this myth that Japanese companies cannot be purchased by foreign companies, but in actuality it only applies to strategic industries, like in the energy or infrastructure business, certainly not video games. Did not Bethesda acquire Tango?

And the reason why Microsoft itself failed to buy Nintendo is because they didn't want to sell, not because it would break the law.

I still love Sony products….I have two TVs, earbuds, a Vita and will eventually get a Ps5.

Sony will be fine they make better exclusives than ms imo they just won't be market leader by next gen but enough people love the games they create for them to survive this easily they also have psvr2 on the way and new horizon next month.

To be expected after this massive blow but things are not so dark for PlayStation as I have read online lol. They still have a lot of followers. For my part I want to believe this will make things better at Blizzard so we can have some good games from them on gp

@Magabro As a long-time Nintendo fan, I would love Microsoft to buy Nintendo. Games in HD/UHD 60fps and no overpriced cheap hardware and accessories 👌. I would also love them to become an autonomous third-party publisher for the same reason.

@Banjo- I read on IGN about the likelihood of anti-trust laws hindering that acquisition and the article said that Microsoft buying Activision probably will be okay, since that's vertical integration: a distributor of content (Xbox) buying a producer of content (Activision).

Xbox buying Nintendo or Sony, however, probably would not be approved by the government. But another big tech or media company with big pockets and not currently on the console market, like Apple, Google or Disney could theoretically acquire them.

@Rural-Bandit
With the tv market Sony did not have to have any innovation, just have the standard new features on their TVs instead of ripping people off and leaving features of that Samsung and LG TVs have had for a few years now. And telling lies about updates that never happen.
They deserved to lose the tv market to the other two and serves them right.

@Magabro aslong as it meant they keep their exclusives and was able to buy more studios etc I'd be happy for with apple or Google to buy sony

But because of Japanese laws are strict of non Japanese corporations buying Japanese company's it won't happen.

Unless instead of google/apple buying Sony they just buy the PlayStation division off them

People emulate Nintendo games to play them without the slow-down and low resolution but if they became a third-party publisher many people would buy their games on Xbox/Windows/PS. That doesn't need anyone's approval but Nintendo's, obviously LOL.

Sony will be fine. But let's all be honest... Sony did this to themselves. They've been hitting below the belt for generations. and Microsoft is several weight classes above them when it comes to resources. But the good news for PlayStation fans is it looks like we're getting Game Pass on the PS5 in the near future lol.

PlayStation will compete how they always do…by releasing highly critically acclaimed games. Soon as horizon hit and god of war their stocks will sky rocket again. Let’s not pretend different

@UltimateOtaku91 those laws do not really apply for videogames, only strategic industries that effect their national security.

But anyway, no matter what Xbox does, Playstation will not suddenly cease to exist. They have really valuable properties. Worst case scenario for Sony is merging or selling its gaming division for a very large price. Probably larger than Activision Blizzard. And any big tech company planning to compete with Microsoft in the videogame market would be very interested on buying it.

Sony may not respond, tbh. Like Nintendo, but to a much lesser degree, they have built their bigger IP in-house. Although, they do rely considerably more on third-parties to drive sales so it's possible they do go out and buy a studio. I guess this is a long way of saying Sony and MS have differing strategies but it is entirely possible MS is forcing Sony's hand to make a move.

How about Activisions stock up (at one point) 40% yesterday? Ah yes.. that's positive news.. nobody wants to hear that.

This just shows investors are idiots. But yes good time to buy because Sony should be dropping some pretty big games this year.

@Rural-Bandit Nintendo know that their own fans emulate their games just to play them in higher resolution and with stable frame rate. Why don't they just sell their games on all platforms? It's not going to happen now because Switch hardware sales are still strong but who knows, I'd love it. Besides, Switch hardware sales are strong because of the software, the hardware sucks big time and the software would sell on any platform.

January 4th, it was $128 and has been in a steady decline since. Now sitting at $112. So nothing really drastic or worrisome. Probably gain it all back, and then some, when they announce the Spartacus program or partnership/acquisition of square enix*

*speculations from my butt

@PhileasFragg XStation Series 6 😁

Actiblizz would've been the way to go. $58 back in dec, sitting at $82 now.

As far as Sony's stock goes, this seems like a temporary market reaction to me, not a long-term trend.

@Rural-Bandit The joy-cons are awful. As a Wii U owner, I don't have much to play on Switch and some of the new games don't appeal to me. Let's see if Metroid Prime 4 delivers (if it ever comes).

Do not hate Sony. Do not own Playstation (only cause controller is terrible to use for me). But this is the typical wall street overreaction stuff that constantly happens.

Oeh, what will happen to the call of duty franchise.

@Alduin Thank you. Agree 100% Sony and Sony ponies brought this all on themselves. Sony brought this on with the spider-man issues like the first party exclusive and avengers exclusive. And people please don't use the complete ignorant response of Sony owns spider-man. They don't. Disney does. Sony just wants give the illusion that spider-man and Sony are only place to get spider-man. Well Xbox came out and said guess what, only place (most likely) to get elder scrolls, fallout, doom, starfield, Wolfenstein, call of duty, dishonored, etc, is now Xbox. Boom!

Sony ponies brought this on themselves as for years saying the repeated, ad nauseam, Xbox got no games. Well...Xbox just said Playstation got no games with those franchises I typed above. Boom!

Arrogance, over confidence, and elitism will always come back and bite you in the end. Microsoft/Xbox/Xbox fanboys best tread lightly going forward. Can blow up in their faces as well.

@Bartig Just imagine if that would happen. With the news yesterday then topped off with Disney buying Sony (or at least Playstation division) every Disney, marvel, star wars game going forward be a Playstation exclusive.

Take a moment and imagine that.

I get the general vibe from the comments that most people care more about how much profit MS shareholders make over Sony's than what will happen to the gaming industry. MS holding too much power is nothing to be happy about. And Sony being acquired by a Disney or Google that is being talked about here would be just as bad for the industry.
I just shudder to think what PS would look like with Disney in control.

@Banjo- If we are all honest with ourselves, Nintendo at this point is just a first party machine. And in more ways than one.

@Rural-Bandit I love The Legend of Zelda but I wasn't a big fan of Breath of the Wild either.

@GuyinPA75 Of course it is.

@StonyKL No reason to shudder if Disney bought Sony.

Unless you not like future God of War games to be a transgender, non binary, female woman of color, that identifies as cat that is both a doctor and astronaut. If cool with that. You're good.

@Banjo- Breath of wild I really could have enjoyed immensely. But hitting a monster twice, having weapon break, then lose 99% health while trying change your weapon to break again was annoying as hell.

If in any game I spend more time fighting controls or interface than bad guys. I'm out.

@GuyinPA75 Breath of the Wild is the worst The Legend of Zelda 3D game in my opinion, I post a list of things it does wrong on NL every year LOL. Funny enough, some people agree with me even on there.

Is Disney into that kind of thing now? In all seriousness, I don't see any reason for Disney to buy PlayStation. Why limit your massive IPs to a portion of the console market which will be smaller this generation when you can release your massive IPs on all platforms? It would make more sense for Sony to buy Disney but they don't even have the cash to buy Square Enix so what they do is buy marketing deals, limited rights or timed exclusivity.

@Banjo- So you're not on board with transgender elephant from poor neighborhood that grew up nonbinary person of color dreaming of being the president that spent time as the first amphibian long distance runner?

@GuyinPA75 @Banjo- ..... As next God of War hero in game that is

@icomma Did you just try curse me? You all right?

There is a real need right now to stop some of the hysteria surrounding this deal. The sister site here Push Square seems to have lost its sense of any reality and is putting out pieces that are nothing more than scaremongering and it needs to stop.
MS of course want to the be the best but if they alienate a huge proportion of the gaming community they will only cause themsleves issues further down the line. The idea that is being peddled that this is the end for Sony is so, so wide of the mark and totally over the top.
Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo are all in fine form and gaming is at the very top of its game. Why would MS want that to end? Of course some games may well become Xbox exclusives but that isn’t going to be Call of Duty for a start. Having it on more consoles with cross play will make MS more money. They are not going to chnage that.
It is a huge deal and it is one that is sending ripples through the gaming community but there is a need and a duty for us all to stop the knee jerk and over the top reactions about the death of Sony or Nintendo or anyone else.
All that will happen is gaming will keep getting more competitive and when that happens we all win. Gamers all win.
Time to chill and step back from the over the top hystrionics.

@GuyinPA75 As the old saying goes, pride comes before the fall, and Sony fans were the most proud I have ever seen during that PS4 generation.

Got me some sony stock. Go sony…. Hopefully 🤣

@jarvismp MOST people on PS (including the articles) aren't claiming it's the end of Sony, but the end of Sony as the top and an inflection point for Sony's status quo. All of which is true. And it truly can not be known of CoD remains multiplat or not. Phil's statement was sufficiently vague so as that it confirms that's not a known thing. If it were an absolute plan to keep CoD multiplat, I think he would clearly and succinctly have stated that with no obfuscation. But his statement clarified it by adding mud to the water which tells us it's not expressly that clean cut.

My guess is that it's still undecided within MS if it stays multi or goes exclusive and that watching the numbers of next year's game will help formulate decisions. My other guess is that the annual structure of CoD won't be preserved at all, and MS doesn't intend to have 5 studios working year-round on nothing but CoD, especially when most of those studios are miserable cranking out CoD, and MS gains more from having a diverse catalog for GP than having more CoD. So in a bigger picture it may actually include a plan to "end" CoD itself as it has always been known, and maybe re-mold it like Halo Infinite MP as a generation-long GaaS built around Warzone that needs less continuous studio time spent on it. As long as there's seasons, players will still be loyal.

Toys for Bob was just rolled into CoD against their will....there's no way MS wants them working on CoD when they now own Crash and Spyro and have a need for more family games to grow XB's appeal, for example. Part of the Activision toxicity that's in need of fixing is the fact that studios are basically held against their will making games they don't want to make, so I don't see any scenario where fixing that doesn't include dismantling the CoD factory entirely. That still hurts Sony, but might mean something different to MS and the exclusive IPs they can crank out more than just "we have CoD." It would diminish the CoD brand, yes, and it's popularity, but if MS could own both CoD and Halo and control 2 of the top GaaS (maybe F2P?) shooters, while repurposing former CoD factory staff for working on more unique IP content that bolsters GP and XB, that's still a big win for them, big win for Koticks rescued hostages, and a significant problem for Sony.

Whether it means CoD is now all on Xbox or if it means CoD is less prominent than it was, and Xbox is now spamming more exclusives with big IP than they can rival, it's still trouble, and Sony will need to address that somehow so as not to take too big a hit, even if it's from Xbox looking better and better and better while they look decidedly the same and archaic. Sony has a bit of a minefield to navigate right now. Sony's worst problem is they're slow to react, usually long after the fact. Their best opportunity is that they haven't announced what their online service will be yet and they can do an E3 2013 and revise the script right before the reveal to buy goodwill.

I'm a former fan of Sony's Vaio computers, Sony cameras, Sony televisions, hell even the Sony Walkman. These days, yeah, I have a PS5 because they have the odd half dozen games each generation that I can't play anywhere else but little more. Fact is, my friends are all on Xbox this generation and I'll Call of Duty with them there, not on PlayStation. To me, despite the PS4 dominating last gen, they're just simply not the company they used to be. They put their budgets behind the games I find to be merely "ok" (GoW, Last of Us series) and then kill the games I truly loved when they don't make a billion dollars (Days Gone). That said, how many third person action-adventure games can I REALLY play when over on Game Pass I've got VARIETY!

If the Activision-Blizzard acquisition adds to that variety, awesome.

@Magabro ms could buy nintendo or sony if one of them decided before hand to stop selling hardware and only do software...and all they have to do is pop out one port to multisystems then be bought out....but lets not forget ninty and sony do other stuff besides games..

@NEStalgia You make some excellent points and all calm as well. My main point right now is, as you say, no one truly knows but the reactions from some have been a tad hysterical and there needs to be some calm reflection.