PlayStation’s rumored new acquisition is apparently a big one. Between reliable sources like Jeff Grubb and Greg Miller, we’ve been hearing for a few weeks that Sony is getting ready to announce a new acquisition. This week, the speculation turned towards Kojima Productions for reasons that are neither here nor there after Hideo Kojima himself confirmed Kojima Productions is independent and staying independent. According to the aforementioned Grubb, the acquisition is “bigger” than Kojima Productions, which is a tasty tease for PlayStation fans, as this likely indicates it’s a publisher, as there aren’t many independent developers bigger and more notable than Kojima Productions.
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“If you’ve heard the rumors about a big acquisition from Sony, it was never Kojima Productions, at least as far as I am aware,” said Grubb. “The people who were hearing this stuff, including me, that was never a name that was thrown around. It was bigger than Kojima Productions.
It’s worth noting that Grubb has been off the mark in the past, but he’s proven reliable more than unreliable. Further, he isn’t the only one beating this drum. Typically, where there’s this much smoke, there’s fire.
So, who’s on the menu? Well, it doesn’t appear to be a developer as there isn’t really a single studio available that’s “bigger” than Kojima Productions. Remedy Entertainment is tied up in a million different contacts. FromSoftware has a parent company that probably isn’t interested in selling. With these two seemingly off the board, there aren’t many options left.
This tease implies it’s a publisher. If it is, Ubisoft seems a likely candidate given their recent struggles and PlayStation’s increasing emphasis in Europe. Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, Bandai Namco, and Konami are all difficult due to Japanese law. Take-Two Interactive and EA are likely out of the price range of Sony, so that doesn’t leave much else beyond Ubisoft. The only other option that seems realistic is CD Projekt Red, the makers of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077.
For now, take everything here — the report and the speculation it has created — with a grain of salt. So far, nothing has come of these PlayStation rumors, and the longer this stays true, the more dubious the claims look. Typically, acquisitions don’t leak, so the fact that this one did either means something amiss or it’s the exception. Neither plays in the favor of the odds.