Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan has promised that the company will continue to acquire more studios in the future following a big buying spree in 2021. Sony acquired five studios in 2021, and in 2022 so far, it announced deals to buy Destiny 2 developer Bungie and Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios.
In an appearance on the latest PlayStation podcast, Ryan said one of the ways PlayStation is growing its business is through buyouts, and fans can expect this to continue. “We’re growing through acquisition. We acquired five studios through the course of 2021. We’re in discussions with Bungie. And we have more planned,” Ryan said.
Ryan made the announcement during a wider comment regarding why Sony’s new version of PlayStation Plus will not add day one new releases like Xbox Game Pass does. Like he said earlier this week, Ryan explained that Sony won’t put new releases on a subscription service on day one because investing in games and studios leads to a “virtuous cycle” where success begets success.
Sony wants to make games that are bigger, better, and have better narratives, and Ryan said sticking with the traditional paid model is a way to keep this cycle intact going forward.
“Putting these games into a subscription service immediately upon their release, this would break this virtuous circle. And we wouldn’t be able to invest in the way that we’re currently able to. And so, we’re not doing it,” he said. “We’re going to stick with the approach that we have, the approach that served us well over many years now. And the approach that we think serves our gamers well.”
In 2021, Sony bought Valkyrie Entertainment, Housemarque, Bluepoint, Firesprite, and Nixxes. Also in 2021, Sony invested $200 million more into Fortnite studio Epic Games.
While Sony’s new PS Plus program will not have new releases on day one, its gives members access to a catalog of PS4 and PS5 games, as well as a library of classic titles to be announced later. For more on the new PS Plus, check out GameSpot’s rundown and how it compares to Xbox Game Pass.
