The video game industry has shined the most during this Covid-19 pandemic, outperforming multiple major industries. And now, private and public investors have targeted the gaming industry since they consider it a safe bet. Tony Vinciquerra (CEO and Chairman of Sony pictures) believes that the new growth area is the video game industry and that it will be the next focus when it comes to major company merges and acquisitions.
At Bank Of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference September, Vinciquerra shared his views on the gaming industry and how it is the next growth area. He said, “I think the traditional medium of television and film has probably peaked and the new growth area will be the games business. And who’s better positioned than Sony for that business,” as quoted by Video Games Chronicles.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I do think you’ll see some consolidation on that side. You’ll probably see a little more on our side as well. I do think there are probably too many probably too many film studios and you might see one or two less over the next five to ten years. But I think the next area of consolidation will be the games business,” he added.
WATCH THIS STORY: Video Game Franchises Returning to Consoles
Sony’s partnership with different studios
Well, the gaming industry has already seen a significant hike in merges from different industries. And way back in July 2020, Sony made an enormous investment of around $250 million in Fortnite and Unreal Engine firms. And so far Sony has announced a partnership with the Haven Studios (formed by Jade Raymond), investment in Bungie Veterans (for a multiplayer game), and acquisition for Firesprite (UK based) and PC Port House Nixxes.
The company also said that it would invest in its first part game studios, in addition to partnering with other external game developers as well.
According to InvestGame, the value of M&A exceeded $22 billion in 2021. This includes the sales of Codemaster to Electronic Arts and ZeniMax to Microsoft. That is the highest amount till now. And the acquirers of the gaming industry in 2020 were Tencent, Still front, Zynga, and Embracer Group.
