PlayStation To Acquire Another Major Studio, Says Analyst

We're barely two months into 2022 and there's already been more industry-shaking news than I think I can handle.

Late last month, Microsoft shocked us all by announcing its acquisition of Call Of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, snatching former PlayStation mascots Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon in the process. How did Sony respond? By buying out former Halo developer Bungie.

While we're still waiting for the dust to settle from these two undeniably historic acquisitions, it's clear that neither side is finished splashing the cash. Because apparently capitalism means nobody is happy until there only one or two companies left in the entire world.

Last week Sony confirmed, rather ominously, that there are "many more moves to make" in regards to further acquisitions. While we don't yet know which studio (or studios) the company could go for next, one industry analyst has some idea.

Speaking to VGC, Kantan Games CEO and analyst Dr. Serkan Toto believes the next studio to join the ranks of PlayStation will most likely be Japanese.

While Dr. Toto doesn't specify which studio it could be, he explains that Sony has a major cultural advantage over Microsoft in Japan. It's certainly true that PlayStation is an infinitely more popular brand than Xbox in Japan, meaning it would make more sense for the company to make moves in that direction.

“Sony of course has the home-field advantage, and some of the challenges that would come up for Microsoft would not apply to Sony," Dr. Toto said. "It doesn’t have to be one of the publicly traded powerhouses, but I believe Sony is at least considering making a move in Japan soon.”

This opens the door to many exciting possibilities, of course. If I had to guess, I'd say Square Enix or Konami would be the most likely candidates for a PlayStation merger. The former already frequently teams up with PlayStation on exclusives (including the upcoming Final Fantasy 16), while the latter... well, Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill being PS-exclusive franchises just makes a certain kind of sense, doesn't it? Then again, so did Crash and Spyro.