Why Sony's Insomniac Purchase Was Worth the (Huge) Price

Screen Rant Writes: Sony dropped a huge sum of cash on Insomniac Games, but the price will be well worth it in the long run.

[Thundercat77]

Huge price? It was a bargain. Microsoft paid more for Rare and look the results.

This was a great buy.

[Ron_Danger]

Don’t forget heads at Microsoft thought that the acquisition of Rare also included Donkey Kong 😂

http://www.nintendolife.com...

[Thundercat77]

Wow I didn't knew that 😂.

[Double_O_Revan]

Still one of my favorite gaming facts of all time. Lol. Someone didn't read the fine print.

[rainslacker]

It was a different time. So many weird things that have happened in the industry over the years.

[Godmars290]

To be fair Sony actually does things with the studios they buy.

[Immagaiden]

Pretty sure EA owns Fuse. Even if they didn’t does anybody really think Sony is Insomniac would want anything more to do with the franchise?

[Fist4achin]

Fuse felt like it was never fully drawn out. I didn't play it much more than an hour.

[Tetsdah]

If by chance they revived the idea of Fuze, then it would likely be the original concept, Overstrike. That definitely screamed Insomniac DNA

[rainslacker]

Maybe they could make it Overstrike instead? That was the original name before EA decided to change the game to something uninspired.

However, it was published under the EA Partners program, which doesn't require signing over IP rights. The reason Insomniac went that route was because they wanted to start keeping their IP's, so I doubt they'd just leave Sony's wallet on the table if they didn't care about that. Although it is possible Sony wasn't interested.

[FallenAngel1984]

In the realm of known gaming aqusitions this is on the low scale

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...

A huge company like Sony isn’t going to be hurting financially after buying them. Sony paid more for Gaikai than they did for Insomniac

[rainslacker]

What's scary is that on that list, very few of the developers still exist.

[PhoenixUp]

It’s not that big a price. I’m sure Sony paid a similar amount when they acquired Naughty Dog, Guerilla Games, Zipper Interactive, Media Molecule & Sucker Punch

[Toiletsteak]

I'm just shocked this didn't happen sooner, Insomniac and Sony have always had a great relationship.

[Spenok]

I agree, but, if I'm not mistaken, Insomniac wanted to try their hand at 3rd Party development (hence Fuze and other projects). It wasn't until after giving that a go they saw the unique and very generous position Sony had put them in for so long.

[FallenAngel1984]

You seriously think Sony didn’t try acquiring them earlier? Insomniac valued their independence. They’ve stated that numerous times

https://www.ign.com/article...

[gravedigger]

Deal was a bargain. Not surely huge.

[Juusterey]

I don't think anyone needs to be told it's pretty obvious to anyone that thinks for half a second

[Neonridr]

Because it's Insomniac. Sony knows what they are getting from these guys (and gals).

[Edito]

I think it was a win win good price and they will be part of the worlds dream team at SWS.

[Rimeskeem]

PlayStation is a 38 billion dollar company. 225 million dollars is a minuscule fraction of the companies worth.

[rainslacker]

Paying out that money doesn't even change their worth as a company, so they're still a 38 billion dollar company after the acquisition. Stocks and valuation are a weird thing. A company is rated on its assets and potential value, not what money it actually makes or has. Hell, Occulus was sold for 2 billion, and it wasn't in debt, and its product wasn't making a return on investment yet.

Tech and startups are really weird, and all those silly little things we hear about coming around get these huge valuations which often don't ever live up to it. Many are made just to make millions, or billions of dollars off companies buying them out. For those interested in how weird it can get, I'd recommend watching Silicon Valley on HBO. While played up for comedy, it's actually pretty much like that on the business side.

Anyhow, I think the price Sony paid is probably a fair price versus what the company is worth.

[sprinterboy]

Huge price? It was a bargain.

[S2Killinit]

Its Insomniac, they are top notch developers.

[Tross]

I think they got a fantastic deal. If they haven’t already made that back and then some, they will before too long.

[Traecy]

The Spiderman sales paid for it & beyond.

[rainslacker]

They have VR tech and engines which would take years for Sony to develop on their own. That stuff alone could be worth tens of millions of dollars for Sony if they decide to license, and probably double that if they decided to develop it in house, which would also take more time.

Insomiac also has strong mobile gaming market connections, and a lot of good programmers on that side of things, so that'll likely make a decent return.

IP wise, I'm not sure Insomniac has much that is worth that much. Sony already owns their most successful franchises.

But, Insomniac owns both it's office buildings, and is established, so it's not like they brought up a company that was just valued at a certain amount. Insomniac has actual tangible assets.

[Cmoney007]

Why do I get the feeling that Sony will do more with Insomniac Games than MS will do with Rare? If a company buys a studio, then they should always do a lot with them.

[Traecy]

It was every penny well spent!!

[DragoonUS]

It was a bargain, and the best spent money possíble. Sony scores big with this move.