Jim Ryan: $3.6B Bungie Deal “Can Give Us Way More” Than $69B Activision Buyout

Microsoft’s buyout of Activision has caused a major shift in the gaming ecosystem. However, Jim Ryan does not seem to see as much of an appeal in the major merger as Microsoft does. The CEO of the PlayStation brand said in an interview that its $3.6 billion deal with Bungie “can give us way more” than a $69 billion purchase of Activision. 

The questioner asked Jim Ryan whether Sony saw Activision Blizzard as a target acquisition. He said that Bungie is more proficient for Sony, considering its capital. The now-unredacted interview was conducted last year between Jim and investors from Fidelity. Previously, many parts of the Q&A session were redacted, but the Reddit user u/PBOats121 has shared the complete interview on the official r/PS5 subreddit. 

In terms of deployment of Sony’s capital, when you look at 69 billion dollars for Activision compared to 3.6 billion dollars for Bungie, we believe that Bungie can give us way more than a 69 billion acquisition of Activision,” said Jim Ryan.

Jim Ryan continues that this comparison is made before even the “relative value of the particular transaction” is considered. According to him, an acquisition is only ideal if it can help PlayStation deliver on its strategies in a way it is currently unable to achieve on its own. The CEO was also asked regarding the Xbox Game Pass model and the challenges that Microsoft has faced because of it. 

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Jim Ryan said that Microsoft did pledge minimum revenue guarantees to publishers to secure titles for the subscription service. He says the strategy “did not work at all” with many studios. Instead, the Xbox brand owner resorted to acquisitions to strengthen its Game Pass portfolio. He further clarifies that many publishers do not like the subscription service at all because it is value-destructive.

The interview also confirms that PlayStation Plus subscribers amount to nearly 50 million milestone. The number has likely surpassed that since it has been a year. Jim Ryan expected more from the Game Pass, implying that 25 million subscribers are not as good as he anticipated. Additionally, he dubbed PlayStation Plus as a “meaningful subscription service.“