What’s The Big News?

Sony Entertainment acquires Haven Studios

Classification: Public
 Video Game Industry
With around 2.9 billion gamers worldwide and an average growth rate of 5.6% year on year , figure will cross 3 Billion very soon by 2023 . Games Revenues for 2021 reached over
$180 billion and is likely to increase by growth rate of 9.4% resulting in total market volume of $217.9 billion by 2023 (sources- Newzoo)

Key Statistics –
 The video gaming console market has been defined by an ongoing power struggle
between three major companies: Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
 Sony’s PlayStation leads the console of the 8 th Generation, selling 2.5 times as many as
Microsoft’s Xbox
 Rapid improvements in networking technologies and gaming platforms are projected to
increase the gaming console market size

Classification: Public
 About
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Haven Entertainment Studios-
Haven Entertainment Studios is a Canadian game development studio based in Montreal. Haven
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a
Studios has developed games that are ideal for PlayStations. This platform combines both the
multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by Japanese
experience and the development of a passionate game maker team to provide the best user
multinational conglomerate Sony.
experiences.
Industry- Video games Industry- Video Games

Divisions Divisions-
PlayStation Studios PlayStation games
PlayStation Mobile
Founder/ CEO- Jade Raymond
PlayStation PC
Haven Studios is a combined team of seasoned developers who have been an essential part of many
Founder/ CEO- Jim Ryan significant projects, including The Sims, Rainbow 6: Siege, Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed, and the
Star Wars Battlefront.
SIE is responsible for the PlayStation® brand and family of products and services. SIE is a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America and has global functions in California, London, The studio is currently working on their sole debut project, where they aim to provide live service
and Tokyo. experiences to PlayStation users. This will be built on an evolving and systematic world that focuses
on delivering playfulness, freedom, and thrill to its users. The team, therefore, focuses on creating
Manufacturing of premium hardware and performance R&D are the key business activities
AAA multiplayer game experiences. This is what has gained attention from multiple industries.
The PlayStation family of products and services include PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4,
**A live service game is an online multiplayer game that sees a constant stream of new content
PlayStation®VR, PlayStation™Store, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStation™Now, and acclaimed
added post launch, and is purposefully designed to keep players playing years after launch. This is
PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios. Traditionally , the product cycle is 6-8 years.
unlike traditional single-player games, which can be completed in a set number of hours. IT
SIE is also a developer and publisher of video game titles, and operates several subsidiaries in psychologically manipulates players into spending money by offering microtransactions that allow
Sony's largest markets: North America, Europe and Asia. PlayStation studios is a division of SIE that players to speed up progress . It is like ‘Games as service’ or GaaS.
oversees the video game development.
-Gives the ability to capture more revenue from the market than with a single release title
Other game development studios that are part of SIE are Insomniac Games (USA, acquired in
2019), Media Molecule (UK, acquired in 2010), Japan Studio(Japan, oldest division of SIE), Bend
Studio (USA, acquired in 2000), Sucker Punch production (USA, acquired in 2011), Guerilla Games
(Netherlands, acquired in 2005), Naughty Dog (USA, acquired in 2001), Firesprite (UK, acquired in
2021), Bluepoint Games (USA, 2021), etc.

Classification: Public
 Big news!
Sony Entertainment acquired Canadian gaming Company Haven
Sony Interactive Entertainment on March 21, 2022 acquired Canadian game development outfit Haven Entertainment Studios. Haven is currently working on its first project, a live service
multiplayer experience for PlayStation. Haven will be the eighteenth studio to join the slate from PlayStation Studios. Its daily operations will continue to be run by the Haven management
team in collaboration with Sony’s leadership. The price Sony paid for Heaven is not yet disclosed.

Motives of Acquisition -
 Sony want to continue to invest in PS5 AAA multiplayer games as this is current trend and it is seen that audience growth is expected to increase by 9.7% by 2024.
 SIE wants to kickstart a big internal shift towards the live service multiplayer space. Sony is largely today into cinematic single player experience.
 With success of Assassin Creed(as in graph below shows total sales since 2020)and Watch Dogs franchises developed by team of Jade Raymond (CEO of Haven) they can utilize the
expertise and experience to focus on GAAS initiative.
 PlayStation targets to launch 10 live services games by March 2026 and revenue to double the current one.
 First developer studio in Canada to have market presence. Canada is one of the biggest producers of AAA games .
 Other major players like Microsoft and Nintendo are already present in Canada.

Classification: Public
 Why Haven Studios ?
 SIE want to invest in Haven Studios due to proven success with games like Assassin's Creed
 Haven Studios team expertise and R&D IPS can be used to build more games
 The studio’s focus on creating an original AAA multiplayer game will not only flex the power of PlayStation 5 but will further expand upon the diverse
catalogue of gaming experiences that can only be found on PlayStation

Why Canada?
 64% of Canadians play video games on a fairly regular basis
 In 2020, around 23 million Canadians played video games
 90% of Canadian adolescent males describe themselves as gamers
 The total revenue of the Canadian video game industry has passed US$1.3 billion in
2021 and is growing
 People spend around 8.45 hours per week gaming.
 Canada’s video game industry is one of the largest in the world
 Canada is home to numerous world-class AAA rated game development studios. E.g.
BioWare, the studio responsible for such hits as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star
Wars: The Old Republic
 The continued growth of Canada's video game industry makes it a leader in
innovation and allows it to bring some of the world's biggest titles

Classification: Public
What the Strategy?
 SIE’s strategy has been around Mergers & Acquisitions
 SIE has done total 18 acquisition to have strong content built for their platform.
 There’s good growth vectors for PlayStation compels them to focus on locking down content exclusively for the platform so SIE focuses on locking away content from competitors .
 To gain competitive advantage and maintain the lead that it has already in the market
 To kill local competition it is important to have local studios that helps in market penetration and also good acceptance from local population

Profits/ Benefits?
 Increased presence in Canada . Canada is a top player in AAA live game industry
 Would give competitive advantage against other industry players. For e.g. Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard to gain presence in live gaming(metaverse gateways ) after which
Sony’s shares were down by 13%. Sony expects to double the revenue by 2026 as a result of this acquisition.
 Live service games are cheaper than other entertainment options.
 Constant source of Income and price advantage

Classification: Public
 Questions?

Classification: Public