PlayStation has made an aggressive turn toward accusations over the past year. In 2021 alone, Sony made six game studio and gaming-adjacent acquisitions, and 2022 has already seen three additional acquisitions announced. It's a clear response to Microsoft's own aggressive acquisition run over the past several years. The recent run of PlayStation acquisitions won't be slowing any time soon, either. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan recently confirmed that the company will continue making acquisitions and even has "more planned" at the moment.
The confirmation comes via the most recent official PlayStation podcast, in which Ryan was a special guest. Ryan only briefly discussed PlayStation's plans for acquisitions going forward, starting by reiterating a point that he and PlayStation have made previously. That point is that PlayStation will continue to make acquisitions going forward, explaining that the company is "growing through acquisition." He pointed to the five studios acquired in 2021, as well as PlayStation's discussions with Bungie, as examples of what he means.
What's particularly interesting about Ryan's comment on acquisitions, however, is the language he uses to describe PlayStation going forward. It isn't as simple as acknowledging that PlayStation will make more acquisitions in the future, which he's said before. He specifically says, "we have more planned," which implies that there are current acquisitions that have yet to be announced. Sony may have some big reveals to make in the near future, it seems.
Ryan's comments about planned acquisitions line up with a recent rumor going around. Kinda Funny Games' Greg Miller, as well as GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb, each reported a rumor that Sony is on the verge of announcing a "big studio acquisition." Sony's big acquisition didn't manifest this past week, despite the rumors. Ryan's comments, however, are likely to fuel the rumors further looking at the next week and beyond.
As for what studios PlayStation could be looking to acquire at this point in time, the sky is the limit. It's actually a very opportune situation for PlayStation acquisitions at the moment. Microsoft's plan to acquire Activision Blizzard has drawn the attention of federal oversight. It may have to slow or press pause on acquisitions until Activision Blizzard is fully secured. That gives PlayStation a window to pick up more studios before Microsoft steps back in, potentially.
This gold rush of studio acquisitions from both PlayStation and Xbox, and even Nintendo to a lesser degree, has been an exciting thing to watch for video game players and fans. The ramifications of these acquisitions continue to be unknown, however. The products of the acquisitions, whether they be more exclusives, more of certain types of games, or perhaps more creative products, won't be seen for years yet. That won't slow PlayStation down in the meantime, though.