Three decades of games industry consolidation

The pandemic had already robbed me of any sense of day or time. But then, on the final day of the month, Sony announces its $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie. Talk about getting snowed in. It has left me reduced to orienting myself by calendar months only. Thank God it’s February (TGIF). Anyway, this week’s announcement is a continuation of Sony’s strategy that rhymes with its acquisitions and investments elsewhere, including its purchase of Insomniac Games for $229 million in 2019, buying a $400 million stake in Chinese live streaming service Bilibili in 2020, making a $200 million investment in Epic Games last April, acquiring Crunchyroll in August 2021 for $1.2 billion, and, finally taking minority stakes in Discord, Scopely, and Devolver Digital. Phew. As a consumer electronics firm, Sony has an extensive history of buying its way into entertainment markets like video and music to encourage you to buy their TV sets and audio equipment. What doesn’t get discussed much is the immine

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• Scott Sunarto