Sony could spun off Playstation division amid major shakeup in video game industry
The shake-up of the multi-billion-pound video game industry could see Sony spin off its Playstation arm into a separate company, a report claims.
Experts from research firm Enders Analysis said the Japanese tech and media giant would be “forced to respond” to mergers sweeping the industry, most notably Microsoft’s £55bn acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, which regulators under scrutiny around the world.
Enders predicted that Sony, whose video game production division Playstation Studios has released titles like God of War and Spider-Man, could pick up another studio to take on Microsoft if a merger goes through.
Shake-up: Playstation Studios, which has released titles such as Spiderman (pictured). could buy another studio if Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision goes through
It highlighted US studios Electronic Arts, publisher of Call of Duty competitor Battlefield, and Take-Two Interactive as shooting targets
But the analysts warned that such a large purchase would “fundamentally change” Sony’s business model and make it more dependent on its dominant gaming arm.
“It cannot be ruled out that Playstation will be divested as a separate company,” said Enders.