Sony is increasing acquisition costs this year, paving the way for further acquisitions.
Sony has released its full fiscal year 2022 earnings report, accompanied by a presentation from president Hiroki Totoki. As part of the presentation, Totoki says acquisition-related costs will increase by 20% for the 2023 fiscal year compared to the same year-long period for the 2022 fiscal year.
Sony President, Hiroki Totoki, said that acquisition related costs will be increasing by 20% YoY in this next fiscal year! 👀 pic.twitter.com/bsis6gKCgbApril 28, 2023
In short, this means Sony has further acquisitions planned for 2023. Last year, Sony acquired Destiny 2 developer Bungie and new Canadian developer Haven, headed up by former Ubisoft veteran Jade Raymond. We could expect multiple acquisitions from Sony throughout the year, considering their record of acquisitions over the last 12 months.
However, don't take this to automatically be related to gaming acquisitions. President Totoki is speaking on behalf of all of Sony with these new acquisition-related comments, not just PlayStation, meaning Sony could be planning purchases that aren't related to gaming, like smartphones or music-related ones.
Considering PlayStation head Jim Ryan said Sony had further acquisitions planned last year, though, it's a pretty safe bet to say Sony is eyeing purchasing more studios. Since Ryan's comments in April 2022, Sony hasn't made any further acquisition moves, so it could've been waiting until the new fiscal year, with a new budget for acquisitions, to get the ball properly rolling.
If it's new PS5 games you've got your eye on for the coming weeks and months, head over to our upcoming PS5 games guide for more.