Is this true? SOE sells out?

[Select]

Zapak set to buy out Sony Online for $300 mn
23 Dec, 2007, 0000 hrs IST,Dheeraj Tiwari, TNN


NEW DELHI: Zapak Digital entertainment, the online gaming company promoted by Anil Ambani-led ADAG group, is all set to buy out Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) for around $300 million (Rs 1,200 crore).

According to sources close to the development, the deal will be finalised within the next few days. Sony Online was on the block for the past two weeks and Zapak, which has been looking for acquiring international studios, is finally said to have reached a consensus over the valuation of Sony Online.

“The deal is almost through. It is in the final stages of negotiations and by next week, Zapak will have a full right to all content, owned and published by Sony Online,” sources told SundayET.

Sony Online Entertainment is the game development and game publishing unit of Sony and posts revenue of around $ 150 million (the company doesn’t reveal the exact details for the division). It has in the past come out with popular games such as Everquest, PlanetSide, Star War Galaxies and Vanguard. SOE’s headquartered at San Diego, California, with additional game development studios located in Austin, Texas, Denver, Colorado and Seattle.

This acquisition is in line with the future plans of Zapak Digital, which is planning to enter the gaming space in China by early next year. “This makes perfect sense for us, as around 80% of content in the gaming industry is manufactured internationally. Buying out Sony, will not only give us access but also expand our reach in the global market,” said a senior Zapak Official.

The major expenses in the gaming industry is on content and marketing, and Zapak aims to reduce the cost of publishing a game by buying out those studios and relocating them to India. “This will reduce the cost drastically from $30 mn to $10mn, which will give us the advantage to channelise our funds towards marketing and other activities,” the official said.

In the recent past, Sony has aligned with Virgin Comics, a Bangalore-based collaboration of famed, self-help guru Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and Richard Branson of Virgin Group. After the proposed acquisition, Zapak plans to retain control over all the deals, which has been signed by Sony Online.

According to the latest IMRB report, there are about 2.8 million online gamers in India and the online gaming industry is worth Rs 21 crore. Zapak is one of the top players in the Indian gaming space.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Zap ... 643807.cms

I'm suspicious; 300mil just seems too low. If it's true, I really do not like the paragraph that's in bold.

[Select]

Reliable source WRU?

As much fun as it is to seek out news from the intertubes, we always appreciate tips when they're submitted. Tonight we got a unique tip, from CEO of Sony Online Entertainment John Smedley. This tip came along with a small wave of similar tips, all discussing the supposed purchase of SOE by the Zapak Digital group.

The article claims that SOE has been 'on the block' for two weeks, and that the group plans to purchase the Sony subsidiary for the sum of $300 million. The article further claims this is an ongoing strategic move by Zapak:

The major expenses in the gaming industry is on content and marketing, and Zapak aims to reduce the cost of publishing a game by buying out those studios and relocating them to India. "This will reduce the cost drastically from $30 mn to $10mn, which will give us the advantage to channelise our funds towards marketing and other activities," the official said.

Says Mr. Smedley, in response to the article:

It's got a bunch of people inside SOE emailing me asking me what's going on. This story is 100% false. We aren't for sale and never have been. Nothing like this has ever been discussed with the Zapak guys. The truth is we were talking to them about distribution rights to one of our games. And we have no idea how this story got started.

Thanks for clarifying things for us, John.

http://www.massively.com/2007/12/23/joh ... -by-zapak/

[Kulaf]

The CEO of SOE is not a reliable source?

[Ddrak]

There's no way Sony would sell SoE. It's covering their losses on the PS3...

Dd

[Select]

That's if the site he was quoted on is a reliable source. I wanted something more directly related to SOE for his statement.

[Kulaf]

http://www.reuters.com/article/business ... 5920071223

[Flunkie]

If it had been true, moving all development to India would have been a fatal disaster.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

It's normal for a company to deny rumors of something up until the day it happens, so I'm not sure I would discount them yet.

I remember the CEO of a software company I worked at telling us "The rumors are false. We're not going anywhere - we're going to grow old and die here" We were all laid off 3 days later.

I look forward to future SOE titles such as: Vanguard II - The broken english edition

[Ddrak]

Had there actually been rumors, I might agree with you. This particular article came from nowhere, had no backing material and wasn't even sourced from anyone inside either company. It doesn't even make economic sense - SOE is the only division of Sony's entertainment division that is actually doing relatively well. Makes about as much sense to sell it off as it would for Vivendi to sell off Blizzard.

Dd

[Mukik]

and india NEVER lies about anything to get a better market share.
that whole region needs to melt. 30000 kelvin for a few minutes would be just right.