Game Developer Shuts Down Sony Acquisition Speculations

CD Projekt Red has refuted rumors that it is in discussions with Sony regarding a potential acquisition. The rumor of a possible acquisition by Sony came to light over the weekend, but the Polish video game developer has denied any such talks taking place. Sony's activities in mergers and acquisitions have been a topic of much speculation in recent years, with Microsoft's attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard being the biggest such deal in the gaming industry's history. This has reportedly put additional investor pressure on Sony to keep up, with reports suggesting that more PlayStation acquisitions may be in the pipeline.

However, CD Projekt Red has denied the rumors of Sony's interest in acquiring the company. In response to a tweet from YouTuber LastKnownMeal dismissing the baseless notion, CD Projekt Red representative Ola Sondej took to Twitter to state, "We're not in such talks with Sony." This isn't the first time this exact same rumor has circulated online either, with speculation surrounding a potential acquisition dating back to before the release of Cyberpunk 2077 in late 2020.

While smaller scale acquisitions may still be on the horizon for Sony, it's unlikely that any major deals will take place in the near future. Reports suggest that Sony's remaining acquisition budget is running low, with less than one-third of the $18 billion war chest allocated to M&A activity in 2021 still available. However, this budget would still be sufficient to finance a hypothetical purchase of CDPR, which currently boasts a market cap approximately 45 times smaller than that of Sony, amounting to roughly $2.89 billion as of May 29.

The Witcher series developer quickly denied rumors of being acquired by Sony, which resulted in a notable increase in their stock value on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. This debunking discredits the credibility of a notorious leaker, Liz, who has previously shared Destiny-related information on Discord. Liz claimed that CDPR was in talks to sell to Sony, as well as that Days Gone 2 was in development, both of which were met with skepticism. Bend Studio had previously confirmed that they were working on a new IP, indicating that Days Gone 2 was not in the works. While CDPR is not joining the PlayStation family, Sony may still make a significant studio purchase in the next year if they are willing to spend their remaining M&A budget.