Is anyone else surprised Sony seemingly wasn’t in the market for Square Enix’s western studios, specifically Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider franchise? The company may have Uncharted these days, but Lara Croft is still a top ten globally recognised gaming icon, and the character would fit PlayStation Studios’ blueprint perfectly. Consider the franchise’s movie upside, especially with PlayStation Productions seeking to find its footing, and it strikes us as a missed opportunity – especially considering the bargain bin valuation.
Certainly we’re not pretending to know more than the bigwigs on seven-figure salaries at Sony – and we’re obviously not huge fans of the industry consolidation that’s occurring anyway – but our immediate reaction to today’s bombshell news was that Embracer is getting a bargain and Sony missed a major opportunity here. Tomb Raider and the PlayStation – the PS1 specifically – will forever be intrinsically linked.
Regardless, looks like the company is seeking an expert to ensure it doesn’t miss out on too many acquisition opportunities in the future, as it’s actively recruiting a Director of Corporate Development who will be responsible for “identifying inorganic growth opportunities through acquisitions, investments, or joint ventures”. The job listing continues: “The team sources, evaluates, and completes transactions that are aligned with SIE’s strategic priorities and drive significant long-term value for the company.”
You can read the full job listing yourself, but basically the person hired will be required to identify companies PlayStation could buy in order to achieve its strategic goals. It goes without saying that the firm’s looking for someone with significant experience in the field, so we can’t imagine it’ll be getting too many applications from social media “experts” who post their corporate buyout wishlists on Twitter every Tuesday.
To be honest, we suspect roles like this are fairly commonplace in major companies like Sony, so it’s not really an indication of anything. It’s interesting given today’s big news, though.
