back to article Sony hurls Online Entertainment from the mothership

In an unexpected move, Sony has sold off its gaming division Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) – which was responsible for the pioneering massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing game EverQuest among other titles. On Monday, SOE announced that it had been acquired by Columbus Nova, a New York–based investment firm, for an …

  1. P. Lee

    $2bn loss?

    How do you get to those figures without going bankrupt earlier?

    Ah, yes, irresponsible bankers. I wonder if we've seen that before?

    1. Mark 85

      Re: $2bn loss?

      Bankers? They're probably involved but it starts with irresponsible management. The infamous hijack of their data was apparently only the tip of this particular iceberg.

    2. Jon 37

      Re: $2bn loss?

      As of March 31 last year, they had about £5.7b / $8.5b in cash, and £4.7b / $7b in shares that they could sell relatively easily. So they have enough cash to last them several years, even if they're burning through $2b of cash per year.

      Their total equity (i.e. the "book value" of the company, which may be wildly different from what it's valued at on the stock market) was about £15b / $23b (I got lost in the details of the financial statement at that point, so that number may be off by +/-50%, but I think it's the right ballpark). So in theory they can last several years before declaring bankruptcy even if they're losing $2b per year.

      Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/FY13_Consolidated_Financial_Statement.pdf

      And: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/14q2_sony.pdf

      1. Mark 85

        Re: $2bn loss?

        Well, given the way shareholders are, they'll demand the cash and have the company fold before spending it.

        The only other possibility I can see is some sort of PR game being played. After the hack(s), there was a lot of ire especially with the gamers. Makes me think they're trying to distance themselves a bit... Or the hack(s) took out more than Sony is letting on and this is a way to preserve some bits. It is interesting that an investment firm bought this and that the "terms" are not readily available. Maybe some research is in order.. could be interesting to see if they were just bought outright or something else.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: $2bn loss?

      Microsoft has lost that on Xbox every year. Like Sony they have other business sectors (or in the case of Microsoft, extortion rackets) to cover it.

      http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-is-making-2bn-a-year-on-android-licensing-five-times-more-than-windows-phone/

  2. raving angry loony

    Investment firm?

    They got bought by an investment firm?

    They're fucked.

    1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

      Re: Investment firm?

      And I assume monthly charges will quadruple in a short space of time as well as having new features such as hats to sell on a market.

  3. Come to the Dark Side

    If only they'd left Smedley behind, I'd have hope for them. Wonder what this means for the EQN title in development at present.

  4. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "They have a proven track record in similar and related industries..."

    Do they ? Funny I've never, ever heard of them then.

    When I read that sentence I was thinking "they have a rap sheet a mile long...". If they've only been heard of by investors, it doesn't feel like a good thing.

    Oh, and what industry is "similar and/or related to" the gaming industry ?

    1. Midnight

      Re: "They have a proven track record in similar and related industries..."

      "Oh, and what industry is "similar and/or related to" the gaming industry?"

      I don't know the proper name for it, but it's the only other industry that refers to its customers as "users".

      1. BongoJoe

        Re: "They have a proven track record in similar and related industries..."

        ...when I played EverQuest used to be known as EverCrack.

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