I actually brought it up a while ago that given where MS was trying to flip script by pushing Game Pass and the UWP and the whole ecosystem thing that Sony lagged behind on PS Now in a few areas. While primarily streaming they can probably bring local play to consoles all the same, but lack that ability to bridge local play to PC. They'd likely need a partner for expediency unless pay a fortune in new R&D. It seemed like Epic is the leading candidate in my view.
First off they both have similarly aggressive exclusivity negotiating patterns and if they combine their leverage they can make PS5/EGS deals to excluded games from their competitors. They can bridge rights so players can play their games on either systems. I imagine they can figure out cloud save compatibility eventually, maybe. There were also headlines about other acquisitions that involved a couple studios owned by Chinese VCs created by ex-Epic developers somehow falling under Sony's favor, plus Sony investing in Epic, and of course their debuting Unreal Engine 5 on PS5, they have a history too of Unreal Tournament on PS3... I dunno just seems all signs point to it like an inevitability. Frankly I would be worried if I were Valve, and Microsoft too. Ms needs to step up a more aggressive acquisition arms race, like some Cold War making space lasers level.
Valve better stop screwing around and start making their big name IPs mean something again. New Half Life, new Left 4 Dead, new Portal, new Counter-Strike, new Team Fortress, and none of that VR bullshit. Or they can just let Epic buy them I guess.
Anyhow, Sony would basically be in bed with Chinese if that happens so I guess we'll see how the idea that PSN/EGS will be farming user data will fly with people who use to whine that MS was putting spy cameras in homes with Kinect so the reptilians in the US government can spy on them.
Funny too is Sony could have done this years ago with Valve and it seemed like it might have happened. They had that whole thing with Portal 2 where if you got a PS3 copy you got a free Steam code with it too. Seems though Valve did this more just to give finger to Microsoft than to create an actual partnership. And Valve's hate for MS was most on display when they tried treating gamers like sheep about how MS was trying to kill Steam on Windows because of Windows store just to push their own OS and Steambox which ended in disaster because they couldn't make affordable potato mashers to compete with console prices with their third parties. Lately that fat lard Jabba Newell seems content as long as MS gives them lip service about how important Steam and Valve are to PC gaming, a constant stream of ego massage. If anything the irony of Valve losing their digital distribution marketshare because of a Sony-Epic partnership would seem like karma and despite being a Xbox fanboy it would be rather amusing to see the move tank Valve, those complacent fuckers.
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