Today, Sony Online Entertainment were bought out. Not Sony as a whole. Just this one part. Sony Online Entertainment is responsible for a number of popular titles right now including Planetside 2, Landmark, EverQuest Next, and the zombie survival game H1Z1. Sounds like a pretty successful division right? Yes they are. So successful in fact, that Sony decided to sell the company to a small investment group, Columbus Nova, who have decided to change Sony Online Entertainment’s name to Daybreak Game Company.
Surprised? So’s everyone else.
This came as a massive shock to many in the community but there’s nothing to be afraid of. All of their current titles will continue to exist. Nothing has been lost (well, unless you’re Sony that is). If anything, Xbox One owners should be rejoicing at this buyout right now. The tweet from John Smedley, shown below, explains why in beautiful simplicity.
can’t wait to make Xbox One games!
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) February 2, 2015
You read it right, they’re going to start bringing games we have associated with Sony Online Entertainment for ages to Microsoft’s home gaming platform. H1Z1 was a key player in Sony’s marketing going forward. Now that they’ve lost this exclusivity (probably) what are they going to do?
It isn’t yet 100% clear whether the older titles will be coming to Xbox One or if it’s just going to be new games that are made to be multiplatform. All we can really do is wait and see.
This news first came to light on Sony Online Entertainment’s very own forum platform and can be found here. On the subject, Community Relations representative “Dexella” had this to say;
As part of this transition, SOE will now become Daybreak Game Company. This name embodies who we are as an organization, and is a nod to the passion and dedication of our employees and players. It is also representative of our vision to approach each new day as an opportunity to move gaming forward.
So what exactly does this mean for you? It will be business as usual and all SOE games will continue on their current path of development and operation. In fact, we expect to have even more resources available to us as a result of this acquisition. It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in.
Do you think this is a good move for Sony Online Entertainment? Is it your suspicion that the new owners have forced a name change to Daybreak Game Company with the express intention of selling off all of its assets before leaving a dry, empty husk behind? Let us know in the comments down below.