CD Projekt has shot down a persistent rumor that it’s in talks with Sony about an acquisition deal, saying unequivocally that no such negotiations are going down.
Discuss of a potential CD Projekt takeover has been kicking round for years: Method again in 2015, as an illustration, Digital Arts was reportedly seeking to purchase the studio—a rumor that CD Projekt shortly shot down. A 12 months later it happened again after CD Projekt made some behind-the-scenes strikes as “insurance coverage” towards a hypothetical hostile takeover.
Hypothesis a couple of potential buyout flared up again in 2022 following the announcement of an bold multi-year improvement plan and the stepdown of longtime joint CEO Marcin Iwiński, though analysts stated there was nothing concerning the studio’s actions that pointed particularly towards an impending takeover.
The newest declare is that Sony is making ready so as to add CD Projekt to its lineup, a rumor that surfaced in March and has endured since then regardless of no actual proof to help it. The newest increase to that story occurred over the weekend, when Future 2 leaker Liz (through IconEra) posted on their Discord server that “PlayStation plans on shopping for CD Projekt Pink.”
This stuff are often left to blow over unremarked, however on this case—maybe as a result of the story has dragged on for thus lengthy—the studio opted to shoot it down outright. “Re: The newest rumor,” CD Projekt Pink PR rep Ola Sondej stated on Twitter. “Yah, we’re not in such talks with Sony.”
Re: the newest rumor. https://t.co/zsaaGjI5zfMay 29, 2023
That is about as unambiguous because it will get.
Company acquisitions are sometimes pushed by the relentless pursuit of revenue or strategic targets, which was at the least a part of the idea behind the rumors on this case—that Sony is on the lookout for a counterpunch to Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. I do not suppose that basically holds as much as scrutiny: Pretty much as good (and profitable) as CD Projekt’s video games are, singleplayer RPGs merely do not need the presence and worth of a recreation sequence like Name of Responsibility (there have been 16 mainline Name of Responsibility video games for the reason that launch of the primary Witcher videogame in 2007) and the money-printing MMO World of Warcraft.
No matter these issues, it is honest to say that CD Projekt would not want a savior. The corporate reported as we speak that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has now surpassed 50 million copies sold, and it is now gearing as much as begin selling the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 growth Phantom Liberty, which is able to get its first actual airing on the Summer Game Fest on June 8