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PlayStation & Xbox job listings suggest both are pursuing more acquisitions

In a year of massive deals and acquisitions, PlayStation and Xbox's job listings indicate both are far from finished picking up studios.

TJ Denzer

May 2, 2022 9:25 AM

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2022 has been one of the biggest years of video game studio deals and acquisitions ever. Major gaming companies are scooping up studios left and right and massive amounts of money are moving around. Both Xbox and PlayStation have made some big plays this year, but it would seem the respective Activision Blizzard and Bungie deals aren’t the end of it. Recent job listings at both giants suggest they are looking to pursue even further acquisitions in the very near future.

It was about a week ago that Xbox posted a job listing on LinkedIn for a “Manager of Gaming Strategy & Development.” Among the duties of this job, one stand-out demands “developing and evaluating the business case for content & technology acquisitions.” On the other side of the fence, PlayStation also posted a job listing, spotted by business analyst Roberto Serrano, for a Director of Corporate Development. This job listing, likewise, includes a need for employees to “drive proactive deal sourcing, including developing relationships with external and internal partners,” among further demands related to acquisition and deal development.

Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox have been aggressively moving on various business deals in 2022 alone. Xbox kicked off the year with a massive announcement that it would be moving to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion USD. PlayStation followed up soon after with its own announcement that it would be acquiring Bungie for $3.6 billion. They’re far from the only ones either. This week began with Embracer sweeping up several studios from Square Enix including Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix Montreal, along with rights to around 50 IPs under their purview including Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, and Legacy of Kain.

With PlayStation and Xbox moving to hire high-level positions relating directly to the business of studio deals and acquisitions, it will be interesting to see what comes next. If 2022 has shown us anything, it’s that these huge deals and acquisitions are becoming somewhat of a regular occurrence. Stay tuned as we continue to watch for further activity throughout the year.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.