索尼爲什麼要賣網絡遊戲部門

On Monday, Sony sold its online gaming division to New York investment management firm Columbus Nova for an undisclosed sum. The game publisher that was once known as Sony Online Entertainment—SOE to game-industry insiders—is now operating under the name Daybreak Game Company. John Smedley, its president, will remain and its development teams will be kept intact.

本週一，索尼將其網絡遊戲部門賣給了紐約一家名爲Columbus Nova的投資管理公司，交易金額並未披露。索尼在線娛樂公司（SOE）現改名爲黎明遊戲公司。該公司總裁約翰o史沫特萊將繼續留任，其研發團隊也將保留不動。

Why would Sony SNE 10.90% ditch its in-house game maker? Because it’s no longer a strategic asset for Sony, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. The company, which launched in 1996 as part of Sony’s 989 Studios, was built to develop and run subscription-based massively multiplayer online, or MMO, games. In recent years, the online video game industry has transitioned to a free-to-play business model requiring game makers to give the games away and generate revenue through in-game micro-transactions. Few game publishers outside of Activision Blizzard ATVI -0.65% with itsWorld of Warcraft franchise have been able to maintain a subscription model with all the free online competition.

索尼爲什麼要拋棄自家的遊戲開發部門？韋德布什證券公司分析師邁克爾o帕切認爲，對於索尼來說，它已經不再是一筆戰略資產。這家公司成立於1996年，是索尼旗下989家工作室的一份子，主要開發和運行大型多玩家在線遊戲(MMO)。近年來，在線視頻遊戲行業已經過渡到一種免費的業務模式，遊戲開發商需要先給玩家免費提供遊戲，然後通過遊戲內的各種小交易來盈利。除了暴雪公司出品的《魔獸世界》之外，很少有其他遊戲製作商能夠在衆多免費網遊的圍剿中繼續維繫訂購模式。

“Unfortunately, free-to-play is growing most rapidly on phones and tablets, and SOE wasn’t there because those aren’t really core Sony products,” Pachter says. “SOE didn’t support any of Sony’s consumer electronics businesses, so it was easy to sell.”

帕切表示：“不幸的是，免費增值模式在智能手機和平板電腦上增長得最快，而SOE並沒有進入移動領域，因爲這類遊戲算不上是索尼的核心產品。SOE對索尼的任何消費電子業務都形不成支持，所以它很容易被賣掉。”

Pachter believes that Sony was approached by Columbus Nova, which has over $15 billion of assets through its own funds and affiliated portfolio companies, without it having to shop around the business. Sony likely got a fair amount for the division, he adds, though none of the analysts interviewed by Fortune for this story were able to provide even a ballpark figure for the price that Columbus Nova may have paid. All of the analysts agreed, however, that the additional cash will help Sony increase its investment in higher priority areas of the company.

帕切相信，應該是Columbus Nova公司主動聯繫索尼，洽談這筆收購業務。這家投資管理公司通過旗下的基金和投資的企業，總共掌握着150億美元的資產。他還認爲，索尼很可能賣了一個好價錢，但《財富》記者採訪的幾位分析師都無法提供這筆交易的大致價格。但所有分析師都認爲，這筆錢將有助於索尼加大向公司內部其它更重要領域的投資。

The sale of SOE does not remove Sony from the online games business entirely. Though the division represented a large portion of Sony’s online revenue, the company remains active in digital goods through its PlayStation 4 console, says EEDAR analyst Sartori Bernbeck.

EEDAR公司分析師薩爾多裏o伯恩貝克表示，賣掉SOE並不等於索尼徹底放棄網絡遊戲業務。雖然該公司貢獻了索尼在線業務相當大的一部分收益，但它的活躍範圍也僅限於索尼的PlayStation 4遊戲機。

“It’s likely that this move illustrates Sony’s focus on doubling down on its effort to promote and grow its first party platforms as a primary concern over continuing PC development,” Bernbeck says. “We at EEDAR expect Sony to continue to grow and develop their digital and online efforts on first party platforms with continued titles that take advantage of online services and new business models such as free-to-play games.”

“完成這筆交易後，索尼很可能將以更大的力度推動和發展它的第一方平臺，對其重視程度恐怕將超過拓展PC業務，” 伯恩貝克說。“我們EEDAR公司認爲，索尼將繼續在其第一平臺上發展數碼和在線業務，並利用免費增值等在線服務和新的業務模式繼續推出新遊戲。”

At an event in Las Vegas in December, Sony’s internal San Diego Studios debuted its first free-to-play game, Kill Strain, which pits teams of five verses two verses five players in shooting action. Sony plans to announce other free games at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles in June.

去年12月，在拉斯維加斯的一場活動上，索尼旗下的聖地亞哥工作室推出它的首款免費增值遊戲《Kill Strain》，這是一款“5V2V5”的多人對戰射擊遊戲。索尼還計劃在今年六月的洛杉磯E3展會上繼續推出其它免費遊戲。

The sale of SOE this month echoes another strategic divestment from a year ago: the sale of Sony’s Vaio PC business to investment fund Japan Industrial Partners. In that deal, Sony sought to move away from the declining PC business and toward the booming smartphone and tablet business. Sony Online Entertainment showed its corporate parent that it could make successful games—DC Universe Online, Planetside 2—for the PlayStation 4 and not just the PC. Now it can follow that blueprint on its own.

索尼本月賣掉SOE，與一年前的另一次資產剝離遙相呼應：一年前，索尼將Vaio電腦業務賣給了投資基金日本產業合作伙伴公司。通過這筆交易，索尼擺脫了江河日下的PC業務，邁進了蓬勃發展的智能手機和平板電腦市場。SOE公司已經向索尼展示了它有能力爲PlayStation 4和PC平臺製作成功的遊戲產品，比如《DC漫畫英雄在線》、《星際2》等等。現在，它只能獨立追尋自己的夢想了。（財富中文網）