Way back in 2021, Sony revealed that it had earmarked around ¥2 trillion (~$18 billion) for strategic investments across the entire company, which extended to the acquisition of developers like Housemarque and Bungie, as well as anime streaming service Crunchyroll. That money was meant to last until 2024, and during a Morgan Stanley web conference earlier this week, they confirmed that they have about ¥700 billion (~$5 billion) left.
It is important to emphasize that this number extends to the entire Japanese organization and not just the PlayStation division. But to be fair, Sony Interactive Entertainment has put the money to good use, both by acquiring longtime partners and investing in developers like Epic Games and FromSoftware. As Microsoft desperately tries to convince regulators to allow it to spend $69 billion on Activision Blizzard, however, it shines a light on the difference in sheer purchasing power between the two.
It should be noted that this money won’t completely empty Sony’s piggy bank: we’d assume that by the time 2024 rolls around, another sum of money will be freed up for further strategic investments. But given the kind of numbers being discussed here, we might want to put those Square Enix and Capcom acquisition fan fictions on hold—at least for the time being anyway.