索尼为什么要卖网络游戏部门？

    本周一，索尼将其网络游戏部门卖给了纽约一家名为Columbus Nova的投资管理公司，交易金额并未披露。索尼在线娱乐公司（SOE）现改名为黎明游戏公司。该公司总裁约翰•史沫特莱将继续留任，其研发团队也将保留不动。

    索尼为什么要抛弃自家的游戏开发部门？韦德布什证券公司分析师迈克尔•帕切认为，对于索尼来说，它已经不再是一笔战略资产。这家公司成立于1996年，是索尼旗下989家工作室的一份子，主要开发和运行大型多玩家在线游戏(MMO)。近年来，在线视频游戏行业已经过渡到一种免费的业务模式，游戏开发商需要先给玩家免费提供游戏，然后通过游戏内的各种小交易来盈利。除了暴雪公司出品的《魔兽世界》之外，很少有其他游戏制作商能够在众多免费网游的围剿中继续维系订购模式。

    帕切表示：“不幸的是，免费增值模式在智能手机和平板电脑上增长得最快，而SOE并没有进入移动领域，因为这类游戏算不上是索尼的核心产品。SOE对索尼的任何消费电子业务都形不成支持，所以它很容易被卖掉。”

    帕切相信，应该是Columbus Nova公司主动联系索尼，洽谈这笔收购业务。这家投资管理公司通过旗下的基金和投资的企业，总共掌握着150亿美元的资产。他还认为，索尼很可能卖了一个好价钱，但《财富》记者采访的几位分析师都无法提供这笔交易的大致价格。但所有分析师都认为，这笔钱将有助于索尼加大向公司内部其它更重要领域的投资。

    EEDAR公司分析师萨尔多里•伯恩贝克表示，卖掉SOE并不等于索尼彻底放弃网络游戏业务。虽然该公司贡献了索尼在线业务相当大的一部分收益，但它的活跃范围也仅限于索尼的PlayStation 4游戏机。

    “完成这笔交易后，索尼很可能将以更大的力度推动和发展它的第一方平台，对其重视程度恐怕将超过拓展PC业务，” 伯恩贝克说。“我们EEDAR公司认为，索尼将继续在其第一平台上发展数码和在线业务，并利用免费增值等在线服务和新的业务模式继续推出新游戏。”

    去年12月，在拉斯维加斯的一场活动上，索尼旗下的圣地亚哥工作室推出它的首款免费增值游戏《Kill Strain》，这是一款“5V2V5”的多人对战射击游戏。索尼还计划在今年六月的洛杉矶E3展会上继续推出其它免费游戏。

    索尼本月卖掉SOE，与一年前的另一次资产剥离遥相呼应：一年前，索尼将Vaio电脑业务卖给了投资基金日本产业合作伙伴公司。通过这笔交易，索尼摆脱了江河日下的PC业务，迈进了蓬勃发展的智能手机和平板电脑市场。SOE公司已经向索尼展示了它有能力为PlayStation 4和PC平台制作成功的游戏产品，比如《DC漫画英雄在线》、《星际2》等等。现在，它只能独立追寻自己的梦想了。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    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.

    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.

    “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.”

    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.

    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.

    “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.”

    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.

    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.