Macquarie upgrades Sony to Outperform, says ‘Helldivers II’ has potential to drive upside
“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.
NEW RELEASES:
This week’s most notable release is Konami’s (KONMY) “Contra: Operation Galuga,” an action shooter that launches March 12 for PlayStation 4 (SONY), PS5, PC, Xbox One (MSFT), Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch (NTDOY).
EPIC/APPLE:
Last week, “Fortnite” maker Epic Games said that, to the company’s suprise, Apple (AAPL) terminated the company’s developer account, and that Epic cannot develop the Epic Games Store for iOS.
“We recently announced that Apple approved our Epic Games Sweden AB developer account,” Epic Games said. “We intended to use that account to bring the Epic Games Store and Fortnite to iOS devices in Europe thanks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). To our surprise, Apple has terminated that account and now we cannot develop the Epic Games Store for iOS. This is a serious violation of the DMA and shows Apple has no intention of allowing true competition on iOS devices… In terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple is taking out one of the largest potential competitors to the Apple App Store. They are undermining our ability to be a viable competitor and they are showing other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or are critical of their unfair practices. If Apple maintains its power to kick a third party marketplace off iOS at its sole discretion, no reasonable developer would be willing to utilize a third party app store, because they could be permanently separated from their audience at any time.”
Following the statement by Epic, Bloomberg reported that Apple would be questioned by the European Commission about such accusations in a move that increases the likelihood of another legal battle between the iPhone maker and Brussels regulators. On Monday, however, Reuters reported that Apple had reinstated Epic Games’ developer account.
In a statement on the matter released Tuesday, the tech giant said, “We’re providing more flexibility for developers who distribute apps in the European Union, including introducing a new way to distribute apps directly from a developer’s website. Developers who’ve agreed to the Alternative Terms Addendum for Apps in the EU have new options for their apps in the EU: Alternative app marketplaces. Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps solely from the developer of the marketplace. Linking out to purchase. When directing users to complete a transaction for digital goods or services on an external webpage, developers can choose how to design promotions, discounts, and other deals. The Apple-provided design templates, which are optimized for key purchase and promotional use cases, are now optional. Web Distribution, available with a software update later this spring, will let authorized developers distribute their iOS apps to EU users directly from a website owned by the developer. Apple will provide authorized developers access to APIs that facilitate the distribution of their apps from the web, integrate with system functionality, back up and restore users’ apps, and more.” Investors in Epic include Tencent (TCEHY), KKR (KKR), Disney (DIS), and Sony.
SONY UPGRADED AT MACQUARIE:
On Monday, Macquarie analyst Damian Thong upgraded Sony to Outperform. The firm remains cautious about the overly high sell-side expectations regarding the company’s Game segment profits and profit margins over the longer term, but it also believes that there is a near-term opportunity in the shares due to the market’s underappreciation of the impact of “Helldivers II,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. The game has the potential not just to drive upside vs. guidance, it may also favorably shift the narrative around Sony’s games business, the firm added.
OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:
- Sony’s “Helldivers II” topped the U.K. sales charts for a fourth straight week, Gamesindustry.biz reports [read more]
- Nintendo announced that a sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is in development and is slated to release on April 3, 2026 in the U.S. [read more]
- PlayStation game “Ghost of Tsushima” will arrive on PC May 16 [read more]
- Microsoft brought more Xbox PC games to cloud streaming service Boosteroid [read more]
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Originally Posted March 12, 2024 – What You Missed This Week in Video Games
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