If was to make some guesses at acquisitions for the other guys...
Nintendo: Platinum Games, SEGA (as a 2nd party) and Level-5 maybe. Vanpool possibly as well.
Platinum Games would be a solid IP creator for Nintendo and has spoken about their preference for being acquired by them over Sony.
SEGA would be a great workhorse for Nintendo, something I think Nintendo actually needs for their neglected IPs (SEGA did make the last F-Zero game after all) and just in general. Plus SEGA has some of their own IPs that'd fit well with the Nintendo family like Sonic and some others that would serve to widen Nintendo's appeal like Yakuza.
Level-5 is kind of the same situation with their IP fitting in remarkably well and they need the funding to get back into the west.
Vanpool has a solid relationship with Nintendo and again could use the funding to position them going forward into the more expensive developmental era.
Nintendo values loyalty so that they can trust the talent staying. All of these companies I think Nintendo has built a solid foundation of trust with.
Sony: Techland, CD Projekt RED, FromSoftware, Arc Systems Work, Remedy, IO interactive, Supermasssive Games
I basically think these all have similar things going for them. They all fit well with Sony's IP family with their established works. They all are primed to go up in value (in regards to what they bring to the table for Sony) as they progress their craft and get better. They could all thrive under Sony's leadership. ASW specifically has Sony's EVO buyout going for it. CDPR is kind of going through a major bump in their journey but we all know their potential is unquestionable and they would act as a direct counter to Bethesda. It might be the perfect time to go after them for Sony. If they acquired Techland on top of that they'd have a major base of operation in Poland. If they got Remedy they'd have the same thing for Finland considering their acquisition of Housemarque. FromSoftware would somehow fit better than all of these well-fitting studios. They almost feel like a Sony studio already and again with Elden Ring seemingly unleashing their potential they're only primed to go up in value as they progress their craft. It might be the best time to go after them. They come with that Kadowawa red tape though. IO interactive is just a great fit and seem more than capable of creating the AAA kind of games Sony needs from these potential acquisitions. Supermassive Games looks like it's getting to that level of craftsmanship and would stand to benefit from Sony's funds and leadership pushing them there and I also think they'd probably be one of the more easier acquisitions of the bunch I've laid out.
As far as bigbois go I guess Square-Enix is out of the question for the foreseeable future.
In this day and age of video game mega-consolidation, I’ve had a gut feeling that something like this could happen at some point, and today, a new report out of Bloomberg Japan says that there are “multiple potential buyers” interested in purchasing Square Enix, according to different banking sou...
www.forbes.com
I do wonder though if Sony could potentially carve out Konami's actual video game IP and developmental division. That'd be a major acquisition if they could somehow pull that off.
Then there's Capcom. Goes without saying that those are some major IP gains and fits well with Sony's EVO goals.
I worry about anybody with Smash representation getting acquired by Sony. It'd be nice if Sony could play ball. I'd love Kratos to join the fight.
I personally think Sony should go after the smaller ones. I think there's more bang for their buck there than the bigbois.
I also wouldn't say Sony should just reflexively panic buy as a response to Microsoft's moves but it's been clear that this has been Microsoft's strategy for years now and Sony really needs to secure Playstatoin's future as a priority for the company. Sure they don't have the same warchest but they need to spend the warchest they do have sooner rather than later.
I also think Sony would stand to benefit from integrating some of their other core businesses into the Playstation ecosystem namely their TVs and speakers. Sony should have a gaming TV ready for consumers. An answer the LG C series. Maybe some sort of integrated perks to pair with PlayStation systems that only come from Sony TVs. Throw the speakers to make it feel like the living room version of a Sony "computer" so to speak with the Playstation, Sony TV and speakers reinforcing each other as a singular entertainment platform.
Then finally if the Switch's success in Japan has taught Sony anything is should be to dust off the ol' PSP brand and do something with it. A PSP2 (or PSP3 if you want to count the VITA) if you will. A current-gen PSP should of course be more powerful than a Switch and Switch successor but should also allow for you to play your Playstation catalog on the go. I could even see Sony getting away with some kind of charge to "upgrade" (or downgrade if you prefer) to having it playable portability so long as the device is powerful enough to entice gamers away from the Switch.
As far as their project Sparticus thing goes. From what I gather it's basically going to be older Playstation titles (PS1, 2, 3, 4 and maybe PSP/VITA?) plus Anime (Sony bought Crunchyroll and has a majority stake in Funimation I think) taking over for PS PLUS (as in you'll still get your free monthly games with this subscription) and maybe a humble offering of other titles in comparison to GamePass. Seems cool enough. I still think Sony would stand to benefit from allowing GamePass onto their platform in the future regardless. I don't see it going the other way around though because it isn't in Sony's interests to allow their exclusive stuff onto Microsoft's platform whereas it is in Microsoft's interests to allow GamePass on Playstation.
Microsoft: Valve
I see Valve as their holy grail. The perfect integration into the PC market, VR tech for their systems, a promising avenue into the handheld gaming market and a healthy chunk of beloved IP to work with.
Other than that maybe Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in the future at some point. Microsoft did show interest in acquiring them but I think the sale was just to gauge interest on WBIE's end. Of course Microsoft could just overpay for them to get the deal done.
