Analyst Michael Pachter claims Sony is a “terrible company” that is “blowing it in the game business” for not moving towards cloud gaming.
The 55 billion US Dollar buyout of Electronic Arts has sparked renewed debate about the future of the gaming industry, and Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter didn’t hold back his views during a recent Yahoo Finance interview. When asked whether there is a scenario where conglomerates such as Microsoft or Sony could themselves become acquisition targets, the longtime analyst bluntly responded by saying, “No, Sony for sure not. Sony’s a terrible company and they actually are blowing it in the games business.”
Pachter’s criticism of Sony focused on what he sees as a failure to adapt to emerging shifts in how players will access games. He argued that the future of gaming lies in “connected TVs” and delivery of content via the cloud, drawing comparisons with Netflix and how it transformed the film and television industry. “Think about all the participants that are going to deliver games the way we get movies via Netflix… free-to-play games on your TV. Who’s going to deliver that? Cloud providers, AI, anybody who’s investing in making that happen is where you want to be,” he explained.
Furthermore, the analyst praised mobile-focused publisher Playtika, revealing that he personally owns 500,000 shares in the company. He argued that mobile game companies are better positioned to thrive in a cloud-first future, highlighting Playtika’s profitability and growth potential.
Pachter’s thoughts are in stark contrast to Sony’s own perspective. During its Tokyo Game Show 2025 keynote speech just last week, the company declared that the PS5 has become its most successful console generation ever, with 136 billion US Dollars in current lifetime sales. However, Pachter’s criticism stems from the idea that relying too heavily on hardware sales may leave the company vulnerable if consumer trends shift toward cloud gaming and direct-to-TV experiences.
Meanwhile, former Microsoft and Blizzard executive Mike Ybarra acknowledged that PlayStation is a successful console business. Read about it here.
