Rumor: Sony wants a $500 million Club Penguin

by Peter Vrabel { May 18th 2007 at 6:00PM }

Montgomery & Co. virtual online company, Club Penguin, is supposedly in exclusive acquisition talks with Sony for the rumored price of $500 million. One has to wonder where that cash would be coming from, after such reports on Sony's recent financial situations. Nevertheless, if the acquisition is successful, it would allow Sony to cater to a much younger audience. Club Penguin offers games, activities and even kid-friendly chat. We'd imagine Sony would incorporate this into the PlayStation Network or even Home somehow, allowing a haven for young tykes to ~~duke it out in Resistance~~ play silly games and chat with their friends.

Club Penguin's incorporation into the PlayStation Network might even convince parents to fork over $600 beans in order to get their kids the PS3 system. Not a bad idea, really. Sony could use more niche markets to increase the PS3 penetration and convince third party developers to start bringing the games.

Tags: club penguin, ClubPenguin, playstation network, PlaystationNetwork

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Darko @ May 18th 2007 6:10PM

... so how far do they have left to dig until they've hit china?

shase @ May 18th 2007 6:22PM

I dont know about this... can they really make the money back this way? I mean the PS3 doesnt have many kiddie games in the first place and buying a ps3 for this is kinda outrageous... i guess their strategists/analysts know much better than us.

massive_98 @ May 18th 2007 6:30PM

Sony should either be spending money on R&D to lower the cost of production for a PS3 or buy more game devolopers. This is just a waste of money.

Andir3.0 @ May 18th 2007 6:32PM

A bit more than 500KM, or roughly 350 miles. Plus you'd have to figure actually going under the water, but if you could dig through the air, the above estimates are about pretty close.

You did go to school, right? You understand that China is just a jump across the water from Japan? Have the schools actually sunk to that level?

Mishi @ May 18th 2007 6:35PM

they should buy Sucker Punch instead :)

Lp47 @ May 18th 2007 7:02PM

I dont know how this will pan out but sony ideas in the past have all helped them.(home) But i would like them to spend money on locking exclusives like: MGS, and others. Or try and get some microsoft exclusives like bioshock and gears of war2. I dunno.

Kspraydad @ May 18th 2007 8:27PM

Excellent idea...

It makes $35 million profit per year now and with Sony's marketing reach (Club Penguin Movie, Club Penguin Saturday Cartoon, Club Penguin stand alone games for PS3 and PSP etc) and expansion of this to EU and JP they could easily recoup $500 million and grow this into a premiere holding.

Will it sell ALOT of PS3s...not as a stand alone product (it is on PC) but the could leverage it into something MUCH bigger.

Nymo @ May 18th 2007 9:06PM

Coming From An Actual Club Penguin Beta Tester (don't ask):

This Is Really Interesting..

And You Know, HOME Is Basically An Teen-Adult Version Of Club Penguin And Other Interactive Online Communities Like Habbo Hotel, Coke Music, And Virtual Magic Kingdom, Which Are Mainly Aimed At The Kid-Teen Crowd..

HOME Is So Much Like These Online Chat/Game Communities Considering That They Have Load Times Between Each Room, Each User Owns A Room Where They Can Decorate With Furnishings, Chat With Others, Dress Themselves Up, Play Little Games Within, And Contains Areas That Are Sponsored By Other Companies..
(more so than 'second life' which people quickly relate home with, which is a user-made enviroment..)

This Kinda Interest Me, Since The Little Nephews Had Club Penguin Playing On Their Wii (via opera browser)..

Hope Sony Gets In A Deal, though, i'd imagine they would join up with the guys at sulake instead of rocketsnail..

kingofwale @ May 18th 2007 10:02PM

500 million?? I don't know, how much does Enix worth? Let's hostile takeover that company. ;)

Andrew @ May 19th 2007 8:25AM

sony also makes computers I think since club penguin is for CPU's then sony will make prophet that way.

lenny0487 @ May 19th 2007 9:50AM

instead of spending money on stuff like this, how about paying for a the exclusivity of MGS4 and FFXIII?

Alex @ May 19th 2007 9:57AM

I don't think this will have the impact your thinking only because I have 2 children that use Club Penguin, and they play with it 10X more than they do the Wii. And the thought that the parents are going to fork over $600 dollars for them to play this on a console is crazy. Everyone already has a computer hardly anyone has a PS3.