Sony Acquires Bungie In Shock $3.6 Billion Deal

Like an RKO out of nowhere, Sony has acquired Destiny and original Halo developer Bungie in a deal said to be worth $3.6 billion.

In the month that saw Microsoft purchase, Activision Blizzard, Sony has now begun making its own moves to compete against its rival. Sure, this deal is small in comparison to the $68 billion that Microsoft paid for Activision, but it’s a huge deal for Sony, nonetheless.

Bungie is joining PlayStation.

Here’s what to expect from this exciting news: https://t.co/s1L3PhQ9vK pic.twitter.com/0R1qhnEDKk

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) January 31, 2022

Interestingly, Bungie will still “self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play.” This means that titles such as Destiny 2 will remain multiplatform. It is expected that future titles from the studio will also be multiplatform, but that can all still change.

Bungie had this to say on the Sony acquisition:

With SIE, the potential for our universes is unlimited. Our future games will take bold steps into unexplored spaces for Bungie, continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, and will always be built on a foundation of creating meaningful, lifelong friendships and memories.​

We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games. We will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community. Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play.​ With SIE’s support, the most immediate change you will see is an acceleration in hiring talent across the entire studio to support our ambitious vision.

Over on the Sony website, SIE boss Jim Ryan had words of his own regarding the acquisition:

Bungie’s successful track record in multi-format publishing and live game services will assist us in realising our ambitions to take PlayStation beyond the console and increase our potential audience. They will remain independent and multi-platform, will enjoy creative freedom, and their track record in developing massively successful franchises in the sci-fi shooter genre will be highly complementary to SIE’s own IP portfolio.

This is a strategic step towards continuing to evolve the gaming experiences that we build. Bungie’s expertise in delivering a world-class service approach and long-term community engagement is extremely compelling and will support the development of several future live services titles from PlayStation Studios. Equally, we see the exceptional skills that PlayStation Studios possess offers the potential to enhance Bungie’s existing and future IP portfolio.

In my personal opinion, I think it’s no coincidence that Sony made this acquisition shortly after the Microsoft purchase. In my humble opinion, with Sony stating that Bungie titles would remain multiplatform, it wouldn’t surprise me if Sony made this purchase as a leverage tool. Kinda like “Hey, we’re keeping Bungie titles on Xbox” perhaps in the hope that Microsoft will do the same with Activision titles in the years to come and not just the immediate future. However, that is pure speculation on my part.

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Featured Image Credit: Sony/Bungie