Source: Bungie / Destiny 2
Another day, another massive acquisition in the world of video games.
Following Take-Two Interactive’s purchase of mobile gaming giant Zynga and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony said it too could acquire a popular game studio. Monday (Jan.31), Destiny developer and original Halo creator Bungie announced that Sony is purchasing it for $3.6 billion.
In a blog post, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons quickly answered the burning question stating that it will “continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games.”
“In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart,” Parsons wrote. “Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums.”
Bungie has limitless potential to unite friends around the world.
We have found a partner in PlayStation that shares our dream and is committed to accelerating our creative vision of building generation-spanning entertainment.
Our journey begins today.https://t.co/PLuVn48zdy pic.twitter.com/kAhRbAg3vD
— Bungie (@Bungie) January 31, 2022
Despite being “owned” by Sony, Bungie will continue to describe itself as a multi-platform and independent studio and publisher but will position itself alongside the other studios owned by Sony. Playstation CEO and president Jim Ryan spoke about the deal in a separate blog post. “Bungie’s world-class expertise in multi-platform development and live game services will help us deliver on our vision of expanding PlayStation to hundreds of millions of gamers,” Ryan said.
Head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, echoed the same excitement about the deal in a separate statement. Bungie’s technical expertise, coupled with their track record of building highly engaged communities, make them a natural fit for collaboration with PlayStation Studios,” he said. “We are excited to make plans to share skills and expertise and to unlock the potential in having the brilliant minds at Bungie under the PlayStation roof.”
I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Bungie to the PlayStation family! Bungie create community-driven games with outstanding technology that are enormous fun to play, and I know that everyone at PlayStation Studios will be excited about what we can share and learn together. pic.twitter.com/VySocfBxtx
— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) January 31, 2022
To further quell any worries about its games and them becoming PlayStation exclusives, Bungie released a faq where it answered questions on the matter. “No. We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community,” the company said.
Like with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, there have been plenty of reactions to this latest big news. CEO of Microsoft Gaming and Xbox Head Phil Spencer was quick to chime and congratulate both Bungie and PlayStation on the deal.
Congrats to the talented teams at @Bungie, great testament to your creativity. And congrats to @PlayStation @hermenhulst on adding a talented team to your studios team.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 31, 2022
The news of this deal comes as Bungie prepares to drop Destiny 2’s most significant content update yet, The Witch Queen.
You can peep more reactions to Sony buying Bungie in the gallery below.
1. Our exact sentiments.
Sony just bought Bungie…
Holy shit…
— My name is Byf (Lore Daddy) (@MyNameIsByf) January 31, 2022
2. True
Since I’m seeing a lot of folks saying it: I don’t see a world in which Sony acquiring Bungie is a “response” to Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. These deals take months – even years – to put together and finalize, not *two weeks*.
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) January 31, 2022
3. How welcoming.
Nice to have you on the fireteam, Guardians! https://t.co/958CsmT23Q
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) January 31, 2022
4. Makes sense
The motivation behind Sony's acquisition of Bungie is to help boost their own abilities to make live-service, multiplatform games. equally, Sony unlocks the potential to Bungie to strengthen its technical capabilities and the prospect of taking its games to movies/TV
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 31, 2022
5. 2022 is shaping up to be a big year video games.
– Take Two/Zynga
– Microsoft/Activision+Blizzard
– Sony/BungieAnd that was just JANUARY in the video game industry folks.
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) January 31, 2022
6. A great thing.
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. Bungie will remain creatively independent and multiplatform. https://t.co/FTz5qlzt8S
— pete parsons (@pparsons) January 31, 2022
7. Mind blown.
So uh, Sony just bought Bungie. Let me get this straight. Crash Bandicoot, which was once a Sony & PlayStation IP, now belongs to Microsoft & Xbox. And now Bungie, which was once a Microsoft & Xbox studio, now belongs to Sony & PlayStation. This timeline. This freakin timeline.
— YongYea (@YongYea) January 31, 2022
8.
Welcome @Bungie! Thrilled to have you as part of the PlayStation Studios family
https://t.co/f953z5QRCd
— Santa Monica Studio – God of War Ragnarök (@SonySantaMonica) January 31, 2022
9.
Welcome to the PlayStation family, @Bungie! We're right down the street – do you think they'll let us install a zipline between our offices? https://t.co/b6fAXdOsId
— Ghost of Tsushima
Director's Cut Out Now! (@SuckerPunchProd) January 31, 2022
10.
Sony has often talked about F2P, GaaS and multiplatform experiences being a significant growth driver for PlayStation.
Bungie =
800+ staff with F2P / GaaS experience
Popular Destiny IP + New IPs in dev
Multi platform experience and approach https://t.co/igz73gaEuN— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) January 31, 2022
Director's Cut Out Now! (@SuckerPunchProd)