The year of acquisitions and consolidation in gaming continues! But this time, it’s not Microsoft making a seismic acquisition. Now, Sony has finally punched back. In a stunning move, Sony has acquired Bungie for $3.6 Billion. The studio and Sony confirmed it’ll remain multiplatform and be able to self-publish titles. You can check out Bungie’s blog post here and the tweet from Hermen Hulst below affirming the news.
It’s wild that everyone involved kept this deal a secret to the public. Especially after the Activision news last week. But the negotiations have been going on for some time now. And it makes sense for both sides to come together. Bungie can now have more capital and resources to maintain Destiny and create new IPs.
What will Sony do with Bungie?
So what does Sony get if they let Bungie continue to be multi-platform? It seems from an interview with GameIndustry, there are two main goals for Sony here. The first is to expand Bungie’s games into other mediums such as film and TV. The second is to learn from Bungie how to get better at live service games. Sony has tried multiple times to make a live service game in house, but nothing has ever stuck. So now, Bungie can come in and give guidance on whatever ideas they have down the pipeline for a potential live service game.
It seems like a natural win-win for both sides. How it plays out in the future will be very interesting to keep an eye on. Truth be told, I’m enjoying the memes online that Sony just did this to piss off Microsoft or get leverage in exclusivity talks down the line. What do you think the future holds for Sony and Bungie? Let us know below!
