Through a statement, the video game developer subsidiary Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), announced the acquisition of Bungie. The studio from Chicago, United States, is famous for the creation of the first titles of the successful Halo franchise and currently for Destiny. According to US media, the deal will cost Sony a total of $3.6 billion.
As reported by the Japanese company, the studio will retain its creative freedom and will remain a multi-platform developer. This implies that future titles of the Destiny franchise (because Halo is the exclusive property of Microsoft and currently the responsibility of the 343 Industries studio) will continue to come out on PC and Xbox. “Bungie’s experience in providing world-class service and long-term engagement with the community is extremely compelling and will contribute to the development of future Playstation Studio titles with live services,” Sony said.
With this, rather than seeking to retain the exclusivity of intellectual properties, Bungie can be expected to contribute to the development of online services for Sony’s hardware, the Playstation 5. For its part, Bungie commented on its website: “In SIE we have found a ally who supports us unconditionally and who wants to accelerate our vision of creating entertainment that transcends generations”.
The news comes two weeks after the sale of the Activision Blizzard studio by Microsoft was announced, positioning the Xbox manufacturer in a privileged position in the console market. At the close of January 18, 2022, the day of the announcement, even Sony suffered a significant drop of 12% in its market value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. With the sale of Bungie, the Playstation brand now boasts a portfolio of 17 game development studios.
