Just two weeks after Microsoft announced its intent to buy Activision Blizzard, Sony has joined the studio-buying club again, acquiring Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion.
The purchase itself makes waves simply due to the fact that, through this move, Sony PlayStation will now own the creator of rival Microsoft's Halo franchise, arguably the main reason the Xbox itself was put on the map in the early '00s. The purchase of Bungie itself brings the Destiny developer under the Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) umbrella, though both Bungie and Sony state the studio will be "an independent subsidiary" according to GamesIndustry.biz.
This was reiterated by Bungie in their own blog post, stating that they will "remain in charge" of the studio's destiny.
"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.?"
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
This statement is no doubt to quell the fears of Xbox and PC Destiny 2 players who might wonder how their experiences will fare once the deal closes. An FAQ released alongside the announcement on the Bungie website reiterates as well that future titles will remain multiplatform, though it does not mention Xbox itself specifically, only that these games won't be PlayStation exclusives themselves.
In a press release, SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan states that Sony "couldn't be more thrilled" by the acquisition.
“We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family. This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience. We understand how vital Bungie’s community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow. Like Bungie, our community is core to PlayStation’s DNA, and our shared passion for the gamer and building the best place to play will now evolve even further.”
Bungie, for their part, is working on their soon-to-be-released expansion for Destiny 2, The Witch Queen, which hits all platforms on February 22nd. Additionally, the studio is said to be working on "expanding the Destiny universe, and creating entirely new worlds in future IP."
