Sony has announced plans to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion USD (about $4.6 billion CAD).
Bungie is the studio best known for Xbox’s original Halo games and, in recent years, the Destiny series.
In a press release, Sony confirmed that Bungie will remain “an independent subsidiary” of the company. Current Bungie CEO and chairman Pete Parsons will continue to lead the developer alongside the rest of the studio’s management team. Further, Sony says Bungie will have the option “to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play.”
Adding to that, Parsons said the following of the acquisiton:
“We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games,” he said. “We will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community. Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play.”
As it stands, Bungie is continuing to support Destiny 2 as well as other Destiny-related projects and new, yet-to-be-revealed IP. While it seems safe to assume that Destiny will remain multiplatform (at least to some capacity), it remains to be seen whether future Bungie titles might become PlayStation exclusive.
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
The Bungie deal is the latest in a string of high-profile gaming acquisitions. Earlier this month, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive announced plans to purchase Farmville maker Zynga for $12.7 billion USD (about $16.1 billion CAD). At the time, that was believed to be the biggest-ever acquisition of a gaming studio, but that didn’t last long. One week later, Microsoft revealed that it will purchase Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion USD (about $82.7 billion CAD).
Image credit: Bungie
Source: PlayStation