Barely two weeks after the takeover of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft for the tidy sum of 68.7 billion dollars (let’s round it up to 70 if you want), it’s Sony Interactive Entertainment’s turn to puff out its chest and announce in turn a big acquisition. It is therefore Bungie who fell into the hands of the PlayStation family on Monday, January 31, 2021 for an amount close to 3.8 billion dollars. A resounding announcement that was presented on the PlayStation-Blog, with the beautiful illustration that goes with it, and which specifies that this takeover will in no way change the business model of the studio, which will remain completely independent. Bungie will therefore retain its independence, both in its direction and in its way of doing things. Basically, Bungie will remain the standalone publisher it became after leaving Activision in 2019 following a split that allowed the studio to walk away with the Destiny license. In fact, there is no question of seeing Destiny become a PlayStation exclusive, the idea being to leave full powers to the studio and continue to work in complete freedom. Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said on PlayStation Blog:
I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that a new member will be joining the PlayStation family! I’ve been a Bungie fan for many years. I’ve admired and enjoyed the games they create – and have great respect for their ability to create worlds players want to explore again and again.
Bungie creates games with exceptional technology that are extremely fun to play. They also have an unparalleled dedication to the communities that play their games, and everyone at PlayStation and PlayStation Studios will be thrilled at what we can share and learn from them.
I’ve spent a lot of time with the senior team at Bungie, and it’s clear that their experience and skills are very complementary to ours. We’ll be ready to welcome and support Bungie as they grow, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this amazing team.
Bungie isn’t becoming a member of “PlayStation Studios” per se, so what’s the point of Sony Interactive Entertainment spending so much money? According to the PlaySation Blog, the Japanese manufacturer wish “use the studio’s expertise in cross-platform development and live game services”, for’expand the PlayStation brand across the globe. That said, what is said today can obviously change and evolve over the years, especially since we know that Bungie is working on a new IP, part of the funding (100 million euros) of which is injected by the Chinese of NetSease, which also owns a share of Quantic Dream. Of course, going back further in Bungie’s liabilities, we remember that the studio is at the origin of the Halo series, considered at its release to be the best console FPS ever created. If the studio was flying the Microsoft flag between 2000 and 2007, the studio separated from Microsoft, leaving the license in the hands of the American giant. It was in 2010 that Bungie announced its partnership with Activision for the creation of Destiny.
Faced with this announcement, Microsoft reacted as early on Twitter in the person of Phil Spencer, congratulating Bungie but also Hermen Hulst, the boss of PlayStation studios, and CEO of Guerrilla Games for such a takeover. Fair play as usual.
Congratulations to the talented teams at @Bungie, great testament to your creativity. And congratulations to @PlayStation @hermenhulst on adding a talented team to your studios team.
—Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 31, 2022