Sony strikes back and is the third big Publisher this month to acquire a big studio with a huge legacy.
January has been a wild month for the Gaming Industry, not only did Take-Two start off the month with buying Zynga, the creator of FarmVille. As we previously reported Mircosoft swooped in just two weeks ago to acquire Activision Blizzard for $70 BN USD.
Sony acquires Microsoft’s former flagship developer Bungie
Many already speculated that Sony Interactive, Microsoft’s biggest competitor in the Console Market would soon make their move. No one expected them to go for the Studio that created one of Microsoft’s biggest franchises, Halo. Which only recently saw the highly anticipated release of Halo Infinite.
Bungie is joining PlayStation.
Here’s what to expect from this exciting news: https://t.co/s1L3PhQ9vK pic.twitter.com/0R1qhnEDKk
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) January 31, 2022
We have all the details for you right here. Sony officially announced that Bungie would join them on their official blog earlier today. Promising from the get go, that Bungie would join them as an independent, multiplatform studio and publisher. Stating that a lot of time went into discussing the right relationship, and promising further that they would fully support and back Bungie in their work. If this comes with the hope of a future investment into Bungie’s next IP is still questionable.
Potential reasons for the acquisition.
Bungie has been hiring personal with work experience on F2P titles, MMO’s and mobile games. And it seems like they are ready to throw their hat into growing market of competitive character shooters that saw a surge in popularity since Overwatch’s release back in 2016. Which seems to be indicating that Sony wants to be involved with a direct competitor to Mircosoft’s recently acquired Overwatch and Riot Games Valorant. But we’ll have to sit tight on what this IP will eventually turn into. Since Bungie was hoping to release the title by 2025.
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
But most immediately, what does this sudden acquisition mean for Destiny 2 and the upcoming release of its sixth expansion The Witch Queen? Pete Parson, CEO of Bungie clarified in Bungies official blog that Destiny 2’s will remain cross-plattform. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s support will help them to hire talent across the studio to help in archiving their vision. And has been no mention of any kind of exclusive content yet.
What this might mean for Bungie’s future
It’s left to be seen what this most recent acquisition will mean for Bungie moving forward. The godfathers of the console FPS hold big promises for the PlayStation brand. We can only say for certain this additional funding will help out with the development of their New IP. And also help to see Destiny 2’s content which has been planned to release its final expansion The Final Shape by 2024.
Furthermore, we have yet to find out how this will effect Bungie’s business relationship with Chinese developer NetEase. Back in June 2018 Bungie received a considerable investment of over $100M USD for their upcoming new IP. We might also see Bungie work with some of Sony Interactive Entertainments franchises, not that we would expect to see a return of the Killzone franchise anytime soon. But if anyone could breathe new life into Guerrilla Games dormant IP, it would be Bungie.
We will keep you updated on the situation, here on ESTNN.