Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced it will acquire Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 Billion.
GamesIndustry.Biz reports that following the deal, Bungie will be run as "an independent subsidiary" of SIE, and will remain a multiplatform studio with the option to "self-publish and reach players where they choose to play."
Bungie is best known as the creators of Halo but since becoming an independent studio have focused their efforts on Destiny, a live-service FPS RPG where players can explore the galaxy as Guardians of Light. The company is also working on a new IP.
"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," says SIE president CEO Jim Ryan.
In the official PlayStation Blog post, Ryan begins by confirming Bungie's independence. "I want to be very clear to the community that Bungie will remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher." Ryan also says that Bungie will "sit alongside the PlayStation Studios organization," where the two groups will collaborate.
PlayStation Studios will also gain access to Bungie's proprietary tools which can be used for PlayStation Studios teams, according to the blog.
In a separate blog post, Bungie detailed what the acquisition means for the company calling SIE, "a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independent that beats in Bungie's heart."
Bungie reaffirms that it retains its ability to independently publish and develop games, even after the acquisition. And that it's committed to supporting games and communities "where they choose to play."
This is Sony's sixth acquisition since 2021, though most of its studio acquisitions have been studios with long histories with PlayStation, like BluePoint and Housemarque, or support teams and specialized studios like Nixxes and Valkyrie Entertainment.
While Destiny 2 has been heavily promoted alongside PlayStation, with exclusive bonuses for players on the system, Bungie's history is intertwined across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, and the company hopes to remain multi-platform after the deal.
This deal will also be scrutinized with Xbox which has recently been making major acquisitions across the industry while building up Xbox Game Studios. Xbox acquired Zenimax Media, including Bethesda Games bringing the Fallout and Elder Scrolls developer into the fold, and later announced it will acquire Activision Blizzard and the teams responsible for games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
With Sony acquiring Bungie, this new age of studio acquisitions only appears to be heating up as studios look to expand their portfolio of teams and franchises.
There is also the matter of Bungie's internal culture which IGN reported extensively on. Whether this acquisition will help guide the changes currently ongoing at the studio remains to be seen.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
