Photo: Bungie.net
By: Nick Gambino
Wow, what a week for massive game company acquisitions. Hot off the heels of the news that Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard, Sony has announced that they are acquiring Bungie for $3.6 billion.
The acquisition brings it with its ownership of the hugely popular Destiny game. Bungie is also the creative mind behind Halo, though they don’t own it. Ironically, it belongs to Microsoft. While the $3.6 billion price tag doesn’t come close to the $68.7 billion Microsoft is shelling out for Activision Blizzard, it’s still no small figure. It’s a clue to where studios are headed in the search for the metaverse.
“In SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment], we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to created generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart,” Pete Parsons, CEO of Bungie, said in a blog post.
Sony assures fans they are going to preserve the independent creative spirit cultivated by Bungie over 30 years. It seems they intend to allow them to operate independently in a hands-off capacity. Though, if they are reporting to Hermen Hulst, the Head of PlayStation Studios, I can’t imagine there won’t some managerial interactions.
I suspect it will be more of a creative flow upwards and outwards where Bungie will help create titles for other platforms as well as those under the umbrella of PlayStation Studios. Parsons states that this deal will allow Bungie to move into a bigger role as a “global multi-media entertainment company.” What they can expect to gain from the acquisition is access to a larger capital stream and massive marketing channels.
“This is a strategic step towards continuing to evolve the gaming experiences that we build,” Jim Ryan, CEO of SIE, said in a Sony blog. “Bungie’s expertise in delivering a world-class service approach and long-term community engagement is extremely compelling and will support the development of several future live services titles from PlayStation studios.”
This is to be the first of many acquisitions in Sony’s future as they amass IP and the companies that develop them in their race to the metaverse.
