Sony has announced that it will spend $3,6 billion to acquire PlayStation team. This is a rather significant deal as Bungie made a name for itself as an Xbox team in the early 2000s. The developer birthed Halo on the original Xbox, giving Microsoft's console a game to compete with the likes of PlayStation and Nintendo. After developing Halo games for roughly a decade, the team splintered away from Microsoft to focus on its ambitious MMO-like shooter Destiny, where it made a partnership with Activision.
In 2019, Bungie broke free from Activision to go fully independent, making many wonder if any other gaming giants would swoop in to acquire them. Xbox head Phil Spencer recently said he believed Xbox could've kept Bungie had the current leadership been around to negotiate . Unfortunately for Xbox, PlayStation was able to instill a better relationship and open Bungie up to a deal, adding the studio to Sony's massive arsenal of talented developers.
Sony announced that it would be purchasing Xbox's acquisition of Activision, but no one knew when or how it would do so. With that said, this deal was likely in the works for a while and didn't materialize in the last two weeks.
With PlayStation acquiring Bungie, Sony will have the ability to utilize the developer's IP in a multitude of ways. Not only can it flex franchises like Destiny as PlayStation IP, even if it will remain on other platforms, but it can also use it to lead the charge on its multi-media ventures. Sony is making efforts to take its games to the big and small screen via films and TV shows. With Uncharted and The Last of Us already getting live-action adaptations, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Destiny could get a movie now too.
With PlayStation confirming Bungie games will remain multi-platform for the foreseeable future, it's good to know that some of the biggest IP isn't being swallowed up as exclusive franchises. Call of Duty is expected to continue on PlayStation for at least three more years as well, but it's unclear what will happen after that. However, as more companies continue to be acquired, the general fear that massive IP will be pushed onto one platform will likely remain.
Sources: GamesIndustry.biz, Bungie/Twitter
