PlayStation has closed the agreement to acquire Bungie, and the console maker now officially welcomes the studio to the PlayStation family. Sony now has full ownership of the creator of Destiny and Halo.
Earlier in January 2022, Sony announced that it had commenced an agreement to acquire Bungie. The deal has now been completed and Bungie is a part of PlayStation Studios.
The agreement to acquire Bungie has closed. So now we can officially say… welcome to the PlayStation family, @Bungie! pic.twitter.com/x5jVmelaxl
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 15, 2022
Previously, the acquisition of Bungie by Sony was being investigated by the FTC. The news came close on the heels of the probe that was launched against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. As PlayStation’s acquisition has come through, it’s clear that the outcome of the investigation has favored the console maker, despite the FTC becoming more aggressive in tackling consolidation compared to prior years.
Based on the agreement between PlayStation and Bungie, the latter will lend its expertise in multi-platform development and live game services to Sony in order to help it in delivering on its vision of expanding PlayStation in the live service domain. Bungie is a great innovator and has developed key proprietary tools that will help PlayStation Studios achieve this goal.
Sony made it clear that clear to the community that Bungie will remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher. According to the console maker, the acquisition makes sense, as it will provide opportunities for synergies and collaboration between both parties.
In 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie, and Halo: Combat Evolved, one of Bungie’s breakthrough games, served as the Xbox console’s primary launch title. After selling millions of copies and establishing the franchise, Halo was dubbed the “killer software” for Xbox. On October 5, 2007, Bungie announced its separation from Microsoft and formation of Bungie LLC, a privately owned independent business. However, Microsoft remained the owner of the Halo IP and franchise.
In April 2010, Bungie agreed to a ten-year publishing contract with Activision. Destiny, a first-person shooter released in 2014, was their debut project. The sequel, Destiny 2, was released three years later in 2017. Eventually, in January 2019, Bungie announced the closure of this collaboration, and that it would be taking over publishing rights for Destiny.
