Sony buys Bungie in Escalating Studio Acquisition War with Microsoft

Pictures via Twitter

Gaming giant Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has just acquired landmark studio Bungie, the developer of Fate 2at a reported price of $3.6 billion, according to The Verge.

According to PlayStation’s Press Release about the deal, although Bungie will “join the PlayStation family,” it “will remain an independent and cross-platform studio and publisher.”

The announcement comes just two weeks after another giant deal was made in the gaming space with rival company Microsoft, which owned Bungie in the 2000s. Microsoft has acquired the studio involved. by Activision Blizzard earlier this month.

The official Bungie Twitter account celebrated the news Monday, with the studio partly saying: “We’ve found a partner in PlayStation that shares our dreams and is committed to advancing the vision. our innovation in building entertainment that will last for generations.”

In one Press ReleaseThe studio went on to say, “At SIE, we found a partner who supported us unconditionally in all we had and who wanted to advance our vision to create drag entertainment. generations, all while maintaining the creative independence inherent in Bungie’s heart.”

Originally founded in 1991, one of the studio’s biggest games ever to launch the franchise, arguably put Sony rival Microsoft on the map as a formidable game company: Halo series. Original Xbox 2001 game, Halo: Combat Evolvedwas an absolute console booster that revolutionized the first-person shooter genre, and the series is still going strong to this day under the umbrella of Microsoft’s 343 Industries with Halo Infinite. The Halo intellectual property remains with Microsoft after Bungie’s departure.

In 2007, Bungie parted ways with Microsoft, who had originally acquired the studio in 2000. Since then, Bungie has been an independent, privately held company and launched its first company.Halo franchise with cross-platform first-person shooter 2013, Life, a best-selling hit on multiple platforms and critically acclaimed. Similar highly rated and best selling Fate 2 was released on most modern game platforms in 2017.

Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation studios, commented on Twitter that he is “absolutely delighted to welcome Bungie to the PlayStation family!”

“Bungie makes community-driven games with cutting edge technology that are fun to play, and I know that everyone at PlayStation Studios will be excited about what we can share and learn together.” he added.

A blog post by Bungie website clarifies some of the finer points of the deal, including that future games from the studio won’t be downgraded to PlayStation exclusives only.

“We want the world we’re creating to expand to everywhere people play the game. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to foster a unified Bungie community,” says the FAQ page. The page also clarifies that Fate 2 will continue to be “a cross-platform game with full Crossplay functionality.”

It’s perhaps not too hard to believe that the new Bungie acquisition could boost Sony’s stock price after the company’s stock price fell. temporary decrease in value after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.