Bungie is a pivotal weapon in PlayStation's online multiplayer assault | Opinion

gamesindustry.biz:

Christopher Dring

Head of Games B2B

Tuesday 1st February 2022

Bungie

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Shortly after last night's news of PlayStation buying Bungie, a friend of mine dropped me a text.

"Isn't it funny to see Crash Bandicoot, one of the icons of PS1, now owned by Xbox? And now Bungie, one of the defining studios that built the Xbox business, now owned by PlayStation?"

It's one of those little observations that might feel notable to gamers of a certain generation, but it isn't particularly symbolic of anything. After all, Crash hasn't been an exclusive PlayStation franchise for over 20 years, and Bungie has been an active partner to Sony for the best part of a decade.

Yet, in a small way, the observation does tell us a bit about what Sony values most when it comes to acquisitions: the people behind the games, rather than the games themselves. It doesn't own Crash Bandicoot, but it bought the studio responsible for creating it (Naughty Dog). Just as it doesn't own Halo, but it now has the studio responsible for building that.

"Sony may feel the need to acquire IP in the future, particularly with the consolidation in the marketplace and the growing significance of subscriptions"

Amongst the flurry of messages last night, there was a clear point of confusion around Sony's decision to buy Bungie. PlayStation had finally bought itself an IP of some significance, and it insists it has no intention of using it to sell PS5 consoles. Destiny will remain multiplatform, and yes, that includes on Xbox.

So, outside of a profitable and growing franchise, what does Bungie actually bring to the PlayStation business at large? To use a corporate term: what are the 'synergies' here that makes this deal make senses?

It comes down to the