Sony officially owns Bungie now

The ink is dry on Sony’s acquisition of Bungie, the gaming company that created sci-fi hits Halo and Destiny.

Both companies announced the news on Twitter Friday, confirming that the $3.6 billion deal had gone through without any surprises.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>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

While that’s a large sum for a relatively small company, the merger was modest enough to evade the antitrust scrutiny that Sony rival Microsoft triggered with its planned parallel acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

Bungie may not be a sprawling entity like Activision Blizzard — which publishes everything from Overwatch and World of Warcraft to the Call of Duty mega-franchise — but it’s nonetheless poised to have a huge impact on Sony’s roadmap for near-future games.

At Sony, Bungie will remain a standalone game studio but its expertise will be woven into the company’s strategy for PlayStation Studios, the division of Sony Interactive Entertainment dedicated to making tentpole games that showcase the company’s technological prowess. Sony has big plans to leverage Bungie’s fine-tuned model for a whole slate of live service games — online multiplayer games that sell virtual goods and evolve over time, often charging players set monthly fees for access or special perks.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>We are proud to officially join the incredible team at PlayStation, we are excited for the future of our company, and we are inspired to bring together players from all over the world to form lasting friendships and memories.

Per Audacia ad Astra!

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