Sony Plans To Spend $1.2 Billion On Bungie Staff Retention
Sony suggests that Bungie staff shouldn't expect to be hit with a mass layoff anytime soon, as it has set aside plans to retain staff for years after the acquisition. One-third of the $3.6 billion spent on the Destiny developer will go towards incentivising staff to stay on board following the deal, indicating that Sony is happy with the way the company is run as it is.
This comes from Sony's most recent earnings report, shared with the public yesterday. It's only a brief mention, so it's unknown what staff exactly will benefit from this arrangement. However, we do know that it will see $1.2 billion go towards keeping Bungie staff in work, decreasing the chances of a major shakeup at the expense of the developers.
Related: Sony Buying Bungie Is Bad Too
"Approximately one-third of the $3.6 billion acquisition consideration consists primarily of deferred payments to employee shareholders, conditional upon their continued employment", reads part of the earnings report concerning the Bungie acquisition (thanks, TweakTown). "These amounts will be paid over the course of several years after the closing date."
On top of these financial incentives, Bungie will act as an "independent subsidiary" of Sony, being granted autonomy over its games. The titles will continue to be multiplatform, although it's not known if this will include the rival Xbox Series X/S, or just means its games will be PlayStation and PC releases going forward. It's at least more certainty than we have with Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal, with it remaining to be seen if its huge library of games will reach PlayStation.
It is however worth noting that staff retention isn't the only concern Bungie faces going into this acquisition. Last December,
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