Sony to buy Halo and Destiny creator Bungie as online gaming fight rages

tech.hindustantimes.com:

PlayStation maker Sony announced a $3.6 billion agreement on Monday to buy US video game studio Bungie, creator of hits like "Halo" and "Destiny", as a gaming industry battle heats up with Microsoft. Sony's deal comes weeks after Microsoft unveiled a landmark $69 billion pact to acquire "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft says would make it the third-largest gaming company by revenue behind Tencent and Sony.

Bungie is based not far from Microsoft headquarters in the US state of Washington, and its "Halo" franchise is considered to be among the video games that contributed to the popularity of Xbox consoles.

"This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience," Sony Interactive Entertainment chief Jim Ryan said of the Bungie buy.

Since it was founded in early 1991, Bungie has created games for play on rival PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as on computers powered by Microsoft Windows software.

Bungie is to remain an independent studio, making games for play on competing devices, according to Sony.

"We will continue pursuing our vision of one, unified Bungie community, building games that value our community and meet them wherever and however they choose to play," studio chief Pete Parsons said in a release.

Video games that let players roam virtual worlds as avatars are seen as natural predecessors to the metaverse.

The metaverse is a vision for the future of the internet, a virtual world where people will be able to interact using sensors, lenses and other gadgets.

Along with PlayStation video game consoles, Sony sells virtual reality headgear.

Bungie said that it is focusing on "Destiny", an online first-person shooter franchise set in a science