Sony will spend $1.2bn on retaining Bungie staff

eurogamer.net:

This week is video game industry earnings report week, which means we get a sense of how well each of the major platforms is doing, like Nintendo Switch outselling the Wii and that Sony can't make enough PlayStation 5 consoles.

Amongst the news, one small nugget spotted in Sony's earnings report was how the company is going to allocate the $3.6bn it spent on acquiring Bungie.

In the report, Sony estimates that approximately a third of the money will be used for «deferred payments to employee shareholders, conditional upon their continued employment, and other retention incentives» (thanks, TweakTown).

If not exclusivity, what does Sony get from buying Bungie? It's the Eurogamer Newscast!

In other words, Sony will be spending $1.2bn on incentives to retain Bungie staff after its buyout takes place — and says it will do so for «several years».

The remainder of the money will be used to directly purchase private shares of the studio.

In yesterday's investor presentation, Sony also said the acquisition will support the company in its wider ambitions to create more live-service titles.