Bungie Joins Sony in Surprise Acquisition

2022 is shaping up to be a historical year for gaming.

Soon after Microsoft's game-changing acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Bungie announced that they've now joined the biggest name in gaming, Sony Interactive Entertainment. Our gaming community had lots to say about it.

This Slogging thread by Limarc Ambalina, Zaeem Shoaib, Adrian Morales, Jack Boreham, Jose Hernandez, Marc Magrini and Blake Cram occurred in slogging's official #gaming channel, and has been edited for readability.

Limarc AmbalinaFeb 1, 2022, 11:57 AM

BUNGIE JOINS SONY. Whaaaaat?

https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/50988

Limarc AmbalinaFeb 1, 2022, 11:57 AM

""BUNGIE JOINS SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT (“SIE”)
We believe games have limitless potential, and that to do anything worthwhile in entertainment, we must bet big on our vision, on our studio, and on our incredible team of trusted creators who build unforgettable worlds that truly matter to people.

In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart. Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums.

Today, Bungie begins our journey to become a global multi-media entertainment company.


CREATIVE FREEDOM
Since taking flight in 1991, Bungie has always charted the future with our own star map – a path that is driven by our people and for our community. We are continuing that journey with new worlds in development, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

With SIE, the potential for our universes is unlimited. Our future games will take bold steps into unexplored spaces for Bungie, continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, and will always be built on a foundation of creating meaningful, lifelong friendships and memories.

We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games. We will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community. Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play.

With SIE's support, the most immediate change you will see is an acceleration in hiring talent across the entire studio to support our ambitious vision. If this speaks to you, and you want to help us put a dent in the universe, we are hiring across all disciplines for Destiny 2 and for all new worlds beyond.


THREE DECADES AND COUNTING
What makes our worlds come to life is our community and our people in the studio. Our people are the soul of Bungie. Empowered by our people, we have pushed the boundaries of what we thought was possible and transformed who we are as a company.

Over the past 30 years, the inviting worlds we've built have turned into thriving communities, and that community is the true magic. These communities have taken Bungie beyond games. They have forged life-long bonds, and humbled us with the real, meaningful good they drive within us and the world.

More than anything, SIE understands that our people and our community are both the priority, and the heart of our success, and are willing to stand alongside us as we continue to use our platform to drive action towards a more welcoming and equitable world. Our goal is to build a place where the world’s most creative and talented people can come and do their best work, no matter who they are, where they are from, or how they identify.

That’s the real dent in the universe we want to make -- the one we want to last beyond us.

Be a part of this future with us. See you Starside.

-pete"

From the article above!

Limarc AmbalinaFeb 1, 2022, 11:58 AM

What do you think this means?

Jack Boreham Utsav Jaiswal Blake Cram

Limarc AmbalinaFeb 1, 2022, 11:58 AM

Microsoft buys Activision ,Sony buys Bungie...

What's next? Nintendo buys Naughty Dog?

Zaeem ShoaibFeb 1, 2022, 1:01 PM

I'm thinking Sony has room for another acquisition. A Japanese developer/publisher, maybe Konami or Capcom.

Adrian MoralesFeb 1, 2022, 3:19 PM

Strange acquisition, but it makes sense for Sony. With Microsoft acquiring all the FPS developers under the sun, Bungie seems the best fit for creating FPS titles under Sony's portfolio. I'm interested to see what comes from Bungie. With this acquisition, Sony effectively has purchased Destiny, Marathon, and Oni, and I would love to see a Marathon remaster. Better yet, I would like to see Bungie create a whole new IP to challenge 343's Halo Infinite.

Jack BorehamFeb 1, 2022, 4:41 PM

I'm not too fond of it. It feels weird. Didn't Activision originally own Bungie? Now they've got acquired again. So Xbox got Activision which used to own Bungie, which now PlayStation owns. So much segmentation in the market. Nintendo might as well sell off their IP. Otherwise, Xbox might buy them; it's getting ridiculous!

Jack BorehamFeb 1, 2022, 4:42 PM

I wonder why they decided to go with PlayStation; Halo didn't do that bad 😂

Jack BorehamFeb 1, 2022, 4:43 PM

, I agree with this! I think it could be konami

Jose HernandezFeb 1, 2022, 6:28 PM

The world of gaming keeps getting stranger and stranger

Adrian MoralesFeb 1, 2022, 7:06 PM

Just for clarification, Bungie hasn't made a Halo game since Halo Reach in 2010. The IP was bought by Microsoft after Bungie split from the company. 343 Industries has made every Halo since Halo 4.

Marc MagriniFeb 1, 2022, 8:11 PM

Right now, it seems like Sony is just doing their best to stay on their feet after the recent Microsoft acquisitions. The only major releases Bungie had since leaving Microsoft were Destiny and Destiny 2. Like Adrian said, it might just be them trying to pool resources for more FPS titles. Another possibility is they're trying to cash in on the Destiny name; Bungie was looking to expand the series' universe, from what I remember.

Blake CramFeb 2, 2022, 2:19 AM

Damn. The video games industry is popping off right now.

Firstly, I think this is a different type of acquisition than we’ve seen from Microsoft. I don't think it's much of a reaction to what Xbox is doing, but a reflection of the trending industry: we’e now seeing less of a console war over “boxes” and more over “content”, similar to how the film and streaming industries are duking it out.

Acquiring Bungie actually makes a lot of sense to me. Sony doesn't have many first person shooters, or huge online multiplayer experiences. Even though Bungie’s games both present and future will be multi-platform (the language from interviews seems to reflect this way more than Microsoft is talking about CoD and Elder Scrolls—I still think that will be Xbox exclusive eventually) Sony is instead investing in Bungie’s tech and experience. Sony already has a rich history collaborating within its studios:

I think Sony wants to use Bungie’s experience to build out new PlayStation games that utilize top-tier FPS and online multiplayer qualities— something they were already lacking even before Microsoft acquired Activision.

And what does Destiny 2 lack? A really good campaign. I know Destiny has deep back end lore and some amazing raid content, but it's still arguably missing that AAA narrative experience that could make Destiny even better. That’s where Sony could help with their experience making some of the best single player story games in recent memory.

So, I think this relationship is mutually beneficial, and has some exciting potential.

Blake CramFeb 2, 2022, 2:24 AM

and Jack Boreham i also agree, PlayStation is going in on this arms race and they've hinted that there are more announcements to come. I think Konami would make the most sense because they are sitting on so many games that they apparently don’t want to make. Capcom is killing it with Monster Hunter on Switch so that seems less likely to me.

Although at this point, anything is possible. Let's just hope Sony acquires Konami, hires back Kojima, who then gets to make a ton of his bat-shit crazy art house games and we get a legit Kojima Metal Gear in the meantime.

Blake CramFeb 2, 2022, 2:25 AM

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-31-playstation-bungie-will-considerably-accelerate-our-journey-with-multiplatform-live-service-games

Zaeem ShoaibFeb 2, 2022, 3:49 AM

Blake Cram Yes, they are really focusing on going multiplatform after their success on PC, and they have the cash on hand to acquire Konami or Capcom or even both to do so. It might not be Microsoft level of cash but they'll go after quality rather than quantity as they have historically.

Though they do indicate that Bungie's games will be multiplatform, I think there's nothing stopping them from inking a deal down the line for an FPS with a narrative experience. I think Bungie is now big enough to work on two games at once - one multiplatform MMO shooter and a linear story-based one.

PS. The Decima Engine is owned by Guerrilla, not by Kojima. They lent it to him for Death Stranding.

Limarc AmbalinaFeb 2, 2022, 7:05 AM

Blake Cram very insightful point on "we’re now seeing less of a console war over “boxes” and more over “content”," I've actually never thought of it that way until you pointed it out

Blake CramFeb 2, 2022, 7:26 AM

Absolutely. I think Bungie is going to use this opportunity to expand like crazy, probably fleshing out Destiny even bigger while getting into multiple projects. However, because it's been made clear that Bungie is remaining independent with publishing and creative rights, I would be really surprised if they make a game down the line that is a true Bungie/PlayStation FPS exclusive--since Bungie's ethos is so community driven. I do think that new IP from Bungie is inevitable, and I think Sony will live on some small kickbacks from Destiny being multi-platform, while having the Bungie team help out new Sony FPS and Online exclusives (perhaps from other developers) benefit from their expertise. I think that's the key to their content war Limarc Ambalina, which even I've been slow to come to grips with as I JUST wrote a piece about proper "console" wars...:lying_face:

Blake CramFeb 2, 2022, 7:30 AM

and thanks for correction! I definitely goofed the connection between Guerrilla and Kojima.