The great maneuvers in the video game continue. Sony announced on Monday that it would buy the studio Bungie, creator of the franchises Halo and Destiny, for $3.6 billion. An acquisition that occurs two weeks following Activision’s record takeover by Microsoft (for 69 billion dollars). Microsoft has also paired by ZeniMax Media (Bethesda) last September. In a booming video game industry, successful franchises are snapping up gold.
Sony wanted to reassure gamers. Bungie will remain an independent studio, which will not be integrated into Playstation studios. Above all, his games, in particular Destiny, will continue to be cross-platform. Microsoft, for its part, was less clear regarding Activision games. Phil Spencer had, however, assured that Microsoft “wanted to keep Call of Duty on Playstation”.
The irony is that Bungie was acquired by Microsoft in 2000. The first installment of Halo, launched with the Xbox in 2001, allowed the console to take off, especially in the United States. The studio regained its independence in 2007. With luck, this second marriage with Sony will be the good one.