Sony’s response to Microsoft. The Japanese giant has announced the acquisition of Bungie Studios (Halo, Destiny, Myth), emblematic partner of Xbox in the past, for 3.6 billion dollars. Far from the mad sums of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, this operation shows that Sony has not said its last word.
Destiny 2 // Source : Bungie
We are certainly far from nearly 70 billion dollars spent by Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard King. But the news will cause a stir. Sony announced on Monday evening the takeover of the Bungie studio for just under 4 billion dollars (regarding 3.2 billion euros).
While we thought the gaming branch of Microsoft was ready to take over the main studios of the next blockbusters with the addition of Bethesda, Arkane, Activision, Blizzard and so many more to its galaxy of creatives hard at work for the Xbox Game Pass, Sony, more discreet lately, shows that it has the answer.
As with Activision and Microsoft, the deal between Sony and Bungie remained secret until the last moment, with employees only learning regarding it in the morning through a videoconference. The Japanese firm has already announced that Bungie will remain ” an independent subsidiarywith its current board still in place. But above all, Sony is already ruling out the idea of a studio dedicated exclusively to PS5. Bungie will continue to offer cross-platform games”to reach players wherever they choose to play ».
The games will remain “cross-platform”
It is also a new takeover for the Seattle studio which was acquired by Microsoft in 2000 before being left free in 2007 and going under the Activision flag from 2010 to 2019. Bungie will join the family of PlayStation Studios which notably includes Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank,Spider-Man), Santa Monica Studio (God of War), Suckerpunch (Ghost of Tsushima), Guerilla ( Horizon) or among the latest arrivals, Housemarque ( Returnal ). Quite a sibling, but no one who really walks on the same toes.
Bungie, the studio behind the Halo saga for Xbox, joins the PlayStation family // Source: Bungie
« This is an important step in our strategy to expand PlayStation’s reach to a much wider audience. “said Jim Ryan, the boss of Sony Interactive Entertainment. ” We understand how vital the Bungie community is to the studio, and we look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow. »
PlayStation secures an FPS specialist
No exclusives therefore to be expected as it stands for Bungie, which had made itself known by propelling the saga Halo on Xbox from its debut. Sony promises to leave all creative freedom to the teams in place. “Our original universes have immense potential, and with the support of SIE, we will enable Bungie to become a global multimedia entertainment company dedicated to fulfilling our creative vision.added Pete Parsons, the studio’s current president. An announcement that should also please the stock market, Sony having suffered a financial backlash following the announcement of the takeover of Activision by the competition.
With this acquisition, Sony, who is afraid of losing the licenseCall of Dutyterm, secures himself the possibility of having his own shooting game with the teams behindHaloandDestiny. And above all a studio that made its reputation with multiplayer FPS. Exactly what PlayStation exclusives often lack.
And especially, as promised by the boss of PlayStation Studios, the strategic war of studio takeovers continues. With the backdrop always, the possible arrival on PlayStation a subscription service to compete with Game Pass. A rumor that is getting more and more thick.
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