Sony fights back - acquires Bungie for $3.6 billion

[the-pi-guy]

Sony buying Bungie for $3.6 billion | GamesIndustry.biz

Sony Interactive Entertainment today announced a deal to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion, the latest in a string of big-ticket consolidation deals in the games industry.

After the deal closes, Bungie will be "an independent subsidiary" of SIE run by a board of directors consisting of current CEO and chairman Pete Parsons and the rest of the studio's current management team.

Sony has said Bungie will remain a multiplatform studio, with the option "to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play."

[the-pi-guy]

I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Bungie to the PlayStation family! Bungie create community-driven games with outstanding technology that are enormous fun to play, and I know that everyone at PlayStation Studios will be excited about what we can share and learn together. pic.twitter.com/VySocfBxtx

— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) January 31, 2022

[the-pi-guy]

Both parties did a decent job keeping this secret —several Bungie staff learned it from me this morning as I tried to break the news. Bungie held an all-hands meeting at 10am PT to tell everyone at the same time as it went public

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 31, 2022

[the-pi-guy]

If you remember back to 2020, Sony had also explored purchasing Leyou, which would have given them ownership of the Warframe franchise among others.

Tencent swooped in at the last minute. But it shows how this is not a new consideration for Sony. https://t.co/xX41Nb8ePF

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) January 31, 2022

Sony stated last year that 25%+ of its PlayStation Store spend in FY20 was from F2P games such as Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

This was up from 5% in FY16.

The company has been exploring various growth vectors as outlined in its IR Day last year. pic.twitter.com/ORu18xYCW7

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) January 31, 2022

[nnodley]

Woooow. Now that I did not see coming. That's a pretty big get for Sony

[the-pi-guy]

We heard a couple of weeks ago that Microsoft was in talks with Bungie. But talk is cheap.

— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) January 31, 2022

Sony seemingly outbid MS.  

[nnodley]

We heard a couple of weeks ago that Microsoft was in talks with Bungie. But talk is cheap.

— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) January 31, 2022

Sony seemingly outbid MS.  

Thank god if true. fudge MS

[Dr. Pezus]

That's a decent get. Something Sony has been lacking in (multiplayer games). Maybe Sony want to use Bungie for bargaining, since they say it'll keep making multuplatform games?

[SWORDF1SH]

We heard a couple of weeks ago that Microsoft was in talks with Bungie. But talk is cheap.

— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) January 31, 2022

Sony seemingly outbid MS.  

I willing to bet that MS wasn't willing to give Bungie the level of freedom that Sony are giving them.

[the-pi-guy]

And Jim Ryan told me 'We should expect more' when it comes to further PlayStation acquisitions

— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 31, 2022

Umm...  

[BananaKing]

Awesome news. I've said for years this should/was gonna happen. So what will happen next, Destiny 3 exclusive?

They have a new IP in the works which is most likely gonna be exclusive. This is huge for Sonys multiplayer and GaaS efforts.

[nnodley]

Yeah it's obviously not a reaction to those buys but I'm willing to bet the announcement was a reaction to it. Lol

[BananaKing]

Yeah it's obviously not a reaction to those buys but I'm willing to bet the announcement was a reaction to it. Lol

Its probably why they arent panicking


They say they will remain a multiplatform publisher. Does that mean their games will be on xbox? Or does that mean PC day 1 alongside PS?

[the-pi-guy]

Its probably why they arent panicking


They say they will remain a multiplatform publisher. Does that mean their games will be on xbox? Or does that mean PC day 1 alongside PS?

. Will the Destiny 2 experience on non-PlayStation platforms be impacted by Bungie becoming part of PlayStation? ​
No. We want to maintain the same great experience you already have on your platform of choice. ​

Q. Bungie has future games in development, will they now become PlayStation exclusives? ​
No. We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community. ​

I assume Bungie pushed for this, as part of the deal.

Although I wonder if Sony is hoping that MS will give them the same kind of treatment, and have some of their big titles come to PlayStation.

[the-pi-guy]

Basically Sony gets
- revenue from Bungie 
- expertise on GaaS.   
- expertise on FPS, I guess.   
- perhaps a bargaining chip to keep CoD on PlayStation