Sony claps back at Microsoft by acquiring Bungie
Last Updated on: 31st January 2022, 09:12 pm
January is typically a slow month for the gaming industry following the holidays the previous month which is when we see many big-name titles released.
But, 2022 has been completely different and has been one of the most exciting months that we’ve seen in a long time, spearheaded by Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which now means that Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Crash Bandicoot, and many other franchises are now owned by Xbox.
Coupled with the release of games such as God of War and Pokemon Legends Arceus, this month has been a really great month for gaming.
And it is not over yet because Sony had one more trick up its sleeve, and that is the announcement that the company has acquired Bungie, the developers behind the Destiny series and the original creators of the Halo franchise, which does make this seem like a direct slap in the face to Xbox for taking away some IPs that are strongly associated with PlayStation, although this isn’t the case due to how long these deals take to happen, it is amusing that they both happened on the same month.
Earlier today, Herman Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, took to Twitter to announce the news saying,
“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.”
The deal has been made for a reported $3.6 billion, which does seem a lot for a single studio. This could indicate that Sony has its eye on expanding the Destiny franchise to include a TV show and/or movie series to help build upon the lore, following in the footsteps of other successful video game tie-ins such as The Witcher.
It is hard not to look at this acquisition as a direct response to Microsoft purchasing Activision Blizzard, which has now brought many IPs associated with PlayStation over to Xbox, including Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon.
READ MORE: Halo Infinite lead narrative designer has left 343 Industries
Bungie is perhaps best known for being the original developers of the Halo series, with the studio creating Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, and Halo Reach before leaving Microsoft to join Activision Blizzard and create the Destiny franchise.
Destiny 2 is currently a free-to-play game that has regularly released expansion packs, including The Witch Queen which is set to launch on February 22nd, 2022.
This deal could mean that Destiny 3 will be absent from Xbox, although it likely will still release on PC as well as the PS5. However, it is possible that Sony could use Destiny 3 as a bargaining chip against Microsoft when it comes to IPs being exclusive to Xbox such as Call of Duty, The Elder Scrolls, etc, perhaps this will be the way that Sony ensures that those titles will also release on their system too.
