Sony today announced it is buying Destiny developer Bungie in a deal worth $3.6 billion. In a PlayStation Blog post, Sony Interactive Entertainment boss, Jim Ryan said the gaming studio “will remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher” as a member of PlayStation Studios.
“Bungie’s world-class expertise in multi-platform development and live game services will help us deliver on our vision of expanding PlayStation to hundreds of millions of gamers,” Ryan added. Bungie’s current management team will stay the same and the studio will continue to be run by a board of directors consisting of its incumbent CEO and chairman Pete Parsons according to Gamesindustry.biz.
Bungie is expected to keep on working on Destiny 2 and a new IP. “In Sony, 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,” said Bungie CEO Pete Parsons. “Like us, Sony believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become.”
Bungie, the original creator of Halo was acquired by Microsoft in June 2000 ahead of the original Xbox launch before the studio became independent once again in October 2007 after the launch of Halo 3. This will be the second time the studio will be acquired by a platform holder. Sony’s acquisition of the studio comes after Microsoft recent acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision in a $68.7 billion deal. Take-Two Interactive also reached an agreement to acquire Zynga for $12.7 billion in January.
