Sony Confirms Bungie Purchase (Anything Microsoft Can Do…)

Earlier this month we were hit with the absolute bombshell news that Microsoft had successfully agreed to the purchase of Activision/Blizzard for a deal thought to be something in the region of £70BN. This was, by all accounts, a truly shocking deal. Mostly because it came right out of nowhere.

Following a report via GamesIndustry, however, and possibly in a case of ‘anything you can do…’, Sony has just confirmed the conclusion of their latest acquisition that will see Destiny 2 developer Bungie brought into their fold. Albeit, for a notably less substantial figure of $3.7BN.

Sony Acquires Destiny 2 Developer ‘Bungie’

Let’s make no bones about it, the announcement that Sony has purchased Bungie is almost certainly in reaction to Microsoft getting Activision. While it would clearly appear on the surface that Microsoft has hugely got the better end of the deals on offer here though, there is a somewhat interesting rabbit hole to go down. – Specifically, that back in 2019, you may recall that following a growingly acrimonious relationship, Activision effectively cut Bungie and the rights to Destiny 2 loose.

Had they not done this, although Bungie was, strictly speaking, an independent developer who had simply entered into a publishing partnership with Activision, Microsoft’s deal would’ve seen them also potentially get control of Destiny 2. – This latest deal may, therefore, effectively boil down to the fact that while Microsoft was basking in the glory of snagging Activision, Sony saw a smart (and notably less expensive) move to grab a pretty huge (if mildly maligned) gaming franchise!

“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience. We understand how vital Bungie’s community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow.” – Jim Ryan, PlayStation

Will it Go Exclusive?

The good news is that with Sony’s purchase of Bungie, this all but guarantees the future development of a Destiny 3 title. Not to mention, of course, perhaps a little bit more extended support and DLC, etc. for Destiny 2. – A bigger poser though is whether Sony will choose to make it a PlayStation exclusive.

So, will they? Well, according to Sony, it does appear that while they now own Bungie, they are still going to give them a pretty free hand to develop what they like for who they like. In other words, unlike a lot (if not all) of their previous acquisitions, Bungie may still be allowed to create titles for both the PlayStation and Xbox. Let’s be honest though, it’s entirely possible that their ability to do this might be determined by whether Microsoft decides to make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive or not (something which, so far, they haven’t overly committed to one way or the other.

With this in mind, I can see a lot of tussling over this issue between Sony and Microsoft in the coming years, but on the plus side, it might result in some excellent compromises that, all going well, won’t see too many titles be full-blown platform exclusives. – Like the Microsoft/Activision deal though, we’re not going to lie, we didn’t see this one coming!

I mean, what’s next? Is Microsoft going to buy Ubisoft now?…

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!