Sony Group's videogame division announced Monday that it is acquiring Bungie Inc., the studio behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, in a $3.6 billion deal.
Bungie will become an independent subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment following the acquisition, subject to regulatory approval. Bungie will be led by its board of directors, chaired by Pete Parsons, and its current management team.
Bungie is best known as the creator of the popular Halo and Destiny first-person shooter franchises. Today, Microsoft Corp. owns Halo, and the series is available exclusively through Microsoft's Xbox platform, not Sony's PlayStation. Sony would acquire Bungie in exchange for control of Destiny, which is already available on PlayStation and Xbox.
Sony Interactive Entertainment's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the third significant video-game purchase this month, following Microsoft Corp.'s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard two weeks ago and Take Two Interactive Corp.'s buyout of mobile game leader Zynga Inc. on Jan. 10.
By acquiring Bungie, Sony will gain one of the most popular first-person shooter games to compete with Activision's massive "Call of Duty" franchise.
While this is one of Sony's largest acquisitions to date, "the price paid by Microsoft highlights the fierce competition in this sector," Piers Harding-Rolls, gaming analyst at Ampere Analysis, explained.
"Bungie created and continues to evolve some of the world's most beloved videogame franchises, and by aligning its values with people's desire to share gameplay experiences, they connect millions of people worldwide," Sony Group Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida said in a statement.
According to Bloomberg News, Microsoft is committed to releasing at least the next three "Call of Duty" games on Sony's PlayStation. However, Microsoft may eventually decide to restrict the series to its Xbox console and Windows computers. Meanwhile, Sony has stated unequivocally that "Destiny 2" and other titles will not be exclusive to PlayStation platforms.
Sony is a frequent acquirer of video game studios, but Bungie is by far the company's largest procurement in the last decade. As it did with Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games, the Japanese entertainment and technology giant typically acquires smaller studios and augments them with marketing and development resources.
Sony also owns minority stakes in a number of larger video game companies, including Epic Games Inc., the company behind "Fortnite." The company has also made a number of smaller acquisitions in recent years, most notably Burbank-based Insomniac Games in 2019 and Finland's Housemarque, with the goal of bolstering its library of PlayStation exclusives.
