Sony’s acquisition of Bungie has got tongues wagging, but Microsoft shouldn’t be worried about the short-term impact of the deal.
Another week, another major acquisition in the video game industry. This time it’s Bungie that’s been bought out, with Sony announcing that it had acquired the Destiny 2 developer for $3.6 billion on January 31. Sony’s buyout of Bungie could be seen as an immediate response to Microsoft’s seismic takeover of Activision Blizzard (which is now being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission). But it’s actually a more complicated deal, and one that’s unlikely to affect Xbox gamers directly – if at all. It is, however, a deal that makes logical sense for Sony, and for PlayStation as a whole. The key point to keep in mind regarding Sony’s Bungie acquisition is that the Destiny 2 developer is set to remain completely independent. The studio has made it clear that Destiny 2, including any future in-game content or new IP created by Bungie, will not be exclusive to PlayStation consoles. At the very least, it will be down to Bungie’s discretion where its future games and content end up, not Sony. In an FAQ on Bungie’s website, the company responded to questions about whether future games in development will become PlayStation exclusive. “No,” the statement reads. “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.” That’s pretty clear-cut, then, and it means that Destiny 2 won’t suddenly become a PlayStation exclusive, nor will Sony be ordering Bungie to get to work on a Halo-killer anytime soon.
