Sony Interactive Entertainment has entered into an agreement to acquire Bungie, it was announced, in a deal worth $3.6 billion dollars. If and when the acquisition actually closes, Bungie will function as an independent subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The way in which the announcement is worded also indicates that Bungie will continue to publish itself and be able to determine what platforms its video games will be on, though that isn’t necessarily the same as guaranteeing that future Bungie titles will also release elsewhere.
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“We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, as part of the announcement. “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. Like Bungie, our community is core to PlayStation’s DNA, and our shared passion for the gamer and building the best place to play will now evolve even further.”
“In SIE, we have found a partner that fully supports us and wants to accelerate our vision of creating meaningful entertainment experiences that span generations, all while valuing the creative independence that is the heartbeat of Bungie,” said Pete Parsons, CEO and Chairman of Bungie, as part of the same announcement. “We will continue pursuing our vision of one, unified Bungie community, building games that value our community and meet them wherever and however they choose to play. Both Bungie and SIE believe that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IP will become. Our original universes have immense potential and, with SIE’s support, we will propel Bungie into becoming a global multi-media entertainment company dedicated to delivering on our creative vision.”
Following the acquisition closing, Bungie will be run by its Board of Directors and will continue to be chaired by Parsons. The current management team will also continue on. As is the case will all of these big acquisitions, like Microsoft announcing it was acquiring Activision Blizzard earlier this month, the deal is subject to all of the usual regulatory approvals and such. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Bungie right here.
What do you think about Sony Interactive Entertainment acquiring Bungie? Are you curious to see what the future holds for Bungie as part of PlayStation? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!
