Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of game development studio Bungie for $3.6 billion on Monday. The studio is famed for the Destiny game franchise and is also the original creator of Halo.
Bungie, founded in 1991, adds to a long line of studio acquisitions by Sony over the past two decades. The company acquired Naughty Dog in 2001, followed by Guerrilla in 2005 and Sucker Punch Productions in 2011. These studios add to Sony’s homegrown studios, including the Santa Monica studio and Polyphony Digital.
Following the acquisition, the team at Bungie will remain creatively independent and continue to develop games for multiple platforms, as they’ve done so far.
“This is a strategic step towards continuing to evolve the gaming experiences that we build. Bungie’s expertise in delivering a world-class service approach and long-term community engagement is extremely compelling and will support the development of several future live services titles from PlayStation Studios,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment.
“In SIE, 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. Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become,” Bungie announced.
The deal follows the acquisition of Activision by Microsoft — one of the biggest acquisitions that places the tech giant at one of the top spots in the gaming industry, competing with the likes of Sony.
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