Following the wide-reaching announcement that Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion, an early big-ticket consolidation deal in the gaming industry this 2022, PlayStation president and CEO Jim Ryan revealed that there are more acquisitions we should expect to come.
Although the immediate thought of many when the news broke out is that the Bungie acquisition was Sony's reaction to Microsoft's record-shattering deal to buy Activision Blizzard, it was revealed that it has been in the work for months, as per Kotaku, and this goes without saying that such deal take time to be made as both parties, for sure, need to consider many factors.
What Will Happen to Bungie?
As per the deal, Bungie will continue to operate as an independent studio when it comes to game production and distribution even though it is now fully owned by Sony.
The acquisition announcement also came with the assurance that Bungie will remain to be multiplatform, and that Sony will not impose console exclusivity.
That means that Bungie will continue to operate like it used to and the only difference is that it is now owned by Sony.
As we can remember, this is not the first time Bungie was acquired by a major platform holder.
Since then, we have seen such big movements in the gaming industry like when Microsoft bought Bungie in June of 2000, securing "Halo" as an exclusive title for the initial Xbox launch in 2001.
From that moment up until today, Bungie's "Halo" is considered one of the most popular games worldwide.
In a peculiar twist of fate only 2022 could deliver, the two games companies are now owned by console rivals.
What's The Reason Behind The Acquisiton?
Given the massive impact it caused on the gaming industry as early as the first quarter, many could not help but raise questions and comparisons between this and Microsoft's.
As the news gets hotter and hotter, it was further explained that this deal is Sony's another shot in its goal to bring PlayStation to a much wider audience.
While there is no official explanation for Sony's big move, a lot of assumptions about what this will bring in the near future have popped up.
Based on Gizmodo's articles, this deal may give Sony "a larger player base and a steady stream of income" considering Destiny's sizable and stable player base.
In contrast, Gizmodo said Microsoft can also do the same with "Call of Duty."
Meanwhile, some speculations also include the idea that agreements came at a time when studio working conditions are being look at more closely.
At some point, whatever reasons Sony have had when it acquired Bungie should not overthrow the posibilities and what it teases as "more acquisitions to expect."
As cited by Destrucoid, there is a possibility that potential TV/movie projects for Bungie's IP.
That, for sure, would be a good offer for both of the companies' growing communities.
