When Sony announced its intention to buy Bungie earlier this week, many gamers were quick to assume the move was made in response to Microsoft’s impending purchase of Activision Blizzard. However, it seems that this is not the case. According to Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz, the deal has been in the works for the last five or six months. Given the timing of the announcement, you can’t blame gamers for thinking there might be some sort of connection, but $3.6 billion worth of deals don’t happen overnight, or in a few weeks! , for that matter!
Dring’s Tweet about the purchase can be found embedded below.
The deal was in process for the last 5/6 months. It’s not a reaction to the Take-Two/Zynga or Microsoft/Activision deals.
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 31, 2022
Sony’s purchase of Bungie came as a huge surprise when it was announced! The former Halo developer seemed like an odd fit for PlayStation, but it actually makes quite a bit of sense. According to PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, the purpose of Bungie’s purchase was not to obtain exclusive games, but rather to obtain Bungie’s experience in creating live service games. Bungie’s experience with the Destiny franchise gives them an edge over the rest of the internal PlayStation teams, which are more suited to creating single-player experiences. As such, Bungie could be of great help, especially as PlayStation looks to expand its own offerings.
While PlayStation’s purchase of Bungie has yet to happen, the company is already looking to other studios to buy. Some players are notably hesitant about the idea of Sony and Microsoft buying so many other companies and what it could mean for competition in the industry. In fact, the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal to make sure it doesn’t give the company an unfair competitive advantage. No official announcement has been made about an investigation, and it’s unclear if the FTC will similarly investigate Sony’s purchase of Bungie. While there may not be an actual connection between the two deals, it could mark the start of a trend for the industry.
how do you feel about The purchase of Bungie by Sony? Did you think there was a connection to the Activision Blizzard deal? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!
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