Sony acquires Bungie for $3.7b
Halo x Uncharted collab incoming?
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Yes indeed, Sony has now officially completed the deal to welcome Bungie to the PlayStation family for a staggering $3.7b.
We’ve seen a lot of large-scale acquisitions over the years here at WePC, some were surprising, and some were even game-changing, for example, the $7.5b acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft in October of last year.
However, this might be the most game-changing of them all for one big reason: Halo
Will Halo be coming to PlayStation?
Short answer: No, probably not. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
Yes, Sony now owns Bungie, and to an extent, Bungies IPs. However, certain IPs that Bungie is known for, in this case, the Halo Franchise, are owned by Microsoft.
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Given how pivotal the concept of “exclusives” is, we aren’t surprised that Microsoft has retained Halo, as anyone interested in this stuff will tell you, Master Chief and co. are very, very valuable to the Xbox Ecosystem.
Halo helped revolutionize the First-person shooter genre all those years ago and continues to be a smash hit every time a new entry is released. Most recently, Halo Infinite performed very well both financially and critically, with some considering it a “return to form” for the series.
You can see why exclusives are such a large priority for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. They are often the deciding factor for which console to get, and once you’ve done that, you’re probably going to stick with that company going forward.
What does this mean for Bungie?
Well, in Bungie’s official press release, they certainly make the point of continued independence, despite Sony ownership.
They even reference the inevitable questions surrounding exclusivity with a rather uplifting statement:
“We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games. We will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community. Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play.”
An amusing play on words aside, this strikes us as a very good thing as Neither Bungie nor PlayStation has made any statement on keeping anything platform-exclusive.
This might change in the future of course, and honestly, probably will, given the industry’s competitive nature.
However, we aren’t all arbiters of corporate apocalypse here at WePC, so we’re excited, rather than worried by the news.
