Sony Interactive Entertainment is set to acquire Bungie for $3,6 billion, making it the third largest acquisition in the gaming industry in less than a month.
According to a report by the Games Industry, Bungie will be an "independent subsidiary" of Sony and will be led by a board that includes the studio's current management team and CEO Pete Parsons.
Bungie is best known for Destiny. The company is currently working on innovations and new games for Destiny 2.
SIE CEO Jim Ryan said he is excited to bring Bungie under the Sony umbrella.
“We've had a strong partnership with Bungie since the beginning of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn't be more excited to officially welcome the studio into the PlayStation family,” Ryan said.
In a blog post, Bungie said it has found a partner who "supports us unconditionally under all circumstances and seeks to accelerate our vision of creating entertainment for generations while preserving the creative independence at the heart of Bungie."
This is the third largest acquisition in the gaming industry after Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard a few weeks ago and Take-Two announced its intention to acquire Zynga. The Microsoft deal will currently be in June 2023 with a price tag of $68 billion, while the Take-Two deal will cost $12,7 billion.
This isn't Bungie's first acquisition by a gaming platform. Microsoft acquired Bungie in June 2000, making Halo the exclusive game for the Xbox launch. Immediately after the release of Halo 2007 in 3, Bungie signed a 10-year deal with Activision and continued to make the Destiny series.
“Wherever you choose to play, every player should have a great Destiny experience,” says a visual featuring Destiny's shared vision. Although the deal has just been announced, Bungie seems to be planning to keep Destiny in the hands of its players by not limiting where the game is played.