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Bungie will stay multiplatform and have the choice to self-publish

Sony is shopping for Destiny devs Bungie at $3.6 billion

Just once you thought all the massive movers and shakers had accomplished their multi-billion greenback acquisition offers for the yr, Sony have simply introduced they’re shopping for Bungie for $3.6 billion. A small sum, maybe, within the face of the $69 billion Microsoft are at the moment shelling out for Activision Blizzard, however moderately than merely subsuming the Destiny developer into the PlayStation mothership, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan has stated that Bungie will “remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher.” Well!

“We believe it makes sense for [Bungie] to sit alongside the PlayStation Studios organization, and we are incredibly excited about the opportunities for synergies and collaboration between these two world-class groups,” Ryan stated in a PlayStation weblog put up.

He additionally informed our sister web site GI.Biz that the acquisition will probably be “an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience. We understand how vital Bungie’s community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow.”

And rising appears to be very a lot on the agenda, in response to Bungie CEO Pete Parsons: “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.

“With Sony’s help, probably the most instant change you will notice is an acceleration in hiring expertise throughout all the studio to help our bold imaginative and prescient. If this speaks to you, and also you wish to assist us put a dent within the universe, we’re hiring throughout all disciplines for Destiny 2 and for all new worlds past.”

Head of PlayStation Studios Herman Hulst is pretty jazzed about it, too:

I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Bungie to the PlayStation family! Bungie create community-driven games with outstanding technology that are enormous fun to play, and I know that everyone at PlayStation Studios will be excited about what we can share and learn together. pic.twitter.com/VySocfBxtx

— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) January 31, 2022

Bungie are currently working on the next expansion for Destiny 2, The Witch Queen, which is due out on February 22nd on all platforms.

The buy-out also won’t affect their plans for the rest of Destiny 2’s roadmap, either, with the studio stating in a player FAQ that the Light and Dark Saga “are unchanged”, and that includes “during The Final Shape in 2024”, which is when the current saga is due to end. The game’s cross-platform and cross-save features won’t be affected either, and will continue to be supported.

With business seemingly carrying on as normal, it’s enough to make you wonder what’s in it for Sony, really. According to Parsons, the platform holder will help to “speed up our imaginative and prescient to create generation-spanning leisure.” He also talks about today being the start of Bungie’s journey to becoming a “world multimedia leisure firm”. Does this mean we might see Destiny 2 spread its wings into the realms of TV and film, perhaps? Sony certainly have a good track record in this regard, what with them also having a major Hollywood film branch and all – and hey, if Microsoft can maybe make a halfway decent Halo TV show, it’s surely not beyond the realms of possibility that a Destiny 2 TV show might have just as much potential.

Before we get there, though, Bungie have some problems closer to home to sort out. The studio came under fire back in December after an IGN report unearthed allegations of racism, sexism, discrimination, toxic leadership and more. At the time, Parsons apologised, saying “it’s clear we nonetheless have work forward of us,” and Bungie’s employees seemed hopeful that the studio was trying to improve. As part of today’s announcement, Parsons added that, “our objective is to construct a spot the place the world’s most inventive and gifted folks can come and do their greatest work, irrespective of who they’re, the place they’re from, or how they determine.” Here’s hoping Sony’s additional help will go a way in serving to them get there.