Sony acquires creators of Destiny 2 and Halo games for $3.6 billion

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is acquiring American video game developer Bungie Inc, known for Destiny series and original Halo games, for $3.6 billion.

The announcement was made by both Bungie CEO Pete Parsons and confirmed by Jim Ryan President and CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment, in separate blog posts. Ryan assured that Bungie will continue to independently develop and publish games.

"Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play," Parsons added, setting aside any speculation on Destiny games becoming PlayStation exclusives in the near future. 

"Bungie’s world-class expertise in multi-platform development and live game services will help us deliver on our vision of expanding PlayStation to hundreds of millions of gamers," Ryan said in a blog post. 

The acquisition will bolster Sony's position in the online multiplayer gaming segment, which is growing rapidly. 

Bungie's online multiplayer game Destiny 2 is one of the most popular games in this category and is estimated to have a user base of 38.8 million players. 

Becoming a part of Sony's gaming division will also provide more resources to Bungie, which it plans to put to use immediately with hiring of gaming talent across all disciplines for Destiny 2 and for upcoming games. 

"With SIE's support, the most immediate change you will see is an acceleration in hiring talent across the entire studio to support our ambitious vision," Parsons said in a separate blog post. 

Bungie's acquisition will heat up the rivalry between Sony and Microsoft. Last month, Microsoft announced that it's acquiring Activision Blizzard, the creators and publishers of the Call of Duty games that has a user base of over 400 million. Microsoft had also said that the acquisition of Activision will play a key role in the development of its Metaverse platforms. Microsoft had also acquired Bethesda Softworks, the creators of Elder Scrolls and Fallout in 2021 for $7.5 billion.