Bungie says its games will remain multiplatform after PlayStation acquisition
“We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games”
Bungie has said that existing and future games currently in development will not be exclusive to PlayStation platforms following the company’s acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
It was announced on Monday that Sony is set to purchase the Destiny studio and Halo creator—which was once owned by Xbox parent company Microsoft—in a deal worth $3.6 billion.
However, after the completion of the deal, Bungie will be “an independent subsidiary” of the PlayStation firm and remain a multiplatform studio.
In addition to ongoing work on Destiny 2, Bungie previously announced plans to bring at least one new IP to market before 2025.
An FAQ published on Monday covered whether “future games in development” at Bungie will now become PlayStation exclusives.
“No,” the answer begins. “We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community.”
Bungie also said its commitment to Destiny 2 as a multiplatform game with full cross play “remains unchanged”.
It added: “Bungie retains full creative independence for our games and our community. Our plans for the Light and Dark Saga are unchanged, all the way through The Final Shape in 2024.”
Bungie CEO Pete Parsons also said: “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 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.”
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SIE CEO Jim Ryan said the acquisition of Bungie will help advance PlayStation’s plans to increase its foothold in the live service games market.
“This is a strategic step towards continuing to evolve the gaming experiences that we build. Bungie’s expertise in delivering a world-class service approach and long-term community engagement is extremely compelling and will support the development of several future live services titles from PlayStation Studios. Equally, we see the exceptional skills that PlayStation Studios possess offers the potential to enhance Bungie’s existing and future IP portfolio.”
Ryan added: “Bungie’s successful track record in multi-format publishing and live game services will assist us in realizing our ambitions to take PlayStation beyond the console and increase our potential audience. They will remain independent and multi-platform, will enjoy creative freedom, and their track record in developing massively successful franchises in the sci-fi shooter genre will be highly complementary to SIE’s own IP portfolio.”
It was announced earlier this month that Microsoft intends to purchase Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal – the game industry’s biggest ever by some distance.
Giving Microsoft exclusive ownership of franchises including Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot and Guitar Hero, the deal is expected to be completed by June 2023.
