Just as the dust was starting to settle on the Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard buyout, Sony is also making an acquisition in the form of a $3.6 billion deal to buy Bungie. Though the Destiny developer will still be developing for other platforms, so don’t stress that you’ll be missing out on anything if you don’t own a PlayStation.
GamesIndustry.biz reports Bungie will act as “an independent subsidiary” of Sony, and will still release games on other consoles “to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play.” This means Sony will start getting cuts of game sales on other platforms, but as far as players should be concerned, nothing’s changing, for the time being. The studio is constantly iterating on Destiny 2 but is also working on a new IP of some sort.
“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience,” says Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan. “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. Like Bungie, our community is core to PlayStation’s DNA, and our shared passion for the gamer and building the best place to play will now evolve even further.”
In a standalone post on the Bungie Blog, CEO Pete Parsons doubled down on this, saying “our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play.” Parsons went on to say the studio will begin an acceleration of hiring following the acquisition. The studio also posted an FAQ, which basically broke down that none of the content coming to Destiny 2 is becoming a PlayStation exclusive beat by beat:
Q. As a Destiny 2 player, does Bungie becoming part of PlayStation have any immediate impact on how I play and experience Destiny 2? No. Our commitment to Destiny 2 as a multi-platform game with full Cross Play remains unchanged. We want you to play The Witch Queen on February 22, 2022, on the platform of YOUR choice. Q. Will the Destiny 2 experience on non-PlayStation platforms be impacted by Bungie becoming part of PlayStation? No. We want to maintain the same great experience you already have on your platform of choice. Q. Will any announced seasons, events, packs, or expansions be changed or impacted by Bungie becoming part of PlayStation? No. 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. Q. Will Destiny 2: The Witch Queen include any platform exclusives? No. The Witch Queen will not contain any platform exclusives. Every player should have an amazing Destiny experience, no matter where you choose to play Q. Will cross platform features, like Cross Save, Cross Play, the Destiny 2 Companion App, or third-party apps like Destiny Item Manager (DIM) be changed or removed? No. Bungie’s commitment to cross-platform play and social features remains unchanged. We believe games are best shared with friends, wherever they choose to play, and will continue to invest in new features and platforms. Q. Bungie has future games in development, will they now become PlayStation exclusives? No. 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. Q. I play Destiny on Steam, Xbox, or Stadia – will my platform still be supported? Yes.
All-in-all, it sounds like Destiny 2 is going to continue uninterrupted by this deal. This makes sense, because why fuck with the thing you paid $3.6 billion for? We’ll see the specifics about what happens in the future, as these acquisitions have historically been filled with doublespeak about what a company’s output is going to look like as time goes on. This seems refreshingly transparent, but things might change. All of this follows a thorough report on the studio’s workplace culture over at IGN.
