By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Sony Interactive Entertainment has agreed to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion, as gaming conglomerates continue to gobble up indie developers.
Bungie is certainly among the most successful game developers in the world, having designed both the global hit Destiny and the Halo franchise. That latter game practically defined the first-person shooter genre for many years, although it is currently managed by Microsoft-owned 343 Industries.
Sony says the acquisition will give SIE access to Bungie’s world-class approach to live game services and technology expertise, furthering SIE’s vision to reach billions of players. Bungie will continue to operate independently, the company says, maintaining the ability to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play.
“Bungie has created and continues to evolve some of the world’s most beloved videogame franchises and, by aligning its values with people’s desire to share gameplay experiences, they bring together millions of people around the world,” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation. “As part of our purpose to ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology’, we will utilize the Sony Group’s diverse array of entertainment and technology assets to support further evolution of Bungie and its ability to create iconic worlds across multiple platforms and media.”
Based in Bellevue, WA, and with more than 900 employees, Bungie is renowned for creating large-scale, evolving worlds centered around high-quality gameplay experiences that foster meaningful player connections. Currently, the team is focused on the long-term development of the hugely successful Destiny 2, expanding the Destiny universe, and creating entirely new worlds in future IP.
The total consideration of this transaction is 3.6 billion U.S. dollars, inclusive of purchase price and committed employee incentives, and is subject to customary working capital and other adjustments.
“We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO, SIE. “This is 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.
“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.”
Bungie’s CEO Pete Parsons says the deal made sense for his company, as it furthers its goal of becoming a global multimedia company.
“In SIE, we have found a partner that fully supports us and wants to accelerate our vision of creating meaningful entertainment experiences that span generations, all while valuing the creative independence that is the heartbeat of Bungie,” said Parsons. “We will continue pursuing our vision of one, unified Bungie community, building games that value our community and meet them wherever and however they choose to play. Both Bungie and SIE believe that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IP will become. Our original universes have immense potential and, with SIE’s support, we will propel Bungie into becoming a global multi-media entertainment company dedicated to delivering on our creative vision.”
The acquisition of Bungie is just one of three major deals that have played out over the past week. The largest was Microsoft’s acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard for a reported $69 billion. In that case, Microsoft said a major driver of its acquisition was the need to accelerate its development of metaverse technologies.
While Microsoft says gaming is also very important to the company, which also produces the Xbox and runs the DirectX gaming platform, the company says the long-term vision is on becoming a major player in the metaverse, often known as Web 3.0.
“With three billion people actively playing games today, and fueled by a new generation steeped in the joys of interactive entertainment, gaming is now the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment,” Microsoft said in a statement. This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.”
The second largest was the acquisition of mobile gaming specialist Zynga by Take Two (aka T2).
Take-Two Interactive, the producer of Grand Theft Auto, has acquired Farmville creator Zynga for $12.7 billion, creating a new behemoth in the industry.
“We are thrilled to announce our transformative transaction with Zynga, which significantly diversifies our business and establishes our leadership position in mobile, the fastest growing segment of the interactive entertainment industry,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “This strategic combination brings together our best-in-class console and PC franchises, with a market-leading, diversified mobile publishing platform that has a rich history of innovation and creativity.”
Zelnick said the deal unifies two global leaders in the interactive entertainment business, and establishes Take-Two as one of the largest and most diversified mobile game publishers in the industry, with $6.1 billion in pro-forma Net Bookings for the trailing 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2021.