Bungie has officially joined the PlayStation team.
An SEC filing published today can confirm that Sony Interactive Entertainment has completed its acquisition of the developer behind Destiny and Microsoft’s earlier Halo games. The transaction is worth “approximately 3.7 billion U.S. dollars,” an increase over the $3.6 billion figure that Sony originally pegged for the deal when it was announced earlier this year.
The agreement to acquire Bungie has closed. So now we can officially say… welcome to the PlayStation family, @Bungie! pic.twitter.com/x5jVmelaxl
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 15, 2022
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, who revealed the partnership in January, clarified that Bungie would maintain its independence following the deal. Ryan also gave a little insight as to why Sony decided to splurge on the Destiny developer.
[…] I want to be very clear to the community that Bungie will remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher. As such, we believe it makes sense for it 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.
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. Bungie is a great innovator and has developed incredible proprietary tools that will help PlayStation Studios achieve new heights under Hermen Hulst’s leadership.
Ryan’s optimism was echoed by a complementary post from Bungie, which sees Sony as a good partner that will allow it to create even better entertainment but with the assurance that it will continue to have creative freedom.
In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart. Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums.
Bungie is mostly about Destiny these days, but much of the developer’s fame is owed to its Halo games, which include the original Halo: Combat Evolved for Xbox and its prequel, Halo: Reach. Joseph Staten, one of Bungie’s most notable alums, now works with 343 Industries as Head of Creative for Halo Infinite.
Source: SEC