Sony Acquisition

On January 31, 2022, Bungie and Sony announced that Bungie would be joining the PlayStation family. Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony, said that Bungie "will remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher" and that "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 CEO Pete Parsons said, "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. Today, Bungie begins our journey to become a global multi-media entertainment company." Parsons said that Bungie is continuing to development new worlds, and that Bungie will remain in charge of its destiny.

It was reported that Sony purchased Bungie for $3.6 billion, with $1.2 billion for the retention of current employees, and that the deal had been in the works for nearly half a year. Some employees would receive "roughly a year's worth of income" in compensation - though not all at once. "Employees will receive 50 percent of their equity payouts when the Sony deal closes and 50 percent over the next few years."

Sony executive Hiroki Totoki said Bungie would aid PlayStation in Sony's major expansion of live service game development. "The strategic significance of this acquisition lies not only in obtaining the highly successful Destiny franchise, as well as major new IP Bungie is currently developing, but also incorporating into the Sony group the expertise and technologies Bungie has developed in the live game services space," he said.

Bungie officially joined PlayStation on July 15, 2022, after the Federal Trade Commission completed its query of the deal.

## References

1. ↑ Bungie.net - Bungie Joins Sony Interactive Entertainment (Jan. 31, 2022)
2. ↑ PlayStation - Bungie is Joining PlayStation (Jan. 31, 2022)
3. ↑ gambesindustry.biz - Sony buying Bungie for $3.6 billion (Jan. 31, 2022)
4. ↑ TheVerge - Sony is buying Bungie, the developer of Destiny and original creator of Halo (Jan. 31, 2022)
5. ↑ Polygon - Sony acquiring Bungie, creators of Destiny, in $3.6B deal (Jan. 31, 2022)
6. ↑ Eurogamer - Sony will spend $1.2bn on retaining Bungie staff (Feb. 3, 2022)
7. ↑ gamesindustry.biz - PlayStation: Bungie deal is about multiplatform, live-service games (Jan. 31, 2022)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Washington Post - Bunge leadership assures employees Sony deal will not result in layoffs, restructuring (Feb. 1, 2022)
9. ↑ Eurogamer - PlayStation plans to launch more than 10 live service games before March 2026 (Feb. 2, 2022)
10. ↑ Sony - Sony Group Corporation FY2021 3Q Earnings Announcement (February 2022)
11. ↑ Twitter - @PlayStation: The agreement to acquire Bungie has closed. So now we can officially say... welcome to the PlayStation family, @Bungie!" (July 15, 2022, 10:00 AM PDT)
12. ↑ Twitter - @Bungie: "We are proud to officially join the incredible team at PlayStation, we are excited for the future of our company, and we are inspired to bring together players from all over the world to form lasting friendships and memories. Per Audacia ad Astra!" (July 15, 2022, 10:03 AM PDT)
13. ↑ GeekWire - Bungie officially joins PlayStation as $3.6B deal closes (July 15, 2022)
14. ↑ TechCrunch - Sony officially owns Bungie now (July 15, 2022)
15. ↑ The Information - FTC Opens Inquiry Into Sony's $3.6 Billion Bungie Gaming Purchase (May 5, 2022)
16. ↑ GameRant - Federal Trade Commission Is Investigating Sony’s Bungie Acquisition (May 6, 2022)