Sony Will Purchase ‘Destiny’ Developer Bungie, Which Will Continue To ‘Independently Publish’ Games

Sony is one of the biggest video game producers in the world. The PlayStation publisher is famous for being a company willing to throw tens of millions at their biggest titles and the results have almost always been successful. The PS5 sells out in moments every time more hit stores, and even after the news of Microsoft purchasing Call of Duty publisher Activision, Sony remained in a strong position as far as video games are concerned.

That strength was reinforced on Monday when Jason Schreier of Bloomberg reported that Sony was in the process of purchasing Destiny developer and Halo creator, Bungie. Funny enough, Bungie was previously owned by both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard at different points in the company’s lifespan. Now, it’s heading to Sony for $3.6 billion.

Shortly after Schreier’s report, Bungie released a statement on the purchase. Bungie made it clear that it still plans to publish games as an independent studio within Sony. Bungie has historically not been very happy with being owned by larger corporations — they popped champagne when going independent in 2007 and 2019 after splits from Microsoft and Activision — but it’s possible this independent status within the company will keep them happier than they were in previous relationships.

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.​

This is pretty massive news despite Bungie not being as large as Activision Blizzard. Destiny is an extremely large and successful franchise with millions of players downloading the free-to-play Destiny 2 and buying its expansions. Bungie was in such a good place with the franchise that it felt comfortable enough to split off from Activision and go solo back in 2019. Then there’s the obvious pedigree of Bungie being the ones who made Halo. If it wasn’t for Bungie, it’s possible that Microsoft Studios and the Xbox never get off the ground and now they’re one of the biggest console publishers in the world. All of this is to say that when Bungie makes a game, it’s often a hit.

With Bungie’s pedigree, and Sony’s willingness to throw money at successful studios, this could be a perfect match made in heaven. Bungie could use this opportunity to make Destiny 2 even bigger, create a sequel, or make new IPs. In the statement above, Bungie expressed a desire to become a “global multi-media entertainment company.” There is a lot of potential here with this partnership and we’re fascinated to see what becomes of it.