Renowned game company Bungie is now officially part of the PlayStation family thanks to a multibillion-dollar buyout by Sony. Although Bungie will be under the PlayStation umbrella, Bungie's games will continue to span multiple platforms while applying its expertise to future PlayStation projects.Bungie has been making games since 1991, originally gaining recognition for its Marathon first-person shooter trilogy and the hit Myth series of real-time tactics games. Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000 which lead to the Xbox launch title Halo: Combat Evolved solidifying the burgeoning console's position in the industry. The Halo franchise would go on to be one of Bungie's most successful projects along with 2014's massively-multiplayer looter-shooter Destiny. Bungie's relationship with Microsoft kept the Halo franchise confined to Xbox and PC, while Destiny managed to be a multiplatform success. The recent acquisition by Sony is an opportunity for Bungie to create more multiplatform games rather than exclusives.Sony Interactive Entertainment announced its $3.6 billion bid to purchase Bungie back in January 2022, raising many questions about the future of PlayStation and Bungie's projects. Bungie has repeatedly stressed that the acquisition would not lead to Bungie becoming a PlayStation-exclusive studio, stating in an FAQ about the deal that "We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community." In the FAQ, Bungie also stated that "We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games," highlighting its intention to reach more players as a Sony subsidiary rather than be confined to PlayStation users.
The gaming industry appears to be shifting due to a series of major acquisitions by Sony and Microsoft. Microsoft has recently completed its purchase of Activision Blizzard, publisher of World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Diablo. The $68.7 billion acquisition will enable Microsoft to add Activision's extensive repertoire of games to Xbox Game Pass for its 25 million subscribers to enjoy. Microsoft also purchased ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, for $7.5 billion last year. That purchase placed the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises along with the upcoming Starfield space RPG under Microsoft's control in a major disruption to the industry.
Although Bungie is now a subsidiary of Sony, Bungie appears determined to remain independent and intends to use this as an opportunity to reach more of the PlayStation audience. Future Bungie games will most likely still be accessible to Xbox players, so longtime Bungie fans shouldn't have much to worry about.