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It seems as though Sony took a page out of Microsoft's book after the company made the decision to acquire the former developer of the Halo series. Following Sony's acquisition of Bungie, the company is now reportedly planning to venture into another gaming category.
After Sony's shocking acquisition of Bungie, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan stated in a recent interview that the company is looking to branch out from single-player, story-focused games. Ryan believes that Bungie may be able to help Sony expand its market into live-service games after Bungie's success with the Destiny and Halo series'. Ryan explained that the two companies can hopefully slot together and be mutually beneficial to one another.
Ryan explained that Sony was interested in pursuing live-service gaming even before it considered buying Bungie. Ryan noted that while Sony could have created live-service games itself, Bungie had a wealth of experience in the genre and would be able to give Sony a head start. It does seem as though Bungie will not be the only company that Sony will acquire, as Sony allegedly has more plans in the works. The companies Sony may be interested in purchasing may be involved in live-service games as it seems to be making a big push in the category.
It also seems as though Sony is not planning on closing off its games and making them exclusive. Ryan mentioned that Sony is planning to grow the size of the PlayStation community, which might mean releasing games to different platforms. Sony has already breached the PC market by releasing many of its exclusives to the platform a few years after release such as the God of War PC port that released last month.
Even the Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer commented on Sony's massive acquisition. This was not surprising as Spencer is generally exceptionally vocal on matters affecting the gaming industry. Spencer congratulated and praised both Bungie and Sony on the acquisition. The move most likely still stung though considering that Bungie was an integral part of Xbox some time ago.
Sony and Microsoft appear to have different intentions with these acquisitions. Microsoft seems intent on acquiring multiple massive companies so that it can have a plethora of Xbox exclusive games. Sony on the other hand seems to be focusing on offering a variety of different games that will be available on different platforms. Only time will tell which strategy will be more effective, but it will most certainly make the next few years more interesting.
Source: Games Industry