Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Sony buys Bungie for $3.6 billion

Bungie sure likes to snuggle up to big companies after a little "me time". First it was Microsoft then, out for a few, then Activision, out for a bit, and now Sony.

Microsoft: Hey Sony! Look at us! We just bought Activision Blizzard. Look at all the games and IP we now own.
Sony: Well... umm... we just bought... uhh... *panics... looks around frantically* ... Bungie! Yeah. We just bought Bungie. What do you think about that?
Microsoft: Bungie... Bungie... oh yeah! We owned them once. They made Halo, which we still own, BTW.
Sony: Yeah, well... umm... well we're going to buy even more studios. And we'll stay up late watching TV and eating pizza. It's going to be awesome. You'll see!
Microsoft: All right then. Run along little fella! Have fun!

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Microsoft: Hey Sony! Look at us! We just bought Activision Blizzard. Look at all the games and IP we now own.
Sony: Well... umm... we just bought... uhh... *panics... looks around frantically* ... Bungie! Yeah. We just bought Bungie. What do you think about that?
Microsoft: Bungie... Bungie... oh yeah! We owned them once. They made Halo, which we still own, BTW.
Sony: Yeah, well... umm... well we're going to buy even more studios. And we'll stay up late watching TV and eating pizza. It's going to be awesome. You'll see!
Microsoft: All right then. Run along little fella! Have fun!

Sony: Oh yeah?! Well we'll just buy out our own third-party studio! With blackjack! AND HOOKERS! In fact, forget the blackjack!

How has Bungie managed to sell itself 3 times now? What do they even make anymore?

Destiny 2 is pretty successful it seems.

Even among those of us who lost faith in Destiny 2, the company hasn't quite gone the way of Bioware yet (where the name is worthless). A lot of fans who had problems with Destiny 2 blamed a lot of the Destiny 2 problems on Activision Blizzard rather than Bungie.

It's also worth noting that this gives Sony an in for the popular shooter market, a market they've never really managed to compete in. Not on the level of Call of Duty, Halo, or anything likeOverwatch, Fortnite or Apex Legends.

 Dreadwinter wrote:
How has Bungie managed to sell itself 3 times now? What do they even make anymore?

Dreams. And oddly specific merchandise for one franchise. Want some D2 shoes or hoodie they got that, assuming you have unlocked the achievement in game to buy able them irl. I kid you can just buy the shoes outright but there are items you have to 'earn' the ability to buy from the store.

From where I stand Bungie hasn't made a good game since Halo Reach. Technically Destiny 2 has been successful but I don't like the lore/universe/IP or art style. Plus it's a looter shooter with raids (ew) and i've heard they've even removed dlc people have paid for.

Maybe their new IP they're working on for Sony will be better.

Yeah, I figure it's mainly to try and compete on the FPS front with CoD being likely taken away at some point in the future and there being a major gap for Sony given that Resistance and Killzone (their responses to both GoW and Halo respectively) being forgotten IP for the most part, now that Insomniac is focusing on Spiderman and Ratchet and Clank and Guerilla is focusing on Horizon games.

I find it an odd move from Bungie considering how much they wanted to bitch and whinge after they got out from Microsoft. How will Sony be any different?

I think the reality is that unless you're a huge house you can't really do AAA game development independently anymore. Rockstar can get away with it because They're Rockstar and CD Project Red has lots of investment, but that's about it. Everyone else wanting to make games on that stage needs a big publisher to back them.

Bungie is likely finding that they will not be able to function as they are accustomed without someone backing them.

Also for a lot of the owners, selling out is kind of the whole point. Build up a name for yourself, sell the company, leave and do it again with or without your name intact. Bungie have done a fantastic job of keeping the reputation of the guys who made Halo and regardless of the quality of Destiny itself, were largely responsible for showing how to shape the industry around the live service looter shooter model for the last decade. They've made people rich and that's at this point the primary selling point for the industry.