New and Existing Bungie Games Will Not Become PS5, PS4 Exclusives

I don't get it. Why acquire the studio then? Especially for that amount.

I wouldn’t trust the pr immediately following announcements of this magnitude

Soo why waste billions on them? Why not leave them as is and keep those billions in your pocket for possible future purchases? If they aren't going to benefit PlayStation in any way what's the point?🤨

Like i said this acquisition was purely out of fear to make sure future destiny games stay on playstation. That's what Sony have in their head now, not to buy studios to make new exclusives, they are going to buy studios just to make sure their games are safe and still on playstation.

Wouldn't surprise me if another company was eyeing up bungie hence why Sony was forced to buy them

This is purely an investment and we shouldn't look at it as part of the SIE. On the Brightside, even if Call of duty becomes a console exclusive, this won't be.

Yet, I’ve already seen a ton of people spreading a ton of statements across the net like, Bungie is going to make a COD killer for PlayStation.

Even if they did make exclusives for Sony, they haven’t proven their worth with Destiny. Destiny is okay at best.

There has to be some sort of dragons den you give us a percentage of all sales going forward arrangement otherwise what's the point.

This is about technology and know-how. Bungie engine is one of the best for first person shooters. They’ve also successfully run live service for years and that experience will be invaluable to PlayStation.

It isn’t really about Bungie output of games. They’re unlikely to be changed by this acquisition. All the statements have been about how PlayStation will use the expertise.

@naruball
It's a vector for revenue growth. That's the only angle I can see. Sony saw an opportunity to spend $3.6B to earn far more than that in the long run.

Sony need to be careful, or they will become the next Sega.

Stick to what you know son, big exclusive games. By the way things are going we will all just be dipping in and out of subscriptions and having a rubbish time. A bit like subscribing to Disney plus.

And has anyone seen those GAAS prices lately?

Jim Ryan is so pro-consumer!!

At least they're not taking games away away from players and making other platforms smaller.
Can you imagine someone doing something that crappy?

So what if playstation asked bungie to make a playstation exclusive shooter to rival call of duty? That would have to be multi platform as well or does that only stand for bungie's own ideas and new IP's already in development

Maybe we will see a Killzone live service game

If Microsoft stop COD on PlayStation in the future I can't see SONY just letting all new Bungie games go to the Xbox?!?! That would be MADNESS by SONY. SONY need to get a bit more aggressive nowadays with all this going on. Knock a few Billion off Microsoft's shares now and then SONY!!!

@naruball
Because they make money, and Sony feel they are uniquely based to drive them forward to make even more money?
MS may soon be paying Sony to put Bungie games on Gamepass, or Sony may decide buying devs is the best way to block games on Gamepass…

So as far as we, the consumers on PlayStation, are concerned we don't benefit at all from this? Sounds to me that Sony are just covering their bases.

Also I've read that Bungie has the tendency to buy themselves out of ownerships (i.e. Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard). Is this true though and what are your opinions on something similar happening here?

Pretty simple, like the Xbox talking points, current game will be on same platforms, but future games (Destiny 3) “we would like the game to be available to all players”

Seems very clear, Destiny 2 won’t change. After that, lots of wiggle room. Otherwise why spend billions on a company?

Seems very similar to Nintendo’s recent sly claims “We have no plans or development on a 4K Nintendo Switch”

Yes it will be called something else…

This is probably why they was fine being purchased. They miss having a Sugar Daddy like in the good old Xbox days... But Microsoft never gave them the freedom. They want to be independent, and still get money like they're a first party studio.

They want the cake and to eat it too.

Great bit of business. Destiny 3 will probably make them their money back and then it's pure profit from then on. All of that money going into Sony's pocket that can then be invested elsewhere.... Nice!

So the point of Bungie is to co-develop games with existing Playstation studios? Like, that's it lol?
You know, they could've aquired underrated studios like Spiders, Asobo, Quantic Dream, Dontnod etc.
These are all talented devs that could use a larger financial backing (Spiders for one).

I think this is the right approach. I don’t play Destiny, but I think for big acquisitions like these, keeping the games multi-platform is best for everyone. Hopefully Microsoft will also do this, or at least take a somewhat similar approach with Activision properties. I think it would make Microsoft look very bad if they made all of Activision’s properties Microsoft exclusive. I for one, would still love to play future Spyro and Crash Bandicoot games on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms too. I also own an Xbox, so I can definitely still play those games if they become Microsoft exclusives. I just have so much nostalgia for the classic Spyro and Crash games on PS1, and I think the remasters for Activision did a wonderful job of replicating that nostalgia. It’s certainly not the end of the gaming industry if Microsoft does keep Activision exclusive, but Sony clearly sees that keeping Bungie games multi-platform can still make them a lot of profit.

Unfortunately, there’s no telling what the future holds at this time, so for now all I can do is wait and hope that all gaming platforms can successfully compete and thrive. The industry wouldn’t be the same without PlayStation, Nintendo, or Microsoft. Each of them continue to contribute their own good things within the industry. They’ve each contributed bad things too, of course, but I still believe that the industry is better with those three each successfully thriving.

"It’s been spelled out and hammered home, but just to get another article out of it: Bungie will not develop games exclusively for PlayStation 5 and PS4"

FTFY 😁👍

Seems like a good idea. Maximum revenue. MS should do the same with CoD.

Todd Howard said they would remain multi-platform and continue to self publish their own games after the Bethesda buyout news broke. Yeah. How’d that turnout?

Multi-platform = all platforms that are not Xbox.

How to spend 3.6 billion dollars and still catch an L.

Bungie operate very weird. They buy themselves out of Microsoft, have Activision buy them then free themselves again and now Sony buy them.

What's the actual point in this?

Sony need exclusive fps game thats for sure and system seller. Sony is planning its own gamepass maybe they put bungie on it. Destiny 2 is a mess dlc wise there are dozen different versions and editions and very expensive. I dont know how much it cost to own full destiny 2 its the reason why i dont buy it. There are so many content overlapping editions of different dlcs but no complete edition. Then there are paid seasons making it more confusing.

I hate destiny aiming controls, but they have 800 employees, right? Destiny 2 will end, right?

Idk if to believe this.

For that money, or a bit more, they could rather buy a major japanese developer. It would be much better for playstation users.

Wonder if Bungie will make any games for VR2?

Could be the case of the neuclear deterrent on both sides, if COD becomes exclusive Sony will make its IPs exclusive and everyone loses.

@solocapers Activation never bought them. That was only a 10 year partnership deal.

@naruball Destiny 2 is a big FPS game and their next game will probably be just as big if not bigger and when multiple studios are being bought, especially Activision it's important that Playstation ensure that they still have some big FPS titles and there's no reason not to think Bungie was a potential target for acquisition and they don't want them leaving Playstation

Guess it’s like Mojang and Minecraft in a way

It’s the right attitude to have. Transparency. Unlike MS who don’t even pretend to care about gamers (or they do… until they do a complete u-turn when it suits them).

I’m glad Sony are making their own acquisitions if only to prevent MS from buying absolutely everything. A future where MS have a monopoly on the gaming industry isn’t something I want to see.

Jim Ryan is on course to ruin the legacy and reputation that PlayStation had built up for the past 25 years. PlayStation is no longer the only (or even best) place to play Sony's stellar 1st party offerings. In fact Jim's positioning the company to fully go 3rd party.

This is what he had to say on gameindustry.biz:

"I've been on record talking about increasing the size of the PlayStation community, and expanding beyond our historic console heartland. This can take many forms. And definitely one of the main ones is the ability for the wonderful games that we've been making over the past 25 years to be enjoyed in different places and played in different ways. We are starting to go multiplatform, you've seen that. We have an aggressive road map with live services. And the opportunity to work with, and particularly learn from, the brilliant and talented people from Bungie... that is going to considerably accelerate the journey we find ourselves on."

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-31-playstation-bungie-will-considerably-accelerate-our-journey-with-multiplatform-live-service-games

Not only is Sony committed to serving outside the PlayStation ecosystem, they're diving full in on live service games, which is disheartening to hear.

Great PR on Sonys end for now. And they can always pull the plug and go exclusive if they find it financially viable in the future.

Or spin off a few new internal studios using Bungie’s help to develop Sonys own FPS games

@thefourfoldroot "Sony may decide buying devs is the best way to block games on Gamepass…"

Yup! They can block future games just like they block MLB the show, now that's some Sony blocking right there 💪

@Enuo yup - Sony with the Final Fantasy exclusivity.

So yeah, pretty damn startling precedent set here with Sony outright making an acquisition explicitly to NOT bolster their exclusive lineup. Once again, it’s made abundantly clear that Jim Ryan has pretty much zero desire to benefit the PS community in any way. At best, he merely views us as the ones who are most likely the ones to accept their attempts to nickel and dime us.

It seems we’re barreling towards a future where not only does Sony have no exclusives anymore WHATSOEVER, but they might just be going full-on third party, releasing their games on their competitors platforms as well. And hell, not even Microsoft seemingly wants to go that far…not yet, at least, so Sony is definitely the pioneer this time.

This is the beginning of the end for PlayStation as we know it. Sony might as well just drop out now. I don’t believe there will be a PS6.

I like how many here are praising Bungie as the best FPS dev (even Jim Ryan), even tho Respawn and iD CLEARLY won more awards.

@Divergent95 But non of these developers have recurring revenue like Bungie. Im not the biggest fan of Destiny but i believe they have a nice amount of players recurring spenders without having to invest a ton of money.

I'm buying back my Ps5

@art_of_the_kill I dont understand your rant plus its total nonsense Sony has tons of exclusive games more then MS also tons of great games that are MT free. So what are you saying that every game will be like a MS firstparty game full of MT, liveservice, boosters?

What's the point of spending all that money and buying Bungie then?

Listen, I do not want more of all this console exclusive BS, but this seems like a waste.

Unless I missed this part somewhere. Bungie will still independently develop and can still self publish, but does Sony own the rights to whatever they create or publish?

MS buys Sony mascot. Sony buys MS mascot creator. It's like a kiddie fight. Love it.

@naruball won't sony get, you know, all the revenue the game makes?

I'll just say things change. You never know with this industry these days. I suppose if this purchase is to help with Playstation's other live service games in development Bungie could provide very valuable assistance to said games while still bringing in a healthy sum of cash for Sony through Destiny.

Plus should Playstation want to bring out a new fps even as just a support studio Bungie could help out with that as well. It be pretty funny to see Bungie help make Killzone Infinite, the Halo Infinite killer!😄

@naruball it's a money maker by just doing nothing with it. Like Minecraft flr Microsoft, but not as huge.

Ah the point of this becomes a bit clearer now. Why pay so much for one studio who keep saying they want to be independent yet keep going back to juggernauts?… Sony said at the start on this gen their focus will shift more towards multiplayer live services…Bungie will obviously play a big part in that. I’m guessing they’ll share their network code with other Sony games that will be pushing for live services.
Live services are important for subscription services…so all those that hate subscription services right now aren’t going to be in for a good time as this gen goes on.

The constant Jim Ryan doom and gloom will truly never end will it?

@naruball Simple. The money that Bungie makes funnels into Sony's pocket.

I am sure this is another case where the developer/publisher was looking to sell and accepted Sony's offer over other bidders.

Plain and simple.

People react to these as some kind of "hostile takeover" when it's probably a simple case of the company accepting the best offer that aligns best for the company's future.

Nice move by Sony in my opinion although I have no interest in destiny ,but it blocks ms from buying them ,also this could also fit in their future plans for the revamped ps plus ,destiny 3 free on ps, everyone else has to pay full price and keep it off gamepass,which is what ms will do with cod,now just buy capcom and square and they'll be sorted 😂😂

@GamingFan4Lyf good deal for bungie, heres 4 billion and you can do what you like ,im thinking it won't be as simple as that and Sony will have plans for them going forward.

@Medic_Alert their will be a contract how long and what happens when that deal runs out who knows,could it have just been a simple matter of blocking ms?

@vapidwolf1 I mean, I wouldn't mind being a the one collecting that $4 billion and still maintaining my "freedom".

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

I am platform agnostic - I own a Switch, a Series X, and PS5.

I don't personally care who buys what as I will never miss out on anything; nor will I ever as I am blessed with the ability to be a multi-console household.

Give them RESISTANCE. Enough of the cinematic third person action adventure with mediocre shooting.

@Divergent95 I Think Embracer Owns Spiders.

Microsoft had to have been trying to buy them too. Sony must have gone with multiplat to keep them on PS

Why do I feel like Sony overpaid for this acquisition? $3.6B for one developer with only one current IP. Given Bungie's track record. I wonder how long will it take for them to buy back their company/IP and become independent again.

this almost feels like sony, microsoft and nintendo are all working together to prevent tencent or some other CCP company from gobbling up the gaming industry. if so, that would be very interesting indeed. that means nintendo is next up at bat. will nintendo purchase sega? capcom? s-e? how about the big three join forces instead and support eachother on a single console? this is the dream partnership we all want to see. get it done!

haha far fetched. but i can dream.

@Loftimus seen as though they make approx 300 mil a year ,one game isn't going to make them all thier money back

@Rmg0731 Most likely, I mean... They're only like around the corner from them, and even the 343i employees knows exactly where their new studio is. XD

My question is what's with the dates if nothing will ever be exclusive at some point after say 2025?

This is going to be a steady revenue for Sony and getting Bungie will be a great help and experience for some small studios who need some experience to develop a FPS.

I believe they would not interfere work any of the BUNGIE's games. But they can offload Sony owned games to them. For example Bungie creating a new Resistance. This way, no Bungie game is exclusive, but they've developed exclusively for PlayStation. Anyway the income alone is worth it.

@BRT15

I don’t think they were ever owned by Activision-Blizzard. Activision-Blizzard simply published the first Destiny title.

They were owned by Microsoft at one point, but they wanted to be independent and offered to buy themselves out and hand over the Halo IP and all Bungie developed Halo titles to Microsoft in perpetuity.

@Divergent95

I honestly think Sony wanted Bungie for three primary reasons.

1. To pull profit from Destiny 2 and the eventual Destiny 3.

2. To have Bungie aid PlayStation Studios in developing multiplayer Live Service titles. None of Sony’s studios have ever made a live service title, whereas Bungie has been doing it for over 7 years now. That’s a lot of experience to tap into and would hopefully help them with a successful launch.

3. Bungie’s proprietary game engine. Despite the flack Destiny 2 rightfully gets, no one can deny that the engine that powers it is state of the art and rivals competing engines from Epic and Id Software. Sony’s current engines, outside of Decima, have never been used for a FPS game and it takes careful configuration and optimization to translate an engine to a game type it was never conceived for. This gives Sony’s smaller multiplayer studios it’s building a leg up and let them start building games rather than having to build their own engine or license Unreal since ID Tech is now owned by Microsoft.

They could always use Decima, but that engine from what I’ve read is extremely complex to build games in. Only Guerrilla knows how to use it to its fullest potential; they had to assist Kojima Productions with Death Stranding because of the engine’s design not being as straightforward for Kojima’s developers as Fox engine was.

Wish all would take that stance. Its becoming land grabs now. At the very least it keeps bungie from excluding sony in games if they were bought by someone else.

@Juanalf
“May” implies the future right?

Nintendo buys Ubisoft next. Then Sony buys From Software, Capcom and Epic. Microsoft will buy Valve.

@Shepherd_Tallon I get that, but the amount they're paying for them is enormous. How many years need to pass before they make a profit?
At least with MS' acquisitions, they get both the profits and exclusive games, as well as great IPs. What does Bungie have exactly? Especially if many of of the talented developers have already left.

@Subsided I get all that. All I'm saying is that Sony is paying way to much for what they're getting compared to other deals we've heard about. Just think about Insomniac. They cost half a billion, they develop exclusively for ps, they bring their IPs and they've proven to be successful in many genres. Look at how profitable they were with Spiderman and Ratchet and Clank lately. Yet they cost a fraction of this deal.

@GamingFan4Lyf For Bungie, you're absolutely right. This is the best kind of deal they could wish for. Accepting it was a no-brainer

@Orpheus79V you're right. Minecraft is a very good example. Also, one of the biggest IPs, I think.

@just_edd yup. They will. But what they're paying for seems way too much to me compared to other acquisitions.

@naruball It's a seller's market is definitely one of the factors, companies are looking to scoop up good studios, plus I'd say a new game from Bungie which is definitely coming is probably gonna be a major seller, and they clearly have plans for expanding and better bigger, plus they do bring knowledge of how to properly implement games as a service and while I don't like the idea of it, there's definitely revenue value in that

@Subsided agreed. But how much revenue? It's definitely a gamble, since their next game may underperform. I see the reasoning behind the purchase; I just don't see why they're paying that much compared to other acquisitions that offer far more.

@naruball I think I get it now. Sony takes the moral high ground by setting a better acquisition example staying multiplatform. They cannot out buy Microsoft, but they can influence their actions potentially. By remaining multiplat, they put Microsoft under pressure to play nicer. At least in principle.

Although tbh, all these acquisitions of Microsoft's are really for the next generation of consoles, because it will take that time for the current agreements to run out (and for Bethesda to actually make the games). But this way Sony has ammo in its pocket too, as it can always change tactics later on.

But for now, I think it's trying to defuse the current situation. Also, probably reassures investors, as Sony stock took a beating after the Activision acquisition.

I do wonder, if Microsoft targeted EA too, if monopoly laws might get invoked.

This is good for gamers and it gives Bungie more money to put into destiny and any other games they're working on which is great. I'm also thinking that with the new ps now/plus subscription coming there's a chance that destiny can be made free on that for Sony players which would be good.

@Shepherd_Tallon All great points. The average gamer will just focus on the fact that that Sony bought the maker of Halo, so it's definitely good PR. Overall, I couldn't agree more. We need to see the bigger picture. One day, maybe in a few years, we will. It's just that, based on what we have now, prima facie at least, it doesn't look like the best deal.

I have played over 1000 hours of Destiny 1 and 2 mainly 1 I have no idea why they have made this aquisition.

The shooting mechanics in destiny is one of the best in games the rest of the game design and monetisation is horrible which is the main reason I dont play them and why they have lost millions of players over the years. Destiny engine is terrible and needs updating they really should have made Destiny 3 by now on a new engine. So I can't understand why Sony has paid all that money for a company thats on the decline with no exclusive games for there console.

@Tacktful good point about the moral high ground, but I wonder if MS cares, if the average gamer doesn't care. Sure, many of as "hardcore" gamers do, but the average gamer doesn't imo, hence the unaffected sales of games from companies who are caught in huge scandals (Activision, EA, Ubisoft come to mind). As we've learned, MS has no problem claiming one thing and doing the exact opposite a minute later, so at the end of the day, I feel they operate very differently.

No real interest to me as I dislike service games. Sony is doing good by gaming and gamers by not locking out other platforms.... Will be interesting to see how MS handles it's purchases..... So far MS wording sounds like major titles will be exclusive...

Wow the gullabilty of gamers never ceases to amaze me. There is no way whatsoever that they will keep that "promise" you don't fork out almost 4 billion to share, but of course sony fan boys have to find something to cling to, the news around sony has be bad of late.

@Areus Nacon owns them now, but I don't think they're a part of the Embracer group.

@TheRedComet Great points but is that seriously worth 3.6 billion? I don't think so tbh.

@Suda51ueda Given that Gabe owns 50% of Valve I can't see Microsoft owning them any time before his retirement.

I can't speak to any of the other studios you've mentioned, but that's one I'd bet my mortgage against happening.

@just_edd absolutely. But how much revenue are we talking about and how long will it take them to make back their initial investment is what I'm wondering. Guess we'll see at some point. For now, it remains a big question mark, I think.

The only reason Sony bought bungie was to stop Microsoft from buying them.

Wild times, and imo, not a great road this industry is going down. The fact that Sony is so spooked by what MS is doing (and probably the looming specter of other tech giants) that it's willing to spend over $3 bil on a studio and not have it develop exclusive games is a real problem.

Just like Bethesda proved. The initial statements can soon change. Management can be changed. Direction can be changed. Sony can do what they like. They will buy a few more and say they want to keep the games on all platforms and see what MS do. It’s poker. I hope all the games stay multiplatform and I hope Xbox bring big names they’ve purchased to multiplatform.

@Juanalf Nearly as good as MS blocking Redfall from PS5 😄