Sony buys Bungie

[mormapope]

Sony has said Bungie will remain a multiplatform studio, with the option "to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play."

At present, the studio is working on maintaining Destiny 2, expanding the Destiny franchise, and working on new IP.

"We've had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn't be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family," said SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan.

 

Destiny 1&2 have had great moments or eras for sure, but trying to get back into Destiny 2 for the past couple of years has been a clusterfuck for a casual Destiny player such as myself.

[demi]

MS owns Bungie

> Bungie leaves, wants to be independent

Activision publishes Destiny

> Bungie re-buys IP, wants to be independent

Sony buys Bungie

> ... something something independent

[Lonewulfeus]

That’ll show Microsoft that will

I still couldn’t believe they fixed the original Destiny only to make all the same mistakes in Destiny 2, forever soured me on the franchise and Bungie in general.

[Nintex]

So begun the bidding wars have. Sony has actually fired back.

[Svejk]

[mormapope]

So begun the bidding wars have. Sony has actually fired back.

I'm not gonna say Destiny isn't a big earner or that it isn't a good series, but 3+ billion for a team of developers that continually make weird and bad decisions constantly is....odd.

Maybe the same thing could be said about Activision/Blizzard, but that deal has a fuck ton more possibility or implications versus this.

[demi]

That’ll show Microsoft that will

I still couldn’t believe they fixed the original Destiny only to make all the same mistakes in Destiny 2, forever soured me on the franchise and Bungie in general.

D2 is in a much better place imo. Yes it's probably a nightmare for first time players though, but what GaaS/MMO style game isn't. Can't wait for Witch Queen at the end of the month!

[Lonewulfeus]

That’ll show Microsoft that will

I still couldn’t believe they fixed the original Destiny only to make all the same mistakes in Destiny 2, forever soured me on the franchise and Bungie in general.

D2 is in a much better place imo. Yes it's probably a nightmare for first time players though, but what GaaS/MMO style game isn't. Can't wait for Witch Queen at the end of the month!

I’ve heard the same from a lot of people, it’ll take a lot more than what they’re currently doing to bring me back in to the fold that’s all.  I was super hyped for the original Destiny and while it wasn’t perfect it was their first post Halo game and it was a very solid proof of concept that would have paid off much more if it didn’t need to be cross gen.  The original launch of Destiny 2 totally killed it for me though.  Probably my most bitter disappointment in gaming that I can remember.  I wouldn’t say I’m totally out on Bungie entirely, Destiny yea that ship has sailed for me.  I wouldn’t be a day one player of a new Bungie IP either.  It would need to be interesting and have really positive post release word of mouth for me to consider giving them my money again.

[Rahxephon91]

This seems like a stupid move.

[Himu]

[mormapope]

The silliest responses so far are" What is Nintendo gonna do or buy?!?!?!"

Pokemon Archduke probably had a budget that's 1/10th of a new CoD and will be in the top 5 for software sold in 2022. As long as Nintendo has a solid first party lineup, and a constant stream of indie/weeb games, they'll never need any extra cushioning.

[Tasty]

MS and Sony dropping multi-billi deals, meanwhile Nintendo over here going "I dunno, $10 seems a bit too much for MercurySteam."

[benjipwns]

The silliest responses so far are" What is Nintendo gonna do or buy?!?!?!"

Pokemon Archduke probably had a budget that's 1/10th of a new CoD and will be in the top 5 for software sold in 2022. As long as Nintendo has a solid first party lineup, and a constant stream of indie/weeb games, they'll never need any extra cushioning.

If Nintendo doesn't buy anyone then how will they be able to look Microsoft and Sony in the eye at E3? Nintendo will regret this, they can't afford an acquisition gap.

[Let's Cyber]

That's gonna be a big yikes from me

[Svejk]

Snag that Sega, Nintendo... Now or never.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then let Monolith move away from the Xeno series and make a proper Phantasy Star

[close]

[demi]

Nintendo makes plenty fleecing dumbasses paying for N64 roms

[Tasty]

Snag that Sega, Nintendo... Now or never.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then let Monolith move away from the Xeno series and make a proper Phantasy Star

[close]

If Sega's gotta go down on someone, might as well be Nintendo.

F-Zero FUX baybee

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/BloombergTV/status/1488219007568297988

spoiler (click to show/hide)

https://twitter.com/Iced_Hockey_Fan/status/1488221879164805120

[close]

[Kurt Russell]

I don't get this one.

They purchased a studio but allowed it to remain independent and publish whatever it wants on whatever platform it chooses?

So this is essentially a bribe for Bungie to remain multi-plat?

[BIONIC]

Destiny Bungie sucks donkey dick. Complete waste of money. Maybe their new IP looked promising or something, but it’s probably another GaaS piece of shit where you do the same mindless mission 600 times for a 1% chance of getting the same gun you already have in a different shade of white.

[Svejk]

That’ll show Microsoft that will

I still couldn’t believe they fixed the original Destiny only to make all the same mistakes in Destiny 2, forever soured me on the franchise and Bungie in general.

D2 is in a much better place imo. Yes it's probably a nightmare for first time players though, but what GaaS/MMO style game isn't. Can't wait for Witch Queen at the end of the month!

I’ve heard the same from a lot of people, it’ll take a lot more than what they’re currently doing to bring me back in to the fold that’s all.  I was super hyped for the original Destiny and while it wasn’t perfect it was their first post Halo game and it was a very solid proof of concept that would have paid off much more if it didn’t need to be cross gen.  The original launch of Destiny 2 totally killed it for me though.  Probably my most bitter disappointment in gaming that I can remember.  I wouldn’t say I’m totally out on Bungie entirely, Destiny yea that ship has sailed for me.  I wouldn’t be a day one player of a new Bungie IP either.  It would need to be interesting and have really positive post release word of mouth for me to consider giving them my money again.

I heard so many great things from friends playing D1, that I was hyped but waited for D2 to jump in... Pre-ordered and everything.. After a week of trying to play it and finished the story, I never felt so burned for paying full price for a game...  Granted, a group I was planning on playing with didn't fit my schedule (or me fit theirs), so that fell through too..  Unlike Warframe where you can easily play solo, D2 didn't work for me..   

HOWEVER, it does have one of the greatest endings to a videogame ever...

 

[OnlyRegret]

MS owns Bungie

> Bungie leaves, wants to be independent

Activision publishes Destiny

> Bungie re-buys IP, wants to be independent

Sony buys Bungie

> ... something something independent

it's hilarious, what a weird studio

[Nintex]

It's a good strategy to make money.

Big publisher props up your studio with investments, you buy it back for very little because they lose trust and shop your best most promising new products to another publisher while your name still holds value.

[naff]

MS owns Bungie

> Bungie leaves, wants to be independent

Activision publishes Destiny

> Bungie re-buys IP, wants to be independent

Sony buys Bungie

> ... something something independent

it's hilarious, what a weird studio

looking for the right daddy

[therealdeal]

uh, why?

[Pissy F Benny]

at least they're a western studio who don't specialise in remasters or 'cinematic' walk and shoot sims (yet)

[Svejk]

https://twitter.com/GIBiz/status/1488235073644204036

[OnlyRegret]

prospects of more acquisitions to come?
so we're just in this hungry hungry hippos phase of the console wars now?

[who is ted danson?]

[Nintex]

It's all about building better worlds together across a variety of experiences in the digital entertainment space finding common values and purpose with great creators 
Anyhow this probably has more to with Facebook METAVERSE and Netflix saying that they want to become the biggest in gaming than anything that has been going on between Microsoft and Soyny.

SEGA must be sad that still nobody wants to buy them 
I think Nintendo is mostly at risk of losing access to Namdai or Koei Tecmo as a big chunk of their output now relies on outsourcing to them.

Bungie is expensive but makes sense for Sony, they don't really have a studio to make FPS games as Guerilla is mostly working on Horizon projects and has been out of the FPS game for a while.
I expect Sony will also start gunning for the remnants of Crytek.

[tiesto]

Snag that Sega, Nintendo... Now or never.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then let Monolith move away from the Xeno series and make a proper Phantasy Star

[close]

Like A Dragon proves Sega still has some RPG dev chops, I'd honestly be perfectly fine with them taking on Phantasy Star... Monolith would be amazing for the world design but their game systems are way too overly complicated.

It's weird, Sega doesn't often make RPGs but when they do, they turn out some of my all time favorites.

Also another weird thing is Bungie and SEGA have the same market value (3.8bn)... thought SEGA was a -bit- bigger.

[Svejk]

Snag that Sega, Nintendo... Now or never.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then let Monolith move away from the Xeno series and make a proper Phantasy Star

[close]

Like A Dragon proves Sega still has some RPG dev chops, I'd honestly be perfectly fine with them taking on Phantasy Star... Monolith would be amazing for the world design but their game systems are way too overly complicated.

It's weird, Sega doesn't often make RPGs but when they do, they turn out some of my all time favorites.

Also another weird thing is Bungie and SEGA have the same market value (3.8bn)... thought SEGA was a -bit- bigger.

It baffles me how Panzer Dragoon Saga has been left by Sega in the Saturn crypt and has done absolutely nothing about it. 

[Nintex]

SEGA is being devalued piecemeal. Tencent took Nagoshi and Nintendo has over the years taken in quite a bit of Sonic Team at their Tokyo studio.
Not to mention they bypassed SEGA when dealing with Platinum Games. Also, Nintendo bowing out of the Tokyo Olympics because of all the imperial nationalism also punched a big hole in the planned Mario / Sonic Olympics cross-promotion campaigns.

In the meantime SEGA Sammy has restructured so that an acquisition of just their gaming business is easy and dropped the arcade business and other ventures that could scare potential buyers.

[Tuckers Law]

So begun the bidding wars have. Sony has actually fired back.

I'm not gonna say Destiny isn't a big earner or that it isn't a good series, but 3+ billion for a team of developers that continually make weird and bad decisions constantly is....odd.

Maybe the same thing could be said about Activision/Blizzard, but that deal has a fuck ton more possibility or implications versus this.

Same thoughts.  Getting me to play anymore of Destiny or try out any new IP from Bungie will be the hardest of hard sells.  Destiny 2 has excellent moment to moment gameplay and I really dig the gameworld, but the game is just absolutely wasted inside the current RMT and bad decisions hellscape in which it inhabits.

[james]

The silliest responses so far are" What is Nintendo gonna do or buy?!?!?!"

Pokemon Archduke probably had a budget that's 1/10th of a new CoD and will be in the top 5 for software sold in 2022. As long as Nintendo has a solid first party lineup, and a constant stream of indie/weeb games, they'll never need any extra cushioning.

They need to buy namco so we get link back in soul caliber

[Nintex]

Square Enix should buy SEGA

EA should buy WB Games

Ubisoft should buy Platinum Games

Meta should by FromSoftware

Amazon should buy Take Two

Disney should buy Namco Bandai

Netflix should buy Capcom

Embracer should buy Nintendo

[Bebpo]

It's a weird purchase that's bad for the industry and players just like the recent MS stuff.

I mean Bungie gets richer and it makes sense for Sony if they can got that kind of money to just throw around. If MS bought Bungie and later EA and basically cut off all FPS games on Playstation that would definitely fuck up Sony's future. So it makes sense that they'd try to lock up any remaining major FPS devs they can.

I mean they could've bought FromSoft for way less, but this probably makes more financial sense.

I think they'll either keep Destiny multi-platform and have Bungie's next IP be PS/PC only, or they'll keep everything, including the next IP, on Xbox as a deterrent for MS pulling CoD from Playstation.

[Nintex]

Jeff Grubb is teasing another buy out.
https://twitter.com/JeffGrubb/status/1488267342190579713

"It takes two to tango"

Might be Capcom.

[MMaRsu]

Tango gameworks? Does that still exist

[demi]

Yes that's a Bethesda studio, lol

[fizzel]

Sony got fucking bummed in this deal. 

[naff]

Sony got fucking bummed in this deal. 

if their annual revenue is actually around 300 million and their operating costs are as reported it's not bad as tech companies go

[james]

NINTENDO BUY MAXIS DO IT

[Quaker]

Consolidation sucks and is super anti consumer and the deal seems bizarre business wise but maybe daddy Sony will enable Bungie to make one of their big budget single player movie games in 4 or 5 years. The art design and shooting mechanics is Destiny are pretty much best in class but I just can’t deal with Bungie’s monetization schemes and content roadmaps.

[chronovore]

The silliest responses so far are" What is Nintendo gonna do or buy?!?!?!"

Pokemon Archduke probably had a budget that's 1/10th of a new CoD and will be in the top 5 for software sold in 2022. As long as Nintendo has a solid first party lineup, and a constant stream of indie/weeb games, they'll never need any extra cushioning.

Nintendo hasn’t been playing a competitive hardware game after NGC. They are definitely not looking at ways to “keep up” with MS and Sony, as long as their ROI is so favorable.

[naff]

Bungie’s monetization schemes and content roadmaps.

I'm no insider.... but that's why they bought them. making a perpetual money machine like destiny isn't easy, and it's not Sony's forte.

[benjipwns]

NINTENDO BUY MAXIS DO IT

about Maxis... are you sitting down?

[Tasty]

SEGA is being devalued piecemeal. Tencent took Nagoshi and Nintendo has over the years taken in quite a bit of Sonic Team at their Tokyo studio.
Not to mention they bypassed SEGA when dealing with Platinum Games. Also, Nintendo bowing out of the Tokyo Olympics because of all the imperial nationalism also punched a big hole in the planned Mario / Sonic Olympics cross-promotion campaigns.

In the meantime SEGA Sammy has restructured so that an acquisition of just their gaming business is easy and dropped the arcade business and other ventures that could scare potential buyers.

[citation needed]

[citation needed]

[citation needed]

[citation needed]

[citation needed]

"Bypass Sega" didn't they need their explicit approval to publish the sequels?

Pretty sneaky bypassing dozens of layers of public corporate scrutiny... just to... slight? a longtime corporate partner...



Also maybe Sonic Team is just super shitty and no one wants to work there  Nah that can't be it.

[remy]

I kinda wonder why they did it. was it a pre emptive to stop ms?? is bungies next game being shown behind closed doors and it's a banger??

seems so fucking bizarre to purchase Bungie of all studios. I guess d2 is pretty popular

[Svejk]

I kinda wonder why they did it. was it a pre emptive to stop ms?? is bungies next game being shown behind closed doors and it's a banger??

seems so fucking bizarre to purchase Bungie of all studios. I guess d2 is pretty popular

I think Nintex is probably right, that it's basically Sony wanting a strong FPS now that Guerilla is no longer on KZ, and want to put up Destiny vs. Dooty in the FPS ring.  And you're probably right, that Sony got a glimpse of what they have planned for D3 and want to make it exclusive to PS5.  Timed exclusive of course, till they drop a PC version.

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/1488548277154762754

[Nintex]

SEGA is being devalued piecemeal. Tencent took Nagoshi and Nintendo has over the years taken in quite a bit of Sonic Team at their Tokyo studio.
Not to mention they bypassed SEGA when dealing with Platinum Games. Also, Nintendo bowing out of the Tokyo Olympics because of all the imperial nationalism also punched a big hole in the planned Mario / Sonic Olympics cross-promotion campaigns.

In the meantime SEGA Sammy has restructured so that an acquisition of just their gaming business is easy and dropped the arcade business and other ventures that could scare potential buyers.

[citation needed]
https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/30/sega-may-lose-yakuza-monkey-ball-creator-to-chinese-company-netease-15177021/

[citation needed]
Tetsuya Kobayashi (Production Manager Sonic Unleashed - Mario Kart 8: Deluxe Course Design)
Makoto Yonezu (lead field artist on Sonic Unleashed - Planet designer on Galaxy 2 - lead landscape artist on Zelda BOTW)
Daisuke Amakawa (field artist on Sonic Unleashed - Character modeling for Zelda BOTW)
Hideaki Hakozaki (field artist on Sonic Unleashed - Producer Xenoblade Chronicles X)
Keihan Fujii (field artist Sonic Unleashed - Landscape Modeling Zelda BOTW)
Ryoichi Yamagishi (field artist Sonic Generations - Course Design Mario Kart 8: Deluxe)
Masahiro Ukai (Programmer Sonic Generations - Programmer Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

and others, Square Enix and Nintendo took the biggest chunk of Sonic Team devs I believe.

[citation needed]
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-reportedly-pulled-out-of-the-tokyo-2020-opening-at-the-last-minute/
They pulled a number of campaigns centered around the Mario & Sonic game as well.

[citation needed]
https://gamingbolt.com/sega-restructures-gaming-and-pachinko-businesses-yakuza-creator-steps-down-as-cco

[citation needed]
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-28-sega-quits-japanese-arcade-business-after-50-years

"Bypass Sega" didn't they need their explicit approval to publish the sequels?

Pretty sneaky bypassing dozens of layers of public corporate scrutiny... just to... slight? a longtime corporate partner...

Bypass might not be right word, but there was a different version of the deal where SEGA would've played a bigger part in production and development (and Nintendo paying them more) than just allowing Nintendo/Platinum Games to use the IP.

From what I was told in general SEGA had hoped Nintendo would expand on Mario & Sonic (and Smash Bros.) and Sonic would show up in more games as a guest character.
You can imagine how they felt when Nintendo added a Mercedes GLA to Mario Kart instead of Sonic 

There's not necessarily any bad blood between modern day Nintendo and modern day SEGA it's just that Nintendo is not an easy or very supportive partner to work with.
SEGA has wanted to create a Mario & Sonic platformer for a long time and Nintendo always balked at the idea. https://segabits.com/blog/2011/05/16/mario-sonic-platformer-never-happen-do-to-internal-disagreement/

Do not forget all the times studios that worked closely with Nintendo went (nearly) belly up because they either left them in the dark or suddenly changed direction.
Nintendo has the luxury of sitting on games for a decade if they feel like it but most developers don't. SEGA is sort of in the middle that they can afford missing an exclusive deal or cancellation or two but at some point it's going to hurt.

[Sho Nuff]

Yeah, I remember Square R&D ate a ton of Sonic Unleashed/Generations Hedgehog Team people.

[james]

NINTENDO BUY ENSEMBLE STUDIOS YOU COWARDS

[Nintex]

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/gaming-acquisitions-sony-vastly-overpaid-205510256.html

Pachter says Sony bought Bungie in an act of desperation and overpaid.

[Rahxephon91]

Can’t say I disagree. Seems so weird that they paid so much for one company and not so apparent rewards.

For 4billion more or something MS bought Bethedsa. Got more development houses, plenty of note worthy ips, engine experience and so much more.

[Pissy F Benny]

I wonder if they tried for anyone else, I'd think 4 billion would be enough to make a Capcom type publisher at least think strongly about selling.

The high price seems more like a MS move who don't give a shit about throwing money around and do so willy nilly, whereas Sony are more cautious. Unless Bungie have something super hot looking in development that isn't public yet

[Kurt Russell]

Surprised they didn't go for Sega. I can't think of any other realistic options with as much beloved IP.

[Svejk]

So apparently part of that skrilla was to keep the talent from leaving bungie?    So, what, the higher ups are gonna be like, "You can't leave... we sold your life to Sony!" 

[Nintex]

I wonder if they tried for anyone else, I'd think 4 billion would be enough to make a Capcom type publisher at least think strongly about selling.

The high price seems more like a MS move who don't give a shit about throwing money around and do so willy nilly, whereas Sony are more cautious. Unless Bungie have something super hot looking in development that isn't public yet

There was talk that Microsoft wanted to buy Bungie but they didn't want to pay as much as Bungie wanted so the deal never closed.
I know that Sony has been looking for FPS dev houses for a while and at times lost out to Embracer and others.

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Anyhow, more big deals are in the pipeline. MS will certainly attempt to buy something in Japan.