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In the latest episode of “The Console Wars,” Sony Corp. is attempting to acquire videogame publisher Bungie for $3.6 billion.
“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,” Sony Interactive Entertainment president and chief executive Jim Ryan said in a statement. “This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience.”
Bungie, which publishes the “Destiny” franchise, announced on its website Monday that it would be joining PlayStation, stating “we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart.”
Bungie was the studio that originally created “Halo,” one of the biggest exclusive games on Microsoft’s Xbox in its early days. Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000, but eventually spun out the publisher on its own.
American depositary receipts of Sony
SONY,
rallied as much as 6% Monday, while shares on the Nikkei
6758,
were up 4%.
In an FAQ page, Bungie said that “Destiny 2” would continue to be supported on not only Sony’s PlayStation but on Microsoft Corp.’s
MSFT,
Xbox console and Alphabet Inc.’s
GOOG,
GOOGL,
Stadia.
The announcement comes on the heels of Microsoft’s announcement it would acquire videogame publisher Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI,
for $69 billion, which analysts had forecast would result in an M&A wave. Microsoft has also said that it will continue to produce popular videogames such as “Call of Duty” for the PlayStation and other platforms.
Also in January, Take-Two Interactive Inc.
TTWO,
announced that it would acquire Zynga Inc.
ZNGA,
for $12.7 billion.
