PlayStation boss Jim Ryan says we should expect more studio acquisitions in the future, in the wake of today’s news that Sony is buying Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion. GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring tweeted that Ryan said, “we should expect more” when it comes to further PlayStation acquisitions.
And Jim Ryan told me ‘We should expect more’ when it comes to further PlayStation acquisitions
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 31, 2022
It’s been an acquisition frenzy so far in the games industry in 2022. In the last few weeks, Take-Two acquired Zynga for $12.7 billion, and then Microsoft blew that number out of the water by spending $68.7 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard King. While Sony’s timing may indicate that the Bungie acquisition was a response to Microsoft’s move earlier this month, Dring says this deal was in the works long before that, for the past five or six months. So, it’s not a direct response to the Activision deal.
The deal was in the works for the past 5/6 months. Its not a reaction to the Take-Two/Zynga or Microsoft/Activision deals.
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 31, 2022
Dring also says this deal could lead to Bungie taking its properties, like Destiny, to television and movies. Sony has been making a big entertainment push with its IP, including the upcoming Uncharted movie, Last of Us TV series, Ghost of Tsushima movie, and more. It’s possible we could see Destiny make that move as well.
Sony was also busy with studio acquisitions throughout 2021, so it makes sense that the Bungie deal doesn’t mark the end of the road. Last year alone, Sony acquired five studios, including Returnal developer Housemarque, Bluepoint Games, Firesprite, Nixxes, and Valkyrie.
For more on the Sony Bungie deal, check out what Jim Ryan is saying about Bungie’s independence, and what the deal means for Destiny 2.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
