We’ve all seen it; the console wars. They’ve been going on since the release of the PlayStation 2(PS2) and the original Xbox console. Since then, the two household names, Sony and Microsoft, have been duking it out over control of game titles, gaming studios and contracts to secure popularity with the wide fan base of gamers that has seen a boom in popularity thanks to the pandemic. 

Due to this boom, we’ve seen some unexpected things done by these companies. For example, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the single largest gaming acquisition in history. Additionally, we’ve seen Microsoft buy up other game studios and titles, such as Bethesda and Mojang, for mind-boggling amounts of money. 

With all these heavyweight titles and companies now under the Microsoft name and brand, where does that leave its biggest competitor, Sony? 

Well, it left Sony to buy one of the most iconic and beloved gaming studios in the entire industry. Bungie isa studio that garnered fame and became a household name for many thanks to a partnership with Microsoft. Bungie launched the immensely popular gaming franchises Halo and Destiny. Yes, Sony has bought Bungie, and at the hefty sum of $3.6 billion. While this may not seem like much compared to the $68.7 billion that Microsoft spent to acquire Activision Blizzard, it has to be known that Sony is worth $124.4 billion, and that over $3 billion was spent to acquire a gaming studio. This is still a huge deal and one that has left many fans of Bungie shocked and wondering what’s next for the company and what plans Sony has for Bungie going forward. 

In a recent “This Week at Bungie” (TWAB) update, the company sent mixed messages when announcing that it would be joining Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), stating, “We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games.” 

This left many scratching their heads, as typically, when a company buys another company, it usually isn’t “independent” anymore. 

With all this news, we decided to go and ask avid Bungie fans what their opinion on this deal is. Enter Tualatin senior Gavin McDonald, who is a diehard Destiny fan and longtime fan of Bungie.

What do you think of Sony’s Recent Bungie Acquisition?

“So far I’m hoping for the best.Hopefully, Bungie gets the resources that they need without too much interference with Sony. I also hope any new titles don’t get limited to Playstation or become Playstation exclusives. As a PC player, I know this won’t really affect me, but it would suck for other fans who play on Xbox.”  

Bungie, despite being bought by Sony, has claimed that it is still an independent producer. What do you think of this statement?

“I like to think that Sony want[s] to try to not limit Bungie in any way, and they want to have a mutually beneficial relationship, but in all honesty I don’t know what to think. Maybe Sony will ask for a couple of games here and there, but overall, I think that Bungie largely will remain, to some extent, independent.” 

Do you think that Sony will force Bungie to make future titles tied down to Play Station?

“I think that it is definitely a possibility. While console exclusives do suck, I do think that it will be an eventual possibility.” 

Do you think that Bungie will make use of Sony resources, despite having not used resources given to them in their previous Activision partnership? 

“I definitely think that Bungie for the past couple of years has been a profit-focused company and hasn’t been primarily focused on the games that they have been developing. Maybe that’s the reason that Sony bought them, but recently content in their games has been getting better, and hopefully in the future this partnership will allow Sony to handle the business side of things, giving Bungie time and money to focus on further developing games with even better content.”? 

While this is definitely one of the biggest changes in the gaming industry, I can’t help but be excited for the changes that are coming in the future. While people are worried that there will be a corporate takeover of Bungie and it will limit their freedom to produce the content that their fans want, I still feel like their mission and statements after being acquired by Sony will still be true. Despite all this, the only thing fans and gamers alike can do for right now is wait and see how this will play out in the long run.