Sony has finally completed the Bungie deal, and the studio is now officially a part of PlayStation Studios. Amidst that, many fans are wondering whether they own the rights to Halo.
This has been quite a happening year, marking some mind-boggling acquisitions across the gaming industry. Starting with the Take-Two acquisition of Zynga Games, we were absolutely awestruck with Microsoft stating that Activision Blizzard is now a part of Xbox. The deal cost Microsoft $67 billion, and pretty much nobody saw it coming.
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However, after that, one could pretty much assume that Sony will be having something up its sleeve as well to answer Microsoft. That came soon after, and Bungie became a part of PlayStation Studios. The deal amounted to $3.6 billion, and fans are quite eager to know what the future of these two gaming giants holds.
Like with every acquisition, this one has also made fans wonder if existing Bungie titles will become PlayStation exclusives or not. Well, Bungie has clarified that it is an independent developer even after the acquisition, and the deal will have no effect on Destiny or the other games which are in development at Bungie.
However, many fans are now wondering if the deal will make Halo a PlayStation exclusive. Well, that is not the case at all. While Bungie was a part of Microsoft back in the 2000s, after it split, Halo became a part of Microsoft. That means that Microsoft still owns the rights and will continue to hold the rights of Halo. So, the deal will not be affecting Halo in any way, and fans will continue to enjoy the Halo games on Xbox itself.
Image Credits: Bungie
Bungie, the studio responsible for the creation of Halo and Destiny, two of the gaming world’s biggest franchises, has been acquired by Sony. It’s part of a consolidation and turf war being waged as the next generation of gaming (and the metaverse, whatever that is) builds up steam.
The news was announced by both companies Monday morning (with industry sleuth Jason Schreier reporting early) and the deal valued at $3.6 billion. That may be just a fraction of Microsoft’s recent $60 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, but Bungie is no less a legend in gaming.
Beginning as a Mac-focused studio in the ’90s with forgotten classic FPS Pathways Into Darkness and the influential Marathon, Bungie threatened to change the balance in power in the gaming world with Halo, which was intended to serve as the moment Apple took gaming seriously. Even Steve Jobs got in on the hype.
But then Microsoft announced it was buying Bungie and making Halo an exclusive to its new Xbox console — seemingly disappointing Apple so hard the company gave up on gaming entirely until it struck gold with the App Store.
Halo grew to become one of the Xbox’s flagship franchises, but after a few sequels Bungie was spun out into an independent company, to pursue original IPs while Microsoft retained the Halo brand. In 2013 the independent Bungie revealed Destiny, which became a huge hit, and in 2017 its sequel made its debut and is still active.
Bungie continued to be associated with its longtime publisher Activision back in 2019, even further freeing up the company to… be acquired. Seems it was going to happen either way, so might as well do it on your own terms.
Bungie takes back its Destiny and departs from Activision
The acquisition is a clear land grab by Sony as the rival console gaming companies warm up for the next round of battle. Games-as-a-service, or so-called live service games, have become one of the most lucrative new models for the industry, and Destiny 2 is one of the most successful examples. By selling a game and then further monetizing it with regular “seasons” of content, new aesthetic updates and other items, the GaaS model takes a page from MMOs.
With Destiny 2 likely on its last legs, one presumes that Destiny 3 is right around the corner, making this acquisition quite timely. To own one of the biggest GaaS franchises, and to invest in related multimedia as well (a Netflix show seems inevitable now), positions Sony well for next-generation gaming income. And while it seems probable that Destiny 3 will be cross-platform as its predecessor has been, nothing is stopping Sony from sweetening the deal for subscribers to its subscription service, rumored to be receiving a big refresh to compete with Microsoft’s Game Pass.
“Today, Bungie begins our journey to become a global multi-media entertainment company,” wrote CEO Pete Parsons in a blog post announcing the deal. “We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games. With SIE’s support, the most immediate change you will see is an acceleration in hiring talent across the entire studio to support our ambitious vision.”
Hopefully that means continuing to address culture issues at the company recently profiled in an IGN report. The company is reportedly working on a new IP as well as the expected sequel… and perhaps their independence and new resources will lead to a revival of cult hit Marathon — if there’s anyone left at the company who remembers it.
“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience,” Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Sony and Bungie did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000, and its signature title, Halo, helped turn Microsoft’s Xbox console into a major game platform. But the developer split from Microsoft in 2007 and stopped making Halo three years later. Since 2011, Halo has been developed by 343 Industries, a company owned by Microsoft.
Now, Bungie will be acquired by Microsoft’s biggest rival in the game console market: Sony. Bungie’s most popular current game is Destiny 2, which is available on multiple platforms, including the Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation.
Sony’s shocking decision to purchase Destiny developer Bungie for roughly $3.6 billion recently rocked the gaming world and left a lot of people wondering what games Bungie actually controls and if they still have any say over the future of the Halo franchise.
Well, to spare you a little drama, I can confidently tell you that Bungie no longer controls the rights to the Halo franchise. Microsoft initially acquired Bungie in 2000 leading up to the release of Halo: Combat Evolved as an Xbox launch exclusive. When Bungie decided to split from Microsoft around the time of Halo 3‘s release, they confirmed that Microsoft retained the rights to the Halo franchise as part of the original agreement between the parties. Microsoft then formed developer 343 Industries to handle the development of subsequent Halo sequels (Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo Infinite).
It seems like some of the confusion regarding Bungie’s current involvement with the Halo franchise stems from the fact that Bungie made two substantial Halo 3 spin-offs/follow-ups (Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach) after they announced that Microsoft will retain the rights to the Halo franchise. Well, those games were the result of an agreement made between Microsoft and Bungie at the time that Bungie decided to go independent. While Microsoft hasn’t exactly shunned Bungie up until this point when it comes to the evolution of the Halo franchise or their obvious role in the creation of the franchise, Bungie has no official say over the future of the series and are certainly in no position to make a new Halo game for PlayStation.
Bungie also has no control over whether any of the old Halo games that they previously developed come to PlayStation consoles. That deal would require Microsoft’s approval, and I’d put the rough odds of Microsoft agreeing to publish any Halo game on a PlayStation device at roughly 0%.
So if PlayStation isn’t getting anything related to the Halo franchise as part of their reported $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, what are they getting for that money? That’s a tricky question, but to keep things as simple as possible for the moment, here’s a list of the franchises and properties Bungie still controls:
- Marathon
- Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete
- Pathways into Darkness
- Destiny
- “Matter”
A few games developed by Bungie you won’t find on the list above are Gnop! (a Pong rip-off that was technically the first Bungie game), Operation: Desert Storm (a top-down shooter in which you fight a giant Saddam Hussein head), and as noted above, Halo. Bungie also developed Oni and the Myth games, which would actually be interesting targets for revivals but are sadly owned by Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive.
There’s also “Matter,” which is really just the code name for the mysterious new property Bungie is working on. PlayStation obviously controls the rights to whatever new games Bungie makes while they’re owned by Sony (barring any special arrangements between Bungie and Sony), but “Matter” is worth highlighting since Bungie mentioned they were working on the project prior to the PlayStation deal. It will likely be their next major release (outside of Destiny 2 updates).
While Sony is undoubtedly interested in whatever Bungie does next (and could even task them with developing that fabled “CoD killer” we previously talked about), it really does seem like this is essentially a deal for Destiny. Between whatever Destiny 2 currently makes (which we imagine is quite a lot based on recent reports and estimates) and whatever Bungie has planned for the future of the franchise, it’s pretty clear that Destiny is the crown jewel in Bungie’s lineup. While it remains to be seen how much creative and business control PlayStation really has over what Bungie does with Destiny and whatever the studio works on next (the specific terms remain to be seen and are currently being debated), it’s still easy enough to essentially see this as a deal that will help PlayStation associate Destiny with their brand.
While PlayStation has stated that they intend for Destiny to remain a multiplatform series (and Bungie retains a level of independence as a result of this deal that they say will allow them to “self-publish”), we’ve seen PlayStation strike deals with Bungie for “timed exclusive” Destiny content even before they decided to just buy the company, so don’t be too surprised if aspects of Destiny remain exclusive to PlayStation or will be exclusive to PlayStation platforms in a limited capacity. As for whatever else Bungie may be working on…well, we’ll see what happens.