Sony has revealed that Destiny will remain a multiplatform series and won’t become a PlayStation exclusive, following the purchase of Bungie.
Sony has confirmed that the Destiny franchise will remain a multiplatform series and won’t become a PlayStation exclusive, once Sony’s purchase of Bungie has been completed. The announcement of the Bungie acquisition is hot on the heels of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is expected to be completed in 2023.
Microsoft’s acquisitions over the past few years have put pressure on Sony to grab studios of its own, as the Xbox brand has been adding a number of high-profile exclusives to its line-up. The ZeniMax Media acquisition was a big deal once it was finalized, especially with the reveal that Starfield will be an Xbox/PC exclusive, but the Activision Blizzard acquisition was so damaging that it caused Sony’s stock price to plummet. The addition of franchises like Call of Duty and Overwatch to the Xbox brand was seen as a huge blow to PlayStation, and it was expected that Sony would respond in kind with acquisitions of its own.
It was reported by Video Games Chronicle that Sony is acquiring Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion. Those who are worried that Destiny and other Bungie franchises will become PlayStation exclusives in the future needn’t be concerned, as both Sony and Bungie (in a statement on the official Bungie website) have confirmed that their current and future IPs will remain multiplatform in the future.
It’s no surprise that Destiny 2 content will still be produced across multiple platforms, as the game already has a sizable audience on Google Stadia, PC, and Xbox platforms. A forced shift to PlayStation would be an easy way to alienate that audience and for little gain, when they could still be buying new expansions for Destiny 2.
It’s odd that Sony would allow Bungie to release its games across multiple platforms, though it’s not shocking given that Microsoft is taking a similar stance with recently-acquired Activision games. This also comes at a time when Sony is embracing the PC platform for its older PlayStation exclusives. Bungie and Sony did stress that the company would retain its independence and it will be interesting to see if that remains true in the future. Sony spent a lot of money purchasing Bungie and it’s going to want games that will attract people to the PlayStation brand. If Microsoft turns Call of Duty into an Xbox/PC exclusive franchise, then it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for future Destiny games to be locked to PlayStation systems.
Source: Video Games Chronicle, Bungie
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