Industry analyst Michael Pachter believes Sony announced its acquisition of Bungie in a move that surprised every corner of the gaming industry. The former paid $3.6 billion for the latter, but maintains that the Destiny group will continue to independently develop and publish its current and future projects.
This deal marks a peculiar one for Sony in that, according to both entities, none of Bungie's titles will launch exclusively on PlayStation consoles. It seems a smart move in general, given the revenue stream that Destiny generates yearly across all platforms combined. Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan noted in interviews following the acquisition's announcement that the PlayStation brand is most interested in Bungie's live service expertise. This ission came as a surprise due to PlayStation's focus on narrative-driven single-player experiences in the last several years. However, the company is making an effort to increase its foothold on the multiplayer market. With Bungie's help, Sony could indeed make a name for itself in a space that it arguably ceded to Microsoft long ago.
In discussing Sony's Bungie acquisition with EA purchased Titanfall creator Respawn Entertainment in 2017 for over $400 million. According to Pachter, the Apex Legends developer now rakes in roughly $700 million per year. As far as Pachter is concerned, the agreement between Sony and Bungie is one of "desperation" as the publisher attempts to avoid letting Microsoft get ahead. "It's not really a deal that makes a whole lot of sense to me," he continued.
Other pundits and analysts seem to agree that Sony did indeed overpay for Bungie, especially given the non-PlayStation exclusive nature of the partnership. Sony's growing interest in the live service space could explain why the publisher was willing to take such a gamble, though. Destiny 2 persistently generates millions upon millions of dollars, a permanent revenue stream that none of PlayStation's other first-party studios can presently provide.
The Factions online suite could help turn the tide in this regard, though. Naughty Dog has teased it as a standalone game and rumors suggest it may launch as a live service experience of some kind. Partnerships with multiplayer developers such as Deviation Games could also bolster PlayStation's slow growth in the persistent online gaming scene. At present, though, these efforts and others have yet to bear fruit.
Source: Yahoo Finance (via PSU)
