Bungie will “continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games,” its CEO Pete Parsons had said in a statement earlier this year…reports Asian Lite News
Japanese giant Sony has closed the $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, the developer of Destiny and the original creator of the hugely popular Halo franchise.
“The agreement to acquire Bungie has closed. So now we can officially say” welcome to the PlayStation family,” the company said in a tweet late on Friday.
The Sony-Bungie acquisition evaded the antitrust scrutiny while Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty’ maker Activision Blizzard is facing formal investigations in the US, the UK and South Korea.
Bungie will “continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games,” its CEO Pete Parsons had said in a statement earlier this year.
Halo was one of Microsoft Xbox’s flagship franchises, but after a few sequels, Bungie was spun out into an independent company.
In 2013, Bungie launched the Destiny game which became a huge hit.
“We will be ready to welcome and support Bungie as they continue to grow, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this incredible team,” said Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios.
After acquiring Bungie, Sony said it plans to launch more than 10 new live service games by March 2026.
Bungie’s next IP, codenamed Matter, is rumoured to be a “multiplayer action game” with “character-based” gameplay.
Bungie said last year that its next IP will launch before 2025. But that’s just one game out of the 10, and Eurogamer points out that there are signs of many more in the works.
Meanwhile, in a bid to expand its gaming footprint, tech giant Sony has launched new headsets and monitors under a new brand called “Inzone”.
The new lineup, launched in Singapore, will feature two new wireless headsets, the Inzone H9 with 32 hours of battery life and Inzone H7 with 40 hours of battery life, along with a wired headset, the Inzone H3.
All three models are equipped with a flexible flip-up boom microphone with a mute function, allowing users to communicate effortlessly in-game with squad members.
“With Sony’s strong history of high-end audio and visual technology products, we believe this new line will offer even more options for those looking to upgrade their current gaming systems,” Yukihiro Kitajima, Head of Game Business and Marketing Office, Sony Corporation, said in a statement.
“We are committed to contributing to the growth of gaming culture by providing PC and PlayStation gamers with a wider range of options to enrich lives through gaming,” Kitajima added.
The company said that Inzone monitors, which are not available in the Asia Pacific region, feature incredible, high-resolution and high-dynamic-range pictures, while the headsets include superior sound and 360 Spatial Sound for gaming.
Inzone H9 and Inzone H7 include an on-screen indication, so players can easily adjust settings on their headset and see the settings reflected on the screen in the PlayStation5 Control Center, along with gaming and chat balance, allowing players to change the volume balance between game audio and voice chat from the headset. It also comes packed with features including the ability to work with Tempest 3D AudioTech, which allows players to enjoy the immersive sounds when gaming with greater spatial expression.
