Sony is Set to Acquire Bungie - What's This Mean for PlayStation?

But at some point, I get the sense that Sony will take advantage of its Bungie deal by asking the studio to craft a PS5 exclusive project. And seeing as how Bungie is mostly attached to the first-person shooter genre, it makes all the sense in the world for the studio to craft an original IP that provides Sony's gaming platform with a legit multiplayer experience (which is something the PS5 sorely needs). There are rumors swirling around Sony PlayStation studios already hard at work on multiplayer-centric games (their London Studio is reportedly working on something in that regard, plus Firesprite is said to be developing a new Twisted Metal). Due to Microsoft getting its hands on the publisher behind Call of Duty, it seems like Sony is revving up its multiplayer game development in order to fill the void left by the series' absence in the coming years.

Another great proposition that could come from Sony PlayStation acquiring Bungie is the studio's first-person shooter experience being tapped into to revive some older IPs. As soon as I heard about this acquisition, my mind immediately went to Bungie working on a brand entry within the dormant Resistance series. I'd pay good money to see Bungie revive the human vs. alien conflict that sat at the heart of the PS3 exclusive FPS franchise. It'd even be cool to see Bungie get the chance to work on a new Killzone or even breathe new life into the forgotten PS3 FPS MAG (the immense power of the PS5 could do wonders for that game's original 256 player count!).

Another thought that popped into my head when this Sony-Bungie deal came across my timeline was a bit less positive. While Bungie is a top-tier development studio, I think Sony would have been much better off bringing out the big bucks to acquire a publisher. If Sony ended up getting its hands on a major AAA publisher, such as Sega, Capcom, or Square Enix, I feel like they'd be much better off since Sony would now have the exclusive rights to publish some of the biggest IPs in Japanese gaming. Based on some further comments from Jim Ryan during a GamesIndustry.biz interview, it's clear that monumental deals like that may not be too far off. When it comes to future acquisitions, Ryan noted "We should absolutely expect more. We are by no means done. With PlayStation, we have a long way to go."

If I'm Sony and am still focused on adding more development studios to the roster, I'd make a serious play for FromSoftware (Dark Souls, Bloodborne), Level-5 (Dark Cloud, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch), and Ember Lab (Kena: Bridge of Spirits). The sky's truly the limit at this point. Don't be too surprised to hear about even more mind-blowing acquisition announcements from Sony and Microsoft as 2022 rolls on.