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Sony sent shockwaves through the gaming world on Monday when it announced it would buy Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion, marking just the latest huge buyout in the gaming landscape.
Bungie is now in rare company, being perhaps the only major game developer to be owned by both Microsoft and Sony over its lifespan. In this piece, we’re looking at the purchase prices that Sony and Microsoft paid for Bungie when the deals were announced.
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Microsoft’s deal to acquire Bungie in 2000 was valued at between $20 million-$40 million. Adjusted for inflation, Sony’s purchase price for Bungie would be about $2.2 billion in 2000 dollars.
Comparing the two buyout fees, Sony is paying 8900% more for Bungie than Microsoft did in 2000, or about 5400% more with inflation accounted for. This assumes the max $40 million price that Microsoft could have paid for Bungie all those years ago. No comparison of purchase prices is complete or perfect, but it is clear that Bungie’s value has grown substantially since its initial sale to Microsoft, and some people there are getting very wealthy today.
Some have speculated that Sony’s deal to buy Bungie was in response to Microsoft’s bid for Activision Blizzard, but that is apparently not the case. Sony boss Jim Ryan told GI.biz that this deal has been in the works since as early as July 2021. Xbox boss Phil Spencer told The Washington Post that the acquisition process for Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard started in late 2021.
Looking ahead, Bungie will continue to self-publish Destiny on all platforms, and its future games–including its mysterious new IP–will be released on multiple platforms. Bungie has also said it wants to become a “global multimedia entertainment company” that makes more than games.
This might be just the start for mergers and acquisitions in 2022, as Drake Star Partners is predicting the gaming market reaches $150 billion in deals, financing, and IPOs in 2022.
This will no doubt be an ongoing story, so keep checking back with GameSpot for more.
