Sony is not seeking to Bogarde exclusivity on games developed and published under the Bungie banner, as part of an agreement to acquire the iconic gaming firm.
In announcing the $3.6 billion buyout, both Bungie and Sony voiced their commitment to keeping future development of hit games like Destiny 2 available to fans “wherever they choose to play”.
In a statement announcing the acquisition, Bungie boss Pete Parsons said: “Together, [Bungie and Sony] share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums.”
His PlayStation counterpart Jim Ryan was equally emphatic: “Bungie will remain an independent and multi-platform studio and publisher.”
This is a marked contrast to Microsoft’s apparent strategy, with the Xbox maker pledging only to honour existing contractual agreements with third-party platforms before deciding what to do with its new toys.
It appears that, once those agreements are over, games like Call of Duty may only be available to play in places where Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass is available. Microsoft isn’t yet prepared to publicly commit to either keeping games exclusive or making them available on multiple platforms, saying it’ll be decided on a game-by-game basis.
Trusted Reviews has contacted both Sony and Bungie about long-term nature of the multi-platform commitment for games beyond the current and future Destiny 2 expansions. However, both companies were completely emphatic in their statements on Monday.
You might like…
A Q&A posted on Bungie’s website states that all new Destiny expansions – including the forthcoming The Witch Queen, next month – will remain platform agnostic, all cross-play and social elements will remain multi-platform and that no future games the company develops will be PlayStation exclusives.
“We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community,” it says.
Gamers on Steam, Stadia and Xbox can all rest assured that as long as the platform continues to support Bungie games, Bungie will continue to support those platforms.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
