If MS bought them, MS is then on the hook for helping Bungie expand into the wider media landscape with TV shows, movies, comics, etc, etc, etc. MS is not positioned to do any of that without paying a ton of cash to a partner like Disney or whomever. This is likely why the asking price was so much lower, they knew MS would have to invest a ton to accomplish what Bungie was wanting even after the sale would have gone thru.
For the asking price being even $2bil, that is a lot for 1 IP that is already on their platform anyhow in a genre they already will dominate and a game type that they already have lots of success with. MS just wasn’t positioned to see the potential for Bungie’s multimedia empire like Sony was (not to say it will materialize, but that is the bet Sony is making).
Also, MS already has successful shooters and successful GaaS franchises, so Bungie wasn’t offering them a whole lot in terms of filling gaps in the portfolio. It is a deal that honestly fits with Sony in a unique way given the holes in Sony’s portfolio and holes in their longer term strategy as well as what Sony can provide Bungie towards their own goals.
My theory is that Sony and Bungie were making offers and counter offers for 6 months, then when Sony heard about ABK deal (probably earlier than we heard of it publicly) they decided to take Bungie’s offer. Sony doesn’t want to risk Bungie going back to MS when Bungie fills some of the holes in Sony’s strategy. Without Bungie there aren’t a lot of other devs who can fill that role or give them good guidance into the GaaS future Sony is moving into. Sony might have wanted to merely strike more Destiny/CoD deals in that space but things were radically changing under Sony’s feet, so…
One thing I do find fascinating is that the ABK purchase actually took far less time to agree to than the Bungie one even though the ABK is one of the biggest acquisitions in history in pure cash terms. There probably was a lot of back and forth going on between Sony and Bungie.
Edited the topic a bit. On mobile and it would be so much better and easier to do it on desktop, though.
Bungie have been rumored to be looking to sell for a year now (or at least be entertaining offers from suitors). Edited that into the OP. Microsoft seemingly weren’t interested in either their high asking price, demands to stay independent, or both. Sony were reportedly in talks with them for 5~ months and it seems the Activision-Blizzard deal expedited things, despite the picture Sony PR wants to paint. The remarkedly high pricepoint makes sense in this context.
Their other choice was to face intense pressure from stockholders if they lost their #2 source of recurring revenue if Bungie were acquired by someone else who mandated platform exclusivity. This would have been hot on the heels of losing their #1 source of revenue from COD.
At least with buying Bungie, despite remaining multiplatform and independent, Sony locks in that revenue stream, expand from 30% to 100% on Playstation and also bring in 70% of revenue from the other platforms they release on.
The ABK deal was lightning fast, even if it were a small acquisition. The fact it was $70bil and happened pretty much entirely over 2 months is legit insane.
That’s what I am saying. ABK might have been looking for an out but we are still talking about a $70 billion acquisition and for a company that employs close to 10,000 employees. Three months is still lighting quick.
I wish what you said in your first two bullet points would become true. I see people pushing other narratives online and I believe facts don’t matter to them.
I think so yes.
Sony have come out and said they want 10 online games by 2026. This helps them get that.
Bungies bread and butter is online. The revenue from these games are alot higher than a simple campaign game. I just don’t see them going back to that from where they are now.
I don’t play Destiny, but a heap of people I know do. They prefer it over Fortnite, Warzone, PubG etc.
Yeah, I don’t think Microsoft wants another BioShock, Sunset Overdrive, Alan Wake, Mass Effect, Quantum Break, Titanfall, etc. on their hands. They want to now own the IP they invest so much in and rightfully so.