It may be hard to accept or feel comfortable with, but perhaps we are heading toward a future where all game developers merge under the umbrellas of Sony, PlayStation, and Nintendo. In response to Microsoft’s massive acquisitions, Sony purchased Bungie in 2022. It seems the company is now planning to fully integrate the studio by shutting it down entirely.
Bungie’s name may soon dissolve within PlayStation!
The integration process of Bungie, one of the long-established studios in the gaming world, under Sony’s umbrella is accelerating. Bungie’s Creative Studios division has officially been incorporated into PlayStation Studios. This significant development was revealed to the press through a LinkedIn post by Bungie’s former Senior Creative Director, Bridget O’Neill.
O’Neill, now serving as a Senior Creative Director at PlayStation Studios, stated, “Our team is joining PlayStation Studios to lay the foundations of a creative team that will support all of PlayStation’s live service games”.
This development is seen as one of the most important steps taken following Sony’s acquisition of Bungie in 2022. However, the process has been challenging for both parties. PlayStation president Hiroki Totoki said earlier this year that Bungie management needed to be more transparent about development budgets and schedules.
After Sony’s acquisition of the company, the mass layoffs that took place in July were also quite striking. Bungie CEO Pete Parsons announced that, in addition to the layoffs of 220 employees, 155 workers would be transferred to Sony. Additionally, another Bungie project will be transformed into a new studio under Sony PlayStation, separate from Bungie.
Despite this move by the Creative Studios division, O’Neill stated that the team would continue working on Destiny 2 and Marathon projects. However, it seems pretty clear that Bungie will soon completely disappear, becoming a full part of Sony PlayStation.