Sony’s recent Bungie acquisition turned a lot of heads, especially as its timing happened to come along shortly after Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. While these sorts of deals take months or even years to plan out, people have wondered why Sony would purchase Bungie of all studios. As it turns out, the company’s experience with the live service model was a major contributing factor.
Sony recently held an investor presentation discussing its quarterly financial results across its business divisions. The presentation’s live stream offered further insight into Sony’s investment in evolving multiplayer games. As transcribed by Eurogamer, Sony executive Hiroki Totoki stated that the company plans to release over 10 live service titles by the fiscal year ending in March 2026.
This will be possible due to a “close collaboration” with Bungie, claims Totoki. According to him, one reason for the buyout was being able to incorporate, “into the Sony group the expertise and technologies Bungie has developed in the live game services space.”
This isn’t the first time Sony has expressed interest in expanding its traditional business model. As far back as 2019, the console manufacturer expressed interest in making a name in the multiplayer space after investing so heavily in story-driven experiences during the PS4 generation.
