The Japanese group Sony will buy the American video game publisher Bungie, creator of the Halo franchise, for 3.6 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros), according to a press release (in English) released Monday, January 31. Acquisition “is an important step in our strategy to reach a much wider audience with PlayStation”Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan was quoted in the statement as saying.
Already number one worldwide in video games by turnover, Sony oversees the development and marketing of the PlayStation console, which has sold more than 500 million copies of all models since 1994. Through its subsidiary SIE, Sony also controls a host of video game studios, which have developed titles for its console.
New episode of the great maneuvers of the video game industry, this announcement comes just days after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Ironically, Microsoft had acquired publisher Bungie in 2000 when it was about to launch its flagship game, Halo, of which more than 80 million copies have since been sold. In 2007, Bungie finally regained its independence but Microsoft retained the rights to the franchise. Halowhose last iteration, Halo Infinitewas launched last December.
“The price [de cette acquisition] seems very high to me.reacted Michael Pachter, analyst of the investment company Wedbush Securities, “but Sony has few games that monetize beyond the initial sale. And Bungie is really good at real-time operations.” Conversely, “Bungie doesn’t have a huge catalog”commented this specialist, “and is not really going to help Sony in its aspirations for the subscription service.”