It still feels weird to type that Bungie, the creators of what is arguably Microsoft’s biggest property — Halo — is getting bought by PlayStation as a largely independent studio. While the deal seems to keep their independence in tact, they are seemingly going to be a big player in bolstering Sony’s live service games market.
With this giant $3.4 billion deal still in the woodworks and subject to regulatory approval, the FTC is officially looking into the deal to make sure that nothing fishy is going on behind the curtains. Despite this on-going investigation, Sony believes and has detailed to investors during a recent earnings call that the deal is slated to close in the third quarter, so by December 31, 2022.
The goal of the merger is partly to aid in bringing Destiny beyond video games, which given Sony’s own film and music divisions, they’d be more likely to succeed than any other. The other part is boosting the live service games market Sony seems to want to increase their presence in. Given the purchase doesn’t stop Bungie from publishing games on other platforms, it’s unlikely this FTC investigation will find any sort of anti-trust regulation violations.
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