Sony Acquisitions Close as Activision Looms

Sony’s purchase of Bungie and Haven Studios is now complete, but a larger beast looms on the horizon. See the ripples in the water? The Microsoft/Activision merger could be finished within months.

This is where we are now. One surprising purchase closes, another one rears its head. Bungie – the people who created Halo – are now owned by PlayStation. And although we don’t quite know how that relationship is going to look, we know that Bungie is retaining a degree of independence to publish in other places beyond PlayStation. That means Destiny 3 will definitely be on PC, and perhaps even on Xbox too. I’m guessing there will be little annoyances for playing outside the PlayStation ecosystem. Delayed content drops and the likes. But let’s face it, these days that is a dangerous game to play.

Why? Because Call of Duty publisher Activision is soon going to be owned by Microsoft. And if you think not getting Destiny DLC on time is annoying, wait until Call of Duty starts throwing around its weight.

Not that I expect that. We are entering intounknown territory with purchases on this level, and the people who run these gaming companies are being very grown up about it all. Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation in some capacity, even if it’s just the free-to-play games. It’s possible the full titles will find their way across as well.

And then in the background we’ve got other major things happening, although because they don’t involve Microsoft or Sony, they’re not getting the airplay of the others. Square Enix’s western studios were purchased by Embracer. Even Blizzard and Activision have been acquiring companies, while getting acquired themselves.

Barely a week goes by without a couple of acqusitions. And it’s not going to slow down now.

Sony and the Future

I don’t want to pontificate too much about consolidation. Your attitude will probably vary depending by how world-ending you find the idea of having to buy a new console. I didn’t see anybody moan about Nix Hydra getting bought out, but then for most people that didn’t change very much. It’s still consolidation, ultimately, but nobody cares. So long as fans of the games get to keep getting those games, fine.

At the very least though, I think it’s clear that the time since the Bethesda purchase has marked a change in the gaming industry. Again, acquisitions are a normal part of life here. But something changed on that day.

The Bungie purchase is complete. Activision seems to be comnig to the end of its FTC investigation, or at least will be within the next couple of months. Other governing bodies will follow suit.

Then the question on everybody’s lips will be “what’s next?” Who can Sony or Microsoft buy next? Who can Nintendo buy? Who can EA buy before they themselves are bought out?

The shape of the gaming industry will be very different in five years. That isn’t a bad thing. consolidation won’t go on forever. Interest rates are heading up, meaning purcahsing companies becomes less attractive.

But there’s no doubt, fans have tasted the blood of major acquisitions. And they want more. Well, at the very least, they want more for their team.