What Sony's Bungie Acquisition Could Mean For The Movie Industry
Bungie has been in the business of video games since May of 1991, and in the years since, those working under its banner have assembled some truly unforgettable games. From the ever-popular Xbox launch title "Halo: Combat Evolved" to recent favorites like "Destiny," the developer has done its very best to remain at the forefront of the industry and keep gamers coming back for more. Though it has indeed faced its fair share of ups and downs, its story is far from over. In fact, Bungie is about to enter a brand new era in its history as a part of the Sony Interactive Entertainment family.
As reported by IGN and various other outlets on February 1, 2022, media giant Sony has officially acquired Bungie. The $3.6 billion deal will see Bungie remain "an independent subsidiary" of Sony and continue to serve as a multiplatform publisher, indicating that, from a player perspective, next to nothing will change for the time being. Nevertheless, several important questions have arisen out of this situation, with arguably the most prominent surrounding what Sony may have in mind for Bungie's library of video game properties in the near future.
As it turns out, Sony has big plans for Bungie's IP that will end up having long-term effects on the movie world. Here's why.
Sony hopes to bring Bungie's works to the movies
For decades, films based on video games have been something of a no-no in Hollywood. After all, most attempts have turned out to be massive money pits or critical punching bags, so why would a studio want to invest in such a risky venture? Well, in recent years, such projects have found some measure of success, with the likes of "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Detective Pikachu" performing quite well by all metrics. Sony has certainly taken notice, hence why it hopes to bring some of Bungie's properties to the cinema down the road.
"Bungie want to nurture the IP they have in a multi-dimensional manner, and that's their hope," said Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki in a recent Q&A and voiced his confidence that Sony can make that dream a reality. (via IGN). "We have [Sony] Pictures and [Sony] Music, and Bungie can leverage our platform so that their IP can flourish and grow big." As IGN notes, Bungie has hoped to expand the "Destiny" brand into such formats as film and television for some time now, so perhaps its new ties to Sony will finally set these plans and more in motion.
Which Bungie IPs are in line for cinematic treatments is currently unknown, but if one thing's for certain, it's that you can expect to see some Bungie-Sony collaboration at the movies in the coming years.