Remember the company that created the Halo trilogy? The same guys who then went on to create Destiny 1 and 2? Yeah, PlayStation acquired them. The very same company who created two of the most iconic first-person shooters out there in the gaming industry has now been acquired by PlayStation, who is Xbox’s biggest competitor.
And honestly? It’s a great thing for Destiny players all over the world. I’ll explain to you why.
PlayStation Acquiring Bungie Is a Great Thing for Destiny 2
Destiny 2 is Bungie’s live-service game that they have been updating from its launch since September 6, 2017.
I myself have been a Guardian since the Taken King expansion in the first Destiny game, so seeing PlayStation, the publisher responsible for publishing great story games like The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man etc. acquire Bungie, it gives me hope that Destiny 2 will thrive more.
Now, PlayStation has a history of trying to create a multiplayer game on the scale of Call of Duty or Halo, but it never really gets talked about on the same scale as the aforementioned games.
According to RiseUpGamer, PlayStation’s Bunge acquisition had a whopping $3.6 billion price tag.
For a brief period of time, The Last of Us’ multiplayer (both the original and the remaster), was wildly popular due to its interesting gameplay and vastly unique style. But its popularity slowly dwindled due to lack of content being released.
Another game I can think of that has great multiplayer but never really talked about elsewhere outside of the PlayStation community is Uncharted, specifically 2. While 3 and 4 had good multiplayer modes, Uncharted players will tell you that 2 is the peak of multiplayer for the franchise.
But just like The Last of Us, did not reach the same level of popularity as Call of Duty or Halo.
Unpopular Opinion: PS Is A Single-Player Oriented Platform
PlayStation has done their best to create a multiplayer game that rivals the top dogs in the genre, but they just couldn’t find a way to do it.
So instead, they focused more on the single player market during the late PS3 era and the entirety of the PS4 era, and it turned out wonderfully for them.
Games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, The Last of Us Part II, Persona 5 (vanilla and Royal), Final Fantasy VII Remake were all big successes for the company and it helped them find what they are good in doing: publishing great story games.
While Xbox dominated the multiplayer market with games like Halo and Gears of War, PlayStation was busy dominating the single player market.
So, you may be asking at this point why PlayStation acquiring Bungie will be good for Destiny 2? Because Destiny 2 has a great story thanks to the brilliant and creative minds at Bungie that can be further expanded with the backing of PlayStation.
I’ve been playing Destiny 2 since launch and admittedly took a break after Forsaken (still grieving Cayde-6’s death to this day. Miss you, buddy.) because I was just burned out from playing it daily.
I jump in from time to time whenever a new expansion comes up because I love the story and lore they add to the game as they continue.
The people at Bungie are building up to something big for the world of Destiny 2, something similar to Infinity War and Endgame. With PlayStation backing Bungie, I believe they can truly improve the story of Destiny 2.
Bungie has done incredible work during their time with Activision and when they went independent, so I can only imagine how well Bungie can do with Destiny 2 with the backing of PlayStation as their publisher, the very same publisher with award winning games under its belt.
Why This Is A Win-Win Situation
Many can see this acquisition as a retaliation to Microsoft acquiring Activision, since the Activision acquisition is still fresh in everyone’s mind with the announcement being just 2 weeks ago.
I don’t believe that’s the case. Deals like these need to be discussed in several meetings, with different people in different places. It’s not just a simple phone call with Sony offering a suitcase full of cash.
Bungie was with Activision until 2 years ago when decided to split due Activision’s controlling and restrictive nature when discussing the plans for Destiny 2 and how they should proceed.
Because of that, I believe Bungie was very cautious during those meetings. They don’t want another repeat of that situation where they feel restrictive when developing their game.
Both parties know what the other wants, that much is clear, and the deal went through because they came to an understanding. Bungie wants creative control; PlayStation wants a multiplayer game. Boom, both parties win, and Destiny 2 gets improved.