The start of 2022 has already been a very eventful time in the world of gaming as a pair of major mergers have highlighted the first month of the new year. Between Microsoft kicking off the year with themulti-billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzardand Sony recently following up one of its biggest rivals by scooping upDestinydeveloper Bungie, two of the gaming world’s big three console developers have already come out swinging to ring in the year. Now, Sony is exploring expanding Bungie’s iconic franchises beyond the console and onto the silver screen.
Theacquisition of Bungie by Sonysent waves through the gaming industry, coming less than two weeks after Microsoft announced its purchase of Activision Blizzard bringing franchises likeCall of DutyandWarcraftunder the Xbox umbrella. The purchase is made all the more shocking when put into the context of Bungie’s history with Microsoft being the studio responsible for the creation of Xbox’s flagship franchise,Halo. Now, Sony has made its intentions known with its new subsidiary through an earnings call with Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, confirming Sony’s interest in turning Bungie’s iconic IPs into movies.
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During a Q&A portion of a Sony earnings call, Totoki spoke on the Bungie deal and how Sony’s position as a multimedia company couldbenefit theDestinydeveloper, specifically mentioning the potential of game titles being put into movies. Totoki went on to explain how Sony’s “multi-dimensional” nature could benefit Bungie expanding popular franchises likeDestiny, leveraging the access of Sony subsidiaries like Sony Pictures and Sony Music to create more content for its franchises outside video games.
The possibility of Bungie using Sony’s resources to bring franchises likeDestinyto the movie screens would not be the first time the developer has explored the expansion of the franchise’s universe. As recently as last September, Bungie was reportedly hiring staff for the purpose ofbringing theDestinyseries to TV and movies. ADestinyseries would look to follow in the footsteps of recent successful video game adaptations likeLeague of Legends’ArcaneandThe Witcheron Netflix, withArcanein particular becoming one of the most popular programs on the streaming service.
The purchase of Bungie by Sony has not only introduced the possibility of Bungie seeing adaptations of some of its franchises, but also has Sony pursuing the benefits of a partnership. Sony has taken an interest inlive service games similar toDestinywith the gaming juggernaut having at least 10 live service games in development, planning to release each of them by 2026. While no official announcement has been made regardingDestiny’s transition to the big screen, the day whenDestinyfans can see fan-favorite characters like Cayde-6 and Zavala may not be too far off.
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