By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Sony Group Corp's (NYSE:SONY) subsidiary, Sony Interactive Entertainment, announced Monday that it has agreed on a deal to acquire Bungie, Inc, an independent videogame developer.
Bungie is a long-time partner of Sony Interactive Entertainment and has created franchises, such as Halo and Destiny. Sony said the $3.6 billion deal will give it access to Bungie's expertise in live game services and technology. Bungie will continue to operate independently.
Bungie is currently focused on the long-term development of the Destiny 2 game, stating they are "expanding the Destiny universe, and creating entirely new worlds in future IP."
Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said: “We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family."
“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience."
Sony shares are up over 4% Monday.