Analyst: Sony vastly overpaid, Bungie makes $200 million revenue (2024)

Sony has "vastly overpaid" with its $3 billion buyout of Bungie, analyst Michael Pachter says.

Analyst: Sony vastly overpaid, Bungie makes $200 million revenue (1)

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Sony's decision to buy Bungie was a knee-jerk reaction to its competitors making power plays. According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard and Take-Two's $12.7 billion merger with Zynga prompted Sony to make a "me too" purchase of Bungie--and that the buyout was significantly overpriced.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, Pachter outlines his value-oriented rationale. It all comes down to share price and revenues generated by each company. Pachter estimates that Bungie makes $200 million in revenue a year, and Sony essentially paid $4 million per developer (Bungie has over 900 developers).

Contrast that with EA's purchase of Respawn Entertainment for $455 million, a company who makes, according to Pachter, about $700 million a year with 400 developers. Respawn's Apex Legends has generated $2 billion since its release in February 2019, and Respawn also made the best-selling Jedi Fallen Order game.

So $455 million for a developer that's made $2 billion in revenues. Not a bad deal.

Analyst: Sony vastly overpaid, Bungie makes $200 million revenue (3)

Analyst: Sony vastly overpaid, Bungie makes $200 million revenue (4) 2

Of course we don't know how much Bungie makes. That information is kept safely guarded, but it may get announced in Sony's financials in some form. Bungie's revenues should be included in quarterly PlayStation earnings but exact metrics will probably still be unknown.

Let's not forget that Sony's buyout isn't just limited to games. Sony is always interested in transmedia and is currently bringing many of its games to the silver and small screens with film and TV show adaptations. This will happen with the Destiny franchise, too.

Sony and Bungie want to make an interconnected ecosystem of live services, monetization, and subscription-based revenues that tie directly into transmedia content. Sony doesn't have a lot of live service games under its belt, either, whereas Microsoft's empire is built on live services. Take-Two Interactive also has a live game empire thanks to its lucrative NBA 2K series and billions generated from GTA Online revenues.

Here's what Pachter said in the interview:

Sony I think just did a me too statement and said, 'we're not going to be left behind so we'll buy Bungie'."

The Activision deal and the Zynga deal were both done below those stock's recent highs. So Activision had traded over $100 back in October, and the deal was at $95. Zynga had traded over $11, I believe, and the deal was done at $9.86. So they didn't really overpay, either of the acquirers.

Bungie went for $4 million per developer, and most deals are between $250,000 and a million. I've seen deals as high as $2 million per developer. This is crazy talk.

And just to compare and contrast, EA bought Respawn about three or four years ago for $700 million with 400 developers, and those guys generate $700 million a year in revenue. Bungie does about $200 million in revenue.

So I think Sony vastly overpaid, I think this was a statement that 'we're not going to let Microsoft get ahead of us, so we'll just buy something out of desperation.' It's not really a deal that makes a whole lot of sense to me. The others do.

Analyst: Sony vastly overpaid, Bungie makes $200 million revenue (2024)

FAQs

Analyst: Sony vastly overpaid, Bungie makes $200 million revenue? ›

Pachter estimates that Bungie makes $200 million in revenue a year, and Sony essentially paid $4 million per developer (Bungie has over 900 developers). Contrast that with EA's purchase of Respawn Entertainment for $455 million, a company who makes, according to Pachter, about $700 million a year with 400 developers.

Why did Sony pay so much for Bungie? ›

Sony's exclusivity strategy is becoming more flexible.

But why would Sony pay nearly $4 billion to keep putting games on Xbox devices? For one, Bungie has the technical skills and talent pool to help other PlayStation studios create games that can live on other platforms, the cloud and perhaps even mobile devices.

How much did Sony pay Bungie? ›

The ink is dry on Sony's acquisition of Bungie, the gaming company that created sci-fi hits Halo and Destiny. Both companies announced the news on Twitter Friday, confirming that the $3.6 billion deal had gone through without any surprises.

Is Bungie making money? ›

Bungie peak revenue was $2.7M in 2022.

How is Bungie $3.6 billion worth? ›

Sony paid around $4 million per developer when these deals are usually far less per worker than that. Sony paid $3.6 billion for Bungie when other developers like Respawn and Insomniac have been purchased for mere hundreds of millions, and generate more profit.

Did Sony vastly overpaid for Bungie? ›

Sony 'vastly overpaid' with $3 billion buyout of Bungie, a developer that may make $200 million in revenues a year, analyst says. Sony has "vastly overpaid" with its $3 billion buyout of Bungie, analyst Michael Pachter says. Sony's decision to buy Bungie was a knee-jerk reaction to its competitors making power plays.

Does Bungie still get money from Halo? ›

Nope. Although Bungie created the Halo franchise and made the first handful of games, rights to the franchise still belong to Microsoft.

Why did Bungie abandon Halo? ›

Bungie stepped away from Halo and its publisher, Microsoft, in 2007, in order to push forward in the industry rather than be tied to a franchise that had found success at the start of the century, according to community manager David "DeeJ" Dague.

What happens if Sony buys Bungie? ›

Sony will pay $3.6 million to acquire Bungie. Once the deal is closed, "Bungie will operate as an independent subsidiary" of Sony Interactive Entertainment. This means that the company will be led by a board consisting of Pete Parsons, current CEO and president of Bungie, and by the rest of the current team management.

Has the Sony Bungie deal gone through? ›

Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially completed its $3.7 billion deal to acquire Bungie - the studio behind Destiny and every Halo game up to Halo: Reach - and has welcomed it into the PlayStation family. PlayStation shared the news on Twitter, saying, "the agreement to acquire Bungie has closed.

Is Bungie still owned by Microsoft? ›

Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Did Bungie sell the rights to Destiny? ›

Bungie found itself a new owner. Bungie, the developer behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, on Monday signed a deal to be sold to Sony in a deal worth a reported $3.6 billion.

Does Bungie own the rights to Destiny? ›

Sony's shocking decision to purchase Destiny developer Bungie for roughly $3.6 billion recently rocked the gaming world and left a lot of people wondering what games Bungie actually controls and if they still have any say over the future of the Halo franchise.

Did Sony buy Halo? ›

After Microsoft dropped a big bag on Activision, Sony decided to buy Bungie video game studio for $3.6 billion. The independent studio developed Destiny, the famous online FPS (first-person shooter) and the iconic Halo series, which fuelled Xbox's growth.

Why did Activision sell Bungie? ›

Activision split with Bungie because Destiny “was not meeting financial expectations” Activision has explained why it decided to part ways with Destiny developer Bungie and relinquish the publishing rights for the series.

Who bought Halo from Bungie? ›

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced a deal to acquire Bungie, the developer behind game franchises including “Halo” and “Destiny,” for $3.6 billion.

Did Sony buy Bungee? ›

Sony Interactive Entertainment officially closed on a $3.6 billion deal today to buy the independent game studio and publisher Bungie, according to tweets from both Bungie and PlayStation Studios.

Why did Microsoft lose Bungie? ›

Bungie Split from Microsoft due to internal conflict within the company. They wanted to move on from halo, and felt that Microsoft would leave it in good hands. They also felt that they improved from a small studio, and now had the resources to go and make it on their own without the support of anot...

What is Bungie suing for? ›

'Destiny 2' developer Bungie wins $6.7M in lawsuit against video game cheat-maker. Bellevue, Wash. -based video game developer Bungie won $6.7 million in a lawsuit against a company that sold cheat programs for its flagship title, Destiny 2.

Does Microsoft still own Halo? ›

Halo is a military science fiction media franchise, originally developed by Bungie and currently managed and developed by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios.

Did 343 ruin Halo? ›

343 Industries has shepherded the Halo series for over ten years. Despite its great start with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, the studio has failed to return the franchise to its original glory. Everything shared here illustrates 343's mismanagement of Xbox's once-flagship franchise.

Why did Microsoft sell Halo? ›

Originally Answered: Why is Bungie no longer doing the Halo games? The developers of Halo, Bungie, was purchased by Microsoft in the year 2001 with exclusivity rights to only publish games for the Xbox, and thus Halo: Combat Evolved was released as an Xbox-only game.

What did Bungie think of Halo Wars? ›

Halo Wars: Bungie saw it as "whoring out franchise" says Ensemble founder | GamesIndustry.biz.

Can Bungie buy Halo back? ›

Will Bungie ever make another Halo? No, they don't own the game in any way anymore. They decided they'd had enough after Reach and left. The mantle rests with 343 Industries now, and anyone that wanted to make a halo would have to work for or with them.

Why does Bungie like the number 7? ›

Bungie's obsession with the number seven may be attributed to 7 being considered a lucky number in Western culture. In spite of the fact that the number seven is featured extensively in Bungie's work, it has generated an aura of apophenia. This cultural nuance can be compared to the 23 enigma.

Will there be a Destiny 3? ›

However, despite Destiny 2's next expansion likely being it's last, Bungie has reiterated in the past that the studio has no plans to create a Destiny 3. Back in early 2021, design director Jacob Benton went on record to state that Bungie has no plans to create a Destiny 3.

Will Destiny 3 become a PlayStation exclusive? ›

“Every player should have an amazing Destiny experience, no matter where you choose to play.” Alright, that makes sense for Destiny 2, then, but what about future games in development at Bungie – will they become PlayStation exclusives? “No. We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games.

Will Destiny stay on Xbox? ›

Destiny 2 expansions are no longer available for Xbox Game Pass for Xbox and PC subscribers to download and play. On December 8, 2021, Destiny 2 and its expansions (Forsaken, Shadowkeep, and Beyond Light) left Xbox Game Pass on console and cloud.

Will Sony buy Square Enix? ›

This officially puts Sony out of the hunt to buy Take-Two Interactive (19.63 billion), Square Enix (5.6 billion), and Konami (6.7 billion). Kojima Productions isn't out of the budget. The same goes for Ubisoft.

Who owns Sony? ›

Who owns Sony? Sony (NYSE: SONY) is owned by 7.30% institutional shareholders, 0.00% Sony insiders, and 92.70% retail investors. Primecap Management Co is the largest individual Sony shareholder, owning 24.02M shares representing 1.77% of the company. Primecap Management Co's Sony shares are currently valued at $2.38B.

What is PlayStation going to do with Bungie? ›

Bungie had previously announced in early 2021 that it has a new intellectual property in development, saying at the time that it planned to bring whatever it might be to market “before 2025.” Sony's refocus and the acquisition both suggest that the new project, like Destiny 2, will also be a live-service game, which ...

Is it hard to get a job at Bungie? ›

Is it hard to get hired at Bungie? Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Bungie as 56.3% positive with a difficulty rating score of 3.38 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty).

Does Bungie own Fortnite? ›

Microsoft has Minecraft, Epic Games has Fortnite, and Sony now has Destiny. In a $3.6 billion deal, Sony is acquiring Bungie, the game studio famous for creating the Halo and Destiny universes. It's a big deal, in a month already full of massive deals.

How much did Bungie pay to leave Activision? ›

In English, this means that Bungie paid up to $164m for the Destiny publishing rights, with a further $20m tied up as on-going spending; subscriptions, season passes and so on. The two companies announced they were parting ways in January of this year.

Who owns Destiny 2 now? ›

Destiny 2
Developer(s)Bungie
Publisher(s)Activision (2017–2018) Bungie (2019–present)
Director(s)Christopher Barrett Luke Smith Ryan Ellis
Producer(s)Patrick O'Kelly
9 more rows

Does Activision still own Destiny 2? ›

With Activision as the publisher, Bungie published the two fan-favorite games, Destiny and Destiny 2, which are undoubtedly two of the most popular looter shooters of all time. However, eventually, Bungie parted ways with Activision as well and took over the publishing of Destiny in 2019.

Will Bungie do anything with Destiny 1? ›

Destiny 1 will no longer receive planned game updates or content.

Who owns God of War? ›

God of War (franchise)
God of War
Developer(s)Primary Santa Monica Studio Ready at Dawn Javaground/SOE-LA Ports Bluepoint Games Ready at Dawn Sanzaru Games Wholesale Algorithms Jetpack Interactive
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Pictures Digital
Creator(s)David Jaffe
Artist(s)Charlie Wen
6 more rows

Who makes Halo now? ›

343 Industries is an American video game developer located in Redmond, Washington, part of Xbox Game Studios. Headed by Pierre Hintze, the studio is responsible for the Halo series of military science fiction games, originally created and produced by Bungie, and is the developer of the Slipspace Engine.

Will Sony own Destiny? ›

Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2, is now officially a part of Sony. The PlayStation maker had announced its intent to acquire the gaming studio in January, and now, that acquisition is complete.

What games does Bungie own the rights to? ›

After Bungie ceased developing Halo, Microsoft gave development rights to 343 Industries, a first-party studio. Bungie still owns a handful of influential franchises and titles. Chief among them are Destiny and Destiny 2, two online sci-fi shooters that have brought Bungie a significant amount of fans.

Who did Sony buy out? ›

Acquisitions
DateCompanyBusiness
29 June 2021HousemarqueVideo game
1 July 2021Nixxes SoftwareVideo game
9 August 2021CrunchyrollFilm, television, video on demand
8 September 2021FirespriteVideo game
83 more rows

Who owns Call of Duty? ›

Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold War, futuristic worlds, and the modern day.

What did Microsoft pay for Bungie? ›

Sign up or Sign in now! Microsoft's deal to acquire Bungie in 2000 was valued at between $20 million-$40 million. Adjusted for inflation, Sony's purchase price for Bungie would be about $2.2 billion in 2000 dollars.

What is the Bungie slogan? ›

Bungie corporate motto. Latin. The purported English meaning is: Don't make us kick your ass. (DMUKYA).

Why did Destiny leave Activision? ›

Bungie and Activision have different motivations. They're out to achieve different ends. Over time, problems Bungie had with the Destiny series — as well as problems Bungie had with Activision as a publisher — seem to have played a role in the two calling it quits.

How much is Halo franchise worth? ›

According to former 343 Industries creative director Frank O'Conor, the Halo franchise is worth around $6 billion across games and other media including TV shows.

Will PlayStation have Halo now? ›

The short answer is: No. Yes, Bungie did develop Halo, but Microsoft bought Bungie and owns the intellectual property to the Halo franchise. So, while Sony bought the manpower behind Halo, they didn't buy the Halo name. That means that we will not see Halo on the PlayStation.

Did Bungie make dim? ›

DIM is a free, open source app built by community developers upon the same services used by Bungie.net and the Destiny Companion App.

What are the benefits of Sony buying Bungie? ›

Pete Parsons, the CEO of Bungie, stated this acquisition will allow Bungie to become a global multimedia entertainment company, with Sony's access to global talent and endless resources.

Why did Bungie sell Halo to Microsoft? ›

Bungie stepped away from Halo and its publisher, Microsoft, in 2007, in order to push forward in the industry rather than be tied to a franchise that had found success at the start of the century, according to community manager David "DeeJ" Dague.

Why did Bungie sell to Microsoft? ›

This informal, creative culture was one of the reasons Microsoft was interested in acquiring Bungie, although game designer Jordan Weisman said that Microsoft came close to destroying the company's development culture, as it had with the now-defunct FASA Studio.

Will Sony get Halo? ›

"Halo'" was a flagship XBox title from the beginning.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced that they will acquire “Halo” and “Destiny” developer Bungie for $3.6 Billion.

Is Sony Bungie deal finalized? ›

Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially completed its $3.7 billion deal to acquire Bungie - the studio behind Destiny and every Halo game up to Halo: Reach - and has welcomed it into the PlayStation family.

Is Sony Bungie acquisition finalized? ›

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that its acquisition of Destiny maker Bungie has completed. The merger deal was originally announced in January for the purchase amount of $3.6 billion.

Will Bungie games be Sony exclusive? ›

One of the big questions is whether Bungie's future games currently in development will become PlayStation exclusives? To which Bungie responds flatly: No. "No. We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games.

What does Sony buying Bungie mean for Destiny? ›

According to SIE CEO Jim Ryan, Bungie will support PlayStation Studios' future efforts to create multiplatform live-service games — games similar to Destiny 2 — with its expertise. Destiny 2 is one of the most successful live-service games ever made, so it makes sense for Sony to acquire the studio.

Does Microsoft still own the rights to Halo? ›

Halo is a military science fiction media franchise, originally created and developed by Bungie and currently managed and developed by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios. The series launched in 2001 with the first-person shooter video game Halo: Combat Evolved and its tie-in novel, The Fall of Reach.

How did Bungie lose the rights to Halo? ›

Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000, and its signature title, Halo, helped turn Microsoft's Xbox console into a major game platform. But the developer split from Microsoft in 2007 and stopped making Halo three years later. Since 2011, Halo has been developed by 343 Industries, a company owned by Microsoft.

Why did Activision let Bungie go? ›

Also during the call, Johnson said Activision Blizzard wanted to break up with Bungie because the Destiny franchise was failing to meet its commercial projections. "Destiny is highly critically acclaimed, high quality content, but it was not meeting our financial expectations," he said.

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