Sony Is Planning To Invest Heavily Into Live-Service Games With Bungie Buyout

PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has commented on Sony's buyout of Bungie, discussing how the Destiny studio will help Sony make further inroads into the live-service category and help it go "beyond" the console alone.

Speaking to GI.biz, Ryan said Sony and Bungie are "like two pieces of a jigsaw that can slot together." Whereas Sony has historically been best known for its single-player, story-heavy games, Bungie is skilled at developing "massive, immersive games that have no end," Ryan said.

Ryan said Sony was considering making more live-service games before buying Bungie, but acquiring the studio helps Sony reach this goal even faster.

"I would back us to do [live-service games] ourselves, but when you have the potential to have a partner like Bungie who has been there, done it all before, learned the lessons and have got this wonderful, brilliant team who is there and has the potential to help us... we think we can take something that would have taken a certain number of years, and significantly decrease the time it will take to get it right," Ryan said.

Also in the interview, Ryan touched on Sony's plans to grow the size of the PlayStation community by "expanding beyond our historic console heartland." The executive said this might take the form of releasing games "in different places and played in different ways." Sony is already doing this by releasing some of its console games on PC, including God of War most recently. But the expansion is also focused on leaning further into the live-service category, and scooping up Bungie helps Sony get there faster, Ryan said.

"We have an aggressive roadmap with live services. And the opportunity to work with, and particularly learn from, the brilliant and talented people from Bungie... that is going to considerably accelerate the journey we find ourselves on," Ryan said.

Outside of Bungie, Sony has signed a deal for the first game from Firewalk Studios, a AAA development team founded by former Halo and Destiny veterans. This is a multiplayer game set in a new universe, though the game has not been officially announced yet.

Sony buying Bungie does not mean Destiny will become exclusive to PlayStation. The game, and Bungie's future titles, will be released on multiple platforms.