Sony announced it would buy Bungie for $3.6bn back in February. At the time, Sony boss Jim Ryan stated the purchase was “an important step in [Sony’s] strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience”. Despite a probe by the FTC that sought to review “the latest example of how aggressive the agency is becoming in reviewing mergers”, the agreement has now formally “closed” and Sony has posted across its social media channels to “officially” welcome Bungie to “the PlayStation family”. “We are proud to officially join the incredible team at PlayStation, we are excited for the future of our company, and we are inspired to bring together players from all over the world to form lasting friendships and memories,” Bungie tweeted in return. “Per Audacia ad Astra!” The latter Latin phrase roughly translates to “through adversity to the stars”. A new report has claimed that Bungie’s under-wraps work with Chinese publisher NetEase involves a mobile shooter set in the Destiny universe. Job adverts allegedly for the project list required skills as including a “willingness to travel to China” on a regular basis, and host Chinese partner teams. NetEase invested $100m in Bungie back in 2018, though the companies have never officially confirmed what the two are working on. Bungie is one of the dozens of games industry companies to have spoken out in support of reproductive rights following the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn key legislation granting individuals the constitutional right to choose an abortion - a move that gives US states the power to either severely restrict or ban the practice.
