Sony Looking to Help Bungie Adapt Its Franchises Into TV and Film

Sony Looking to Help Bungie Adapt Its Franchises Into TV and Film

Sony recently acquired Bungie in a mega-deal that was worth $3.6B. One of the things Bungie hopes to see first is the ability to hire as it continues to build on its hit franchise of Destiny 2 and looks at other horizons and universes in the future. Sony has spoken about what it hopes to be able to help Bungie with as it will continue to work on projects independently.

During an earnings call Q&A, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki was asked what benefits Bungie itself saw in being acquired by Sony.

Totoki’s response covered many areas including the previously mentioned hiring and employee retention, but then spoke about Sony’s position as a multimedia company:

“[It’s] not just for [the] gaming area, but the multi-using of IP and merchandising of IP – like a game title maybe put into movies.

“Bungie wants to nurture the IP they have in a multi-dimensional manner, and that’s their hope. For that, we believe we can help that – we have [Sony] Pictures and [Sony] Music, and Bungie can leverage our platform so that their IP can flourish and grow big.”

This could very well lead Bungie into something they’ve already shown they aspire to do, as just last year the studio began to hire for a development role meant to “drive projects that extend the Destiny franchise into new categories including TV, films, books, comics, and audio formats.” Sony already has well established itself in the film and music division and Bungie can certainly benefit from these mediums to bring their franchise to these other formats.

With this acquisition jumping the curve, we could very well see the already expansive universe of Destiny expand into TV and film, and I am sure every Destiny fan out there would love to see a live-action Cayde-6 series or film with Nathan Fillion reprising the iconic role he voiced in the game. It also goes to note that Sony spoke on this deal has been in the works for the past 5-6 months which could very well mean that Bungie was hiring for this development role in anticipation of the acquisition as well.

With Sony heavy in the development of PlayStation game adaptations, as we have already seen the trailer to the Uncharted film that is sure to spark a film franchise with the young lead of Tom Holland spearheading the film, and Sony previously stating back in 2020 that it had 7 TV series and 3 films in development, the partnership with Bungie just further brings ammunition for the ambitious stance on adaptations the company has.

With Bungie having franchises with a big fan base and the aspiration to see these franchises see themselves expand into other media, the deal further brings these companies closer to realizing their goals.

Source: Sony