Microsoft rocked the gaming world earlier this month when the company revealed it was purchasing game publisher Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion. Now we're seeing two significant consolidations in the games industry in the same month, as Sony announced today that it's acquiring Bungie, developers of the Destiny series and the original creators of Halo.

Bungie said in a blog post, "in [Sony Interactive Entertainment], we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart. Like us, SIE believes that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IPs can become. Together, we share a dream of creating and fostering iconic franchises that unite friends around the world, families across generations, and fans across multiple platforms and entertainment mediums.​"

The Verge reports that the deal is worth $3.6 billion, which doesn't come close to the nearly $70 billion that Microsoft is paying for Activision Blizzard, but Bungie is a much smaller operation. Sony will be the second parent company in Bungie's 30-year history — it was purchased by Microsoft in 2000, then split from the company in 2007. Bungie also worked closely with Activision Blizzard, which was the initial publisher for both Destiny and Destiny 2, until the partership ended in 2019.

Microsoft's recent acquisitions have led to unanswered questions about exclusivity, with only a few exceptions (like confirming Call of Duty will be multi-platform for a while longer), but Bungie and Sony are being fully transparent about their future plans. "Our commitment to Destiny 2 as a multi-platform game with full Cross Play remains unchanged," Bungie said in an FAQ. The company also denies any of its future games will be PlayStation exclusives — it appears Sony is only interested in funding the studio and keeping it out of Microsoft's reach.