Sony Interactive Entertainment has completed its acquisition of the Bellevue, Washington-based Bungie game studio. In an effort to allay antitrust concerns, the developer of the “Destiny” game series will operate as an independent subsidiary of Sony, its mandate to “continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games,” Bungie CEO Pete Parsons wrote in a blog post. Both firms have offered assurances that future game development will not be limited to PlayStation exclusives. Sony valued the developer of “Destiny” and “Destiny 2” at approximately $3.7 billion in a Friday SEC filing.

Sony announced its intent to purchase Bungie in January, capping a robust month of game company acquisitions that saw Microsoft make a $68.7 billion bid on Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive offer $12.7 billion for Zynga, completing the sale in May. Microsoft’s massive Activision Blizzard buy — projected to close in fiscal 2023 — has recently drawn antitrust scrutiny in the UK, Australia and the U.S.

SIE plans “to lean on Bungie for its ‘world-class expertise in multi-platform development and live game services,’ which ‘will help us deliver on our vision of expanding PlayStation to hundreds of millions of gamers,’ Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan said in January,” according to The Verge.

Sony explained in May that it intends to use Bungie to expand its presence in live service gaming. “Sony views live service games as a critical part of PlayStation’s future, as it plans to launch more than 10 new live service games by March 2026,” The Verge reports.

Bungie’s successes also include development of the “Halo” franchise through 2010’s “Halo: Reach,” published by Microsoft, which acquired the ongoing “Halo” rights. UK-based publisher National World speculates “it is possible that future games from [Bungie] could become ‘timed’ exclusives” on the PlayStation, releasing to that platform first.

Bungie has forecast it would like “to release at least one non-‘Destiny’ game by 2025,” writes IGN, indicating the company is currently at work on a “Destiny” mobile game, adding that, “various job listings have hinted” that the new content IP “could be ‘comedic’ and may feature ‘whimsical characters.’”

With this acquisition complete, IGN reports that Sony Interactive has no plans to stop shopping “and is looking to purchase more studios in the future.”