Tiyashi Datta and Nivedita Baalu

(Reuters) –Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired Bungie Inc., creator of “Halo”, and the developer of “Destiny”, for $3.6 billion. This deal is the latest in a series of consolidations in the gaming industry.

Bungie will be joining Sony The PlayStation family is now available at (NYSE:). This blog entry was written by the U.S. company as Japan’s conglomerate increases its in-house gaming studios, behind hit games like “Spider-Man”, to face cash-rich counterparts.

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:), whose XBox consoles had long trailed Sony’s PlayStation in terms of sales, offered $69 million for Activision Blizzard (“NASDAQ:”) earlier in January.

Piers Harding Rolls, Ampere Analysis’s gaming analyst, said, “While this acquisition is among Sony’s largest-ever, it puts in context the fierce competition faced by this sector.”

Bellevue’s Bungie was founded in Washington by Microsoft. Before going private, Bungie was part of Microsoft. The company has worked on “Marathon”, “Myth” titles.

Bungie plans to increase the number of talent in its studio for “Destiny 2,” which was previously published by Activision Blizzard.

Video game companies are consolidating quickly to capitalize on a sudden surge in demand caused by the pandemic. New deals blur the lines between mobile and PC gaming companies, as they seek out new revenue streams.

The sector is on course for a new record of $150 billion in deals, financing and IPOs this year, according https://www.reuters.com/technology/red-hot-gaming-market-breach-150-billion-deals-fundraising-report-2022-01-31 to investment banking firm Drake Star Partners.

Another mega-deal was completed in the first month. Take-Two, a maker of “Grand Theft Auto”, purchased Zynga, a maker of “FarmVille”, for $11 billion (NASDAQ).

Many big-name corporations have tried to infuse their talent with intellectual property and not partner with studios. It gives them more visibility in an expanding, high-value market.

Sony recently added several developers to its roster, including Valkyrie Entertainment videogame-development studio and Housemarque “Returnal” developer.

Jim Ryan, the head of Sony Corp (T:), responsible for PlayStation said that “This Bungie deal” is an important part of our strategy to increase the reach and appeal of PlayStation to a wider audience.

Bungie, which will become an autonomous unit of Sony Interactive Entertainment (NYSE:), will be managed by the board and CEO Pete Parsons.