Sony to acquire video game studio Bungie in $3.6 billion deal

Washington(CNN Business) Sony is acquiring Bungie, the video game studio that created hit franchises such as "Halo" and "Destiny," in a $3.6 billion deal that further centralizes the rapidly consolidating game industry.

In a blog post, Sony (SONY) said the acquisition would help take its PlayStation platform "beyond the console" and flesh out the company's efforts to develop live-service video games.

"This is a strategic step towards continuing to evolve the gaming experiences that we build," Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment's CEO, wrote in a blog post. "Bungie's expertise in delivering a world-class service approach and long-term community engagement is extremely compelling and will support the development of several future live services titles from PlayStation Studios."

Bungie, in its own announcement, said it remains committed to its own creative vision and independence.

"We remain in charge of our destiny. We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games. We will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community. Our games will continue to be where our community is, wherever they choose to play," the company said.

The deal comes less than two weeks after Microsoft announced it was acquiring another giant in the industry, Activision Blizzard, which controls popular properties such as "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" and has also been embroiled in a crisis over corporate leadership and workplace culture.