Defining Duke, Episode 57: PlayStation Has Acquired Bungie (Patreon)

Goodbye, old friend. Bungie, who is directly responsible for putting Xbox on the map in 2001, has gone around quite a bit. From exiting their relationship with Microsoft, to entering a 10 year deal with Activision involving Destiny, breaking off of said deal, receiving an investment from NetEase, and thanks to PlayStation the circle is now complete. For the price of $3.6 billion, PlayStation has purchased Halo developer Bungie. While not a direct response to Xbox's acquisition of Activision, it is a shrewd move that assures their position in the FPS space. The dominos are beginning to fall and there are more acquisitions to be expected. As things heat up, the Dukes analyze the industry's latest blockbuster deal. While not as earth shattering, Xbox enjoyed themselves quite a weekend adding Two Point Campus and Sony developed MLB The Show 22 to Xbox Game Pass on day one. In worse news, the Halo Infinite roadmap is seeing a delay, CD Projekt Red looks to be selling Cyberpunk again, and Battlefield 2042 has one of the most absurd post launch updates we have seen. It's a roller coaster of an industry, that's for sure.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:03:20 - What do we think of the new Halo trailer?

0:07:30 - Some smaller news items and follow-ups.

0:24:41 - What we’ve been playing.

0:39:30 - Do Microsoft’s investments put more pressure on Xbox to hit their quotas?

0:45:00 - Where does the LSM family fit into a JRPG class?

0:50:30 - Where does Microsoft need to worry about competition in the gaming space?

0:54:33 - Have we been to midnight launches?

0:59:06 - Should we worry about Microsoft pushing multiplayer games for Game Pass?

1:02:45 - What do we think about the change-up in voice actors for Shadow Warrior 3?

1:10:07 - February is Black History Month. What should Microsoft do?

1:16:25 - PlayStation has acquired Bungie.

1:55:36 - MLB The Show and Two Point Campus will be on Game Pass day one.

2:07:57 - Halo Infinite’s roadmap reveal has been delayed.

2:11:59 - A next gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 may have been leaked.

2:17:27 - Battlefield 2042’s sales have not met expectations.

2:25:44 - Coming soon to and leaving from Game Pass…

2:31:16 - Game Pass pick of the week.

2:35:21 - Are we getting tired of Star Wars and comic book IP based games?

2:42:10 - Should Xbox prioritize sequels or new IP?

2:47:57 - The Witch Queen has over one million pre-orders. What do we think that means?

2:52:34 - What are three Game Pass games we wouldn’t have played without the service?