Bungie Denies Having Acquisition Talk With Microsoft, Being Too Expensive To Buy Back

After multiple reports stated that Microsoft had been attempting to reacquire a major game studio that got away from them many years ago, Bungie, its CEO is now speaking out.

The news about Microsoft's acquisition attempt first circulated on a podcast hosted by Jeff Grubb. Grubb, a novelist who has extensively worked in the games industry, said during a Sept. 11 episode that he heard about Microsoft’s attempts to acquire the studio behind the hugely successful “Destiny” franchise. Despite their efforts, however, he claimed Bungie was said to be too expensive, even for a company as massive as Microsoft.

Once reports began to circulate after his comments, Grubb took to Twitter to downplay the import of such discussions.

“Acquisition talks are always happening all the time for all kinds of stuff,” Grubb tweeted. “So I wouldn't take this as anything more than business as usual.”

On Monday, Bungie CEO Pete Parson responded in his own Twitter post, calling the information "false."

Founded in 1991 in Chicago, Bungie was first acquired by Microsoft in 2000 in order to secure the exclusive rights to its forthcoming blockbuster “Halo: Combat Evolved” for the Xbox. The game has previously been developed as a major title for Apple computers, Eurogamer reports.

Bungie went on to make four more “Halo” titles for Xbox systems through 2010, before striking out on its own once again, leaving the flagship series in the hands of 343 Industries. The studio eventually released “Destiny” in 2014 and “Destiny 2” in 2017 on multiple platforms, finding great commercial success.

While unlikely for now, such an acquisition would be a major win for Microsoft, which has been on a studio buying spree for the past few years. This has included the likes “Fallout: New Vegas” developer Obsidian and “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice” creator Ninja Theory.