Microsoft were reportedly in talks with Bungie over a potential acquisition but ultimately, the deal was never closed and Bungie went to Sony instead.
Following the announcement of Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie, industry sources and journalists have disclosed that Microsoft were the first to contact Bungie before Sony entered the picture.
Microsoft were reportedly in talks with Bungie about a prospective acquisition two years ago, but they were turned down due to the high asking price of $2 billion, which may not seem that exorbitant now, but it was certainly that high two years ago, in the pre-Zenimax transaction.
Another big reason that contributed to Bungie staying away from the Xbox family is likely exclusivity. Bungie's Destiny and other unannounced titles will continue to be available on PC and Xbox following Sony's acquisition, which is surprising to say the least.
It appears that this was one of Bungie's non-negotiable conditions to potential buyers. Such requirement was a dead-end for the potential deal with Microsoft who probably did not like the idea of releasing all future Bungie games on the PlayStation platform. Shortly after the talks fell through, Bungie started talking to Sony in 2021.
One may argue that Microsoft already have everything that Bungie offers - live service expertise, popular shooter IP and the technology for such games - but Sony on the other hand doesn't have a single first-party live-service shooter game that would bring in a steady flow of cash. The Bungie acquisition makes a lot more sense for Sony than it does for Microsoft.
SIE head Jim Ryan already said that Bungie’s world-class expertise in multi-platform development and live game services will help Sony deliver their vision of expanding PlayStation to hundreds of millions of gamers.
So it's very evident that Sony wanted to add a developer with live-service experience to their roster, and they got one with Bungie.
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