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One of the things lost in Sony’s investor relations report last week, and brought back to our attention by ResetEra, is the company’s integration plan for acquisition target, Bungie. While the deal is yet to close, the platform holder expects the ink to be dry by the end of the year, and it’s already forming an integration plan for the Destiny developer.

Now, as you know, the Japanese giant wants to use the studio’s expertise to help with its live service game push, of which it intends to operate 12 concurrently by 2025. Currently, it’s working independently on these games within its PlayStation Studios infrastructure, but it intends to integrate all of Bungie’s knowledge across all of its operations after around one year.

The goal is to establish a new internal department named SIE Live Service Centre of Excellence, which it can leverage for all of its live service titles to ensure best practices are being observed. It’s worth remembering that Bungie will retain its independence, so will continue to release its own games across all platforms, but it’ll have an active role in shaping the philosophy behind Sony’s live service projects as well.

Interestingly, the platform holder wants to be learning from Bungie within three months of the deal closing, so it’s clear here that it massively values the design principles that have helped shape and grow the Destiny games. Eventually, the SIE Live Service Centre of Excellence will be tasked with reviewing important aspects like monetisation in both released and upcoming titles.

Obviously, a large chunk of the PlayStation fanbase are massively concerned by this new live service approach, although it’s important to remember that none of the games have actually been announced yet – they might be amazing. And maintaining live service titles is notoriously difficult, so at least the company appears to be taking things seriously if this is the business model upon which it intends to plant its flag.

[source sony.com, via resetera.com]