Sony Interactive Entertainment plans to acquire Halo and Destiny creator Bungie in a deal worth $3.6 billion.

Why it matters: The deal is the latest in a string of major acquisitions to start the year that will reshape the video game industry.

The big picture: The game industry is rapidly heading toward consolidation among some of its biggest players, as 2022 has already seen two of the biggest acquisitions in games ever.

• On Jan. 18, Microsoft announced plans to buy embattled developer Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion in cash in Microsoft's largest acquisition ever.
• Shortly before that, on Jan. 10, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive revealed plans to buy Zynga for $12.7 billion.

Driving the news: In a statement from Bungie, CEO Pete Parsons said that Bungie will "continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games."

• The "most immediate change" is a push in hiring for Destiny 2 and "all new worlds beyond."
• Parsons' statement says Destiny 2 will remain a multiplatform game with cross-play; the company also said that the deal will not impact the quality of the game on PlayStation platforms, or add PlayStation exclusives to the upcoming expansion Destiny 2: The Witch Queen.

Between the lines: Bungie was formerly a Microsoft acquisition, and the Halo series was a driving force for the original Xbox, thanks to the games' platform exclusivity.

• It wasn't until 2007 that Bungie became an independent studio again.
• In 2010, Bungie entered into a publishing agreement with Activision, which ended in 2019.

What they're saying: "In SIE, we have found a partner who unconditionally supports us in all we are and who wants to accelerate our vision to create generation-spanning entertainment, all while preserving the creative independence that beats in Bungie’s heart," Parsons said.

• "We've had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn't be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family," SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.

The NFT boom continues, as new game industry figures announced plans for collections and others walked back their commitments.

Driving the news: UK-based Worms creator and Team17 announced that it will sell NFT collectibles, called "MetaWorms," in partnership with Reality Gaming Group.

• According to a report from Eurogamer, however, some employees within the company were unaware of the upcoming initiative.
• "Others within Team17 were aware of the NFT collaboration after the deal was signed and voiced their disapproval of it — only for it to be announced anyway," Eurogamer reports.

The Last of Us voice actor Troy Baker walked back comments today he'd previously made about NFTs and partnership with VoiceVerseNFT.

• "After careful consideration, I’ve decided to not continue the partnership with VoiceVerseNFT. Intentions aside, I’ve heard you and apologize for accusing anyone of 'hating' just by simply disagreeing with me," the actor said on Twitter.
• Baker announced the collaboration Jan. 14 as a way to "explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP’s they create."
• "You can hate. Or you can create. What’ll it be?" the actor tweeted, to instant upheaval from fans.

The big picture: Game companies and industry figures continue to plunge into the NFT scene, but the backlash from fans continues to be swift and brutal.

• Companies like GSC Game World have immediately reversed their stance on NFTs.

It's Q&A day, where we answer reader questions. Reply to this email to send us yours.

Q: How do you deal with game burnout? Single-player games feel so repetitive and tedious. I feel like I’ve lost the sense of excitement with most new games today and even older ones I used to love playing.

A: I empathize with this so much, especially as I get older and my free time gets more complicated. I have a few different approaches here.

• I break up what I'm playing by making sure to dig into wildly different games — especially when it comes to balancing out a AAA title vs. a smaller indie one. I've found that it's soothing to take a break from a long game with something that only lasts a few hours.
• Take a break. I mean months, if you have to. When I'm sick of games, I start to catch up on shows I want to watch, or I read more. Getting into different mediums and engaging with stories in different ways keeps me from getting too bored or burned out, and it helps rekindle that spark between me and a good game.
• If you have an exercise bike or some way to incorporate movement into your gaming time, do it. I have a teeny bike I pedal on while I'm playing a video game, which not only incentivizes both — if I want to work out, it's a good time to play games, or if I want to play games, I should also work out — but also gives me a smug sense of superiority. What's better than that?

🌟 The next Game Devs of Color Expo will take place online Sept. 15-18, organizers announced today.

📺 A TV adaptation of action-adventure game American McGee’s Alice is in development from X-Men writer David Hayter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

🏎️ Sony's State of Play this Wednesday will be a 30-minute presentation kicking off at 5pm ET focused on Gran Turismo 7.

🎮 The live-action Halo TV show arrives March 24 on Paramount Plus; the announcement came with a new trailer.

• Who Really Got Rich From the GameStop Revolution? (Spencer Jakab, WSJ)

Some of those small-time investors did make money as WallStreetBets ballooned from fewer than 2 million members at the start of January 2021 to more than 11 million. One was Keith Gill, aka “Roaring Kitty,” who became a hero to Reddit users while personally earning tens of millions of dollars. And some on Wall Street fared poorly. Gabe Plotkin’s hedge fund Melvin Capital lost a whopping $6 billion in January 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported, and some other funds suffered heavy losses too.

When the smoke cleared, though, the popular image of tables being turned on America’s financiers wasn’t entirely accurate. Individual investors who bought GameStop this time a year ago and never sold are sitting on hefty losses.

The latest trailer for the upcoming Halo TV series gave us a release date, but more importantly, showed beloved AI Corta ... na? Girl, what happened?

I am by no means a Halo purist (my all-time favorite fact is that Master Chief smells), but the decision to ditch Cortana's blue holograph appearance is an interesting one.

Naturally, fans have some thoughts.

It's not that her more humanized appearance is bad, it's not! It's just that she looks like she'd like to sell me a Peloton.

One silver lining: Cortana is still voiced by her original actress, Jen Taylor.