Sony Corp. this week said it will acquire Bungie, developer of Halo and Destiny franchises, for $3.6 billion.

The studio will join Sony Interactive Entertainment but is said to remain an independent, multi-platform studio and game publisher.

Bungie developed Halo: Combat Evolved and subsequent sequels for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox console between 2001 and 2010. In 2010, it announced a 10-year publishing deal with Activision Blizzard Inc. Under the agreement, Activision Blizzard published Destiny in 2014 and Destiny 2 in 2017.

Microsoft in Jan. said it would acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.