One of the most surprising reasons for Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax in 2020 was that the company was rumored to be considering acquiring Electronic Arts, reuniting with Bungie, and/or acquiring a major Japanese publisher. As it turns out, the latter two are actually true.
The Verge’s usually very reliable Tom Warren revealed that Xbox chief Phil Spencer asked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood to allow a deal to begin working with Microsoft in November 2020. Sega enters acquisition talks. He even proved it in an internal email, in which Spencer pointed out Sega:
“Having built a balanced portfolio of games across segments with global geographic appeal, and will help us accelerate Xbox Game Pass both on and off console.
Not that Microsoft stopped there. An internal merger review document from April 2021 also listed former first-party studio Bungie, IO Interactive’s Hitman and 007 developers, and mobile giant Zynga as other companies that Xbox Game Studios is serious about acquiring.
An interesting trio, as Bungie is now a PlayStation studio, Zynga was acquired by Take-Two last year, and IO Interactive is working on a fantasy game that’s set to be an Xbox console exclusive, at least initially. Negotiations with Sega didn’t go as planned either, but at least we’re getting more games from Japanese publishers on Xbox and Game Pass these days.
Would you prefer any of these to or besides Activision Blizzard King?