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Microsoft was interested in acquiring gaming titans such as Sega, Bungie, and Niantic in recent years, according to court filings from the ongoing FTC trial involving Xbox parent company Activision Blizzard. According to the emails obtained by The Verge, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer wrote to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the company's CFO Amy Hood in November 2020, asking strategy clearance to contact Sega Sammy — well known for Sonic the Hedgehog games — for a prospective game studio purchase. Microsoft is presently attempting to persuade the court that its $69 billion (about Rs. 5,65,845 crore) acquisition of Call of Duty creator Activision Blizzard is advantageous to gaming. Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is attempting to prevent it.
"We believe that Sega has built a well-balanced portfolio of games across segments with global geographic appeal, and will help us accelerate Xbox Game Pass both on and off-console," Spencer writes in a 2020 email, according to The Verge. He went on to say that because Sega is a publicly listed Japanese firm, there are certain 'deal difficulties,' though it's unclear whether Nadella shares his enthusiasm for the acquisition. Spencer was also interested in the acquisition because of the company's position in the Asian mobile gaming industry. As previously stated, Microsoft had other targets in mind, including Bungie, the creators of Halo and Destiny, and Niantic, the minds behind Pokémon GO, as disclosed in a 2021 internal merger evaluation document.
According to rumours from September 2020, Microsoft attempted to purchase Bungie many times, but the transaction fell through owing to "high price." At the time, Bungie's current CEO, Pete Parsons, merely stated that the claims were incorrect. It's possible they were merely referring to the pricing, but Bungie did depart from Microsoft in 2007, becoming an independent corporation. Last year, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) purchased the Destiny developer. According to the docs, Microsoft aimed to safeguard the Destiny IP and community while merging its live operations infrastructure under Xbox Game Studios. The game was also noteworthy for having the most 'highest hours' of gaming on Game Pass. The docs also cited Hades developer Supergiant Games and Hitman reboot maker IO Interactive.
Microsoft said late last week that the next generation of game consoles — the Xbox Series S/X successor and the PlayStation 6 — will be available in 2028. Xbox maintains that it is prepared to enter into a 10-year arrangement to assure that Activision's largest title, Call of Duty, gets published on PlayStation platforms at the same time. Sony has failed to reply to the offer, but if accepted, the term would extend beyond the 2028 release window, allowing COD to thrive on the PS6 as well. Team Green also confessed that it has essentially given up fighting in the current console battles and will instead focus on producing excellent products and expanding the reach of Xbox Game Pass to more gamers.