Microsoft Once Considered Buying Sega and Bungie
In recent years, Xbox has added several big-name developers, including Obsidian and Bethesda, to its roster of first-party studios. However, new court documents have revealed that the company could have seen Sega and Bungie under its umbrella. The ongoing litigation involving the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft’s attempts to acquire Activision Blizzard brought these plans to light. Xbox head Phil Spencer continues to emphasize Xbox Game Pass as a key part of the company’s future in the changing games space.
Microsoft is currently in the middle of ongoing hearings with the FTC, which filed to block Xbox’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in early June 2023. The proposed deal has been fighting a legal battle in the U.K. due to antitrust regulators blocking it earlier in 2023. As of this writing, the ongoing case could only intensify once Microsoft’s appeal process to the block begins in July. On the other side of the Atlantic, the FTC is arguing that the deal would give Xbox the ability to harm its competition in multiple areas, including console sales and subscription services.
Official court documents revealed that Xbox planned to further grow Xbox Game Studios with potential acquisitions of Sega and Bungie in 2020. Phil Spencer sent an email to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood, outlining why he believed the acquisitions would be beneficial and requesting permission to approach Sega with the proposal. It is unclear if Spencer ever officially reached out to executives at either company to discuss the possibility of joining Xbox Game Studios.
Phil Spencer argued that the library of IPs under Sega would provide another major boost to Xbox Game Pass. He added that the inclusion of “localized content,” such as Persona and Yakuza, would make the service more enticing to Asian markets. Sega reportedly remained a “high-priority target” for Xbox in the following years, while the studio seemingly continued on and recently announced another Persona 5 spin-off, Persona 5 Tactics.
Xbox’s proposed acquisition of Bungie would have seen a reunion of the two powers following the latter splitting from Microsoft in 2007. The Washington State-based developer had been a Microsoft-owned studio since 2000 and played a major role in the success of the Xbox console line with its marquee shooter franchise, Halo. However, the studio was ultimately acquired by Sony for roughly $3.6 billion in July 2022, bringing with it the Destiny series and recently announced Marathon reboot.
The Verge was the source of this information. (source)
The last several years have seen Xbox add several big-name developers to its roster of first-party studios, including Obsidian and Bethesda, and new court documents reveal the roster could have seen Sega and Bungie under Microsoft’s umbrella. It has specifically been the ongoing litigation involving the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft’s attempts to acquire Activision Blizzard which brought these plans to light. At the heart of these acquisitions has been Xbox Game Pass, which Xbox head Phil Spencer continues to emphasize as a key part of the company’s future in the changing games space.
Microsoft has been in the middle of ongoing hearings with the FTC, which filed to block Xbox’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in early June 2023. The proposed deal has already been fighting a legal battle in the U.K. due to antitrust regulators blocking it earlier in 2023, and, as of this writing, has been ongoing since May and could only intensify once Microsoft’s appeal process to the block begins in July. On the other side of the Atlantic, the FTC is arguing the deal would give Xbox the ability to harm its competition in multiple areas, including console sales and subscription services.
Following the start of Microsoft’s FTC hearings, official court documents were released which revealed some of the company’s plans to further grow Xbox Game Studios with potential acquisitions of Sega and Bungie in 2020. The documents included excerpts of an email from Phil Spencer to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood, outlining why he believed the acquisitions would be beneficial and requesting permission to approach Sega with the proposal. It is not known, though, if Spencer ever officially reached out to executives at either company to discuss the possibility of joining Xbox Game Studios.
In the case of Sega, Spencer argued the library of IPs under the Japanese gaming power would provide another major boon to the ever-growing list of titles available on Xbox Game Pass. He added the inclusion of “localized content,” such as Persona and Yakuzawould make the service more enticing to Asian markets. Sega reportedly remained a “high-priority target” for Xbox in the following years, while the studio seemingly continued on and recently announced another Persona 5 spin-off, Persona 5 Tactics.
Xbox’s proposed acquisition of Bungie, by comparison, would have seen a reunion of the two powers following the latter splitting from Microsoft in 2007. The Washington State-based developer had been a Microsoft-owned studio since 2000 and played a major role in the success of the Xbox console line with its marquee shooter franchise, Halo. However, the studio was ultimately acquired by Sony for roughly $3.6 billion in July 2022, bringing with it the Destiny series and recently announced Marathon reboot.
Source: The Verge
