The last several years have seenXboxadd 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, whichXbox head Phil Spencercontinues 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 blockXbox’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.
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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 toMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadellaand 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 asPersonaandYakuza, 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 recentlyannounced anotherPersona 5spin-off,Persona 5 Tactica.
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 ultimatelyacquired by Sonyfor roughly $3.6 billion in July 2022, bringing with it theDestinyseries and recently announcedMarathonreboot.
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