According to internal documents, Microsoft has been interested in acquiring other studios in addition to Activision Blizzard and Bethesda to expand its library in Game Pass. There have been significant acquisitions in the gaming industry in recent years.
We have seen Swedish holding company Embracer acquire development studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal from Square Enix, as well as the rights to “The Lord of the Rings“. Sega purchased the Finnish company Rovio, known for “Angry Birds”, and Microsoft acquired Bethesda, with Activision Blizzard in progress.
Now, the website The Verge reports that Microsoft attempted to acquire both Bungie (“Destiny”) and Sega (“Sonic the Hedgehog”, “Yakuza”) earlier, according to internal documents related to their attempts to acquire Activision.
In an email obtained by The Verge, Xbox head Phil Spencer writes to two colleagues to strategize a potential acquisition of Sega.
“We believe Sega has built a well-balanced portfolio of games with global geographic appeal that will help us accelerate Xbox Game Pass on and off the console,” he wrote in 2020.
Microsoft believed that Sega would boost Xbox Game Pass sales on PC, console, and cloud, as their franchises have “global appeal that can help Xbox Game Pass reach new audiences worldwide”.
It is unclear why the deal never materialized, but Sega was certainly an important potential purchase. The list of desired acquisitions also included Zynga, Bungie, and IO Interactive.
Swedish studios such as Paradox Interactive, Thunderful Games, Hazelight, and Fatshark were also on their shopping list.
However, Bungie, known for “Destiny” and the previous “Halo” series, is now owned by competitors Sony. One of the reasons Microsoft wanted to acquire Bungie was because “Destiny” was a game that players played the most on Game Pass.
