Sega, IO Interactive, Bungie & more were acquisition targets for Microsoft in 2021 (emails leaked claiming to ‘spend’ Sony out of business)

[Gizmo_Duck]

Microsoft was ready to “go spend Sony out of business” to strengthen Xbox

A key email in the FTC v. Microsoft case

www.theverge.com

SEGA gaming studios from SEGA Sammy, Thunderful, Supergiant Games, Niantic, Playrix, Zynga, Bungie, IO Interactive, and Scopely are named as pitches from Spencer to senior leadership.

An internal April 2021 merger review still had SEGA listed as a key target.

Microsoft believed a Sega acquisition would drive Xbox Game Pass subscriptions across PC, console, and cloud. “The global appeal of Sega’s beloved IP will help expand Xbox Game Pass’s reach to new audiences around the world, most notably in Asia, where localized content is critical to success,” said Spencer in his pitch to Nadella and Hood at the time. Sega would also offer game transactions value for monetization opportunities in the future.

Bungie, a now Sony-owned studio, was on the list, with Microsoft’s internal document stating that the “acquisition of Bungie will include securing valuable IP, Destiny (and its community) and integration of its dev & live ops infrastructure into Xbox Game Studios.” Microsoft had identified a “high burn-rate” risk for Bungie, alongside NetEase’s $100 million minority stake investment in 2018. It also noted that Destiny was one of the “highest hours generating titles on console Game Pass.”

Hitman developer IO Interactive was also on the “final watchlist” in 2021, alongside mobile companies like Thunderful, Supergiant Games, Niantic, Playrix, and Zynga. Microsoft was in talks to acquire Zynga before it ultimately turned its attention toward Activision Blizzard for its mobile ambitions (Zynga was eventually acquired by Take-Two). It’s not clear if Microsoft held any talks with the other mobile-focused companies.

I guess after they went in on Activision they just figured they could still get the same amount of usefulness out of Sega just doing marketing deals

 

[FromStLouis]

And since then Sega has spun off its pachinko arcades and bought the mobile studio that makes Angry Birds.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

And since then Sega has spun off its pachinko arcades and bought the mobile studio that makes Angry Birds.

Yeah, wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft acquire them tbh

 

[The Mad Titan]

I 100 percent knew about Sega


edit: in fact the door isn't closed

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I 100 percent knew about Sega


edit: in fact the door isn't closed

This is why regulation is needed, thats why i dont get people acting like what the CMA and FTC are doing is unfair.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

This is why regulation is needed, thats why i dont get people acting like what the CMA and FTC are doing is unfair.

#shambles

 

[ORDER_66]

why didnt they buy bungie when they had the chance???

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

it goes deeeeeper

Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios chief, Matt Booty, was encouraging Xbox CFO Tim Stuart to spend big money on acquiring game content in 2019 to set the company up to battle Sony in subscriptions. The revelation comes in an email thread that's part of the FTC v. Microsoft hearing.

"We (Microsoft) are in a very unique position to be able to go spend Sony out of business," said Booty, referencing spending $2 billion or $3 billion in 2020 to avoid competitors getting ahead in content at a later date.

"It is practically impossible for anyone to start a new video streaming service at scale at this point," said Booty, referencing competitors like Google, Amazon, and Sony. Booty described content as a moat and that only Sony could really compete with Game Pass:

The email is part of a thread discussing Xbox Game Pass, with the rest of the chain redacted. But it looks like Microsoft was considering reversing the idea of day and date releases of its own games on Xbox Game Pass in 2019 — something Booty wasn't happy about. "If we reverse course on day and date, it's going to be hard to convince folks that things like Mixer or xCloud have much of a chance of surviving scrutiny either," he said.

Microsoft was ready to “go spend Sony out of business” to strengthen Xbox

A key email in the FTC v. Microsoft case

www.theverge.com

This is the type of time Microsoft been on, but its unfair what the CMA are doing @Alan Johnson

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

This is why regulation is needed, thats why i dont get people acting like what the CMA and FTC are doing is unfair.

The allure of Game Pass is clouding people's judgement.

 

[Bryan Danielson]

This is why regulation is needed, thats why i dont get people acting like what the CMA and FTC are doing is unfair.

No regulation

Make
American
Gaming
Great
Again

MAGGA

 

[ALonelyDad]

why didnt they buy bungie when they had the chance???

Bungie wanted to be on all platforms, even after the purchase

 

[MeachTheMonster]

it goes deeeeeper

Microsoft was ready to “go spend Sony out of business” to strengthen Xbox

A key email in the FTC v. Microsoft case

www.theverge.com

This is the type of time Microsoft been on, but its unfair what the CMA are doing @Alan Johnson

to avoid a situation where Tencent, Google,
Amazon or even Sony have become the Disney of games and own most of the valuable content."

Everybody buying shyt. Would be silly for microsoft to just sit and watch when they got all the money.

 

[The Mad Titan]

This is why regulation is needed, thats why i dont get people acting like what the CMA and FTC are doing is unfair.

I'm all for regulation if ALL 3rd party games from 3rd party publishers come to all systems/devices that want them

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

The allure of Game Pass is clouding people's judgement.

Yep, they know what they’re doing. They are clouding peoples judgement with “free games” but making big anti-competitive moves behind the scenes under the guise of “nice guy phil” its wild that its working

If it werent for these emails leaking stans would continue to gaslight you about it though lol

 

[levitate]

The Sega attempt was basically known when MS announced that trash ass “Partnership” with Sega a while back. shyt reeked of “Damn, they rejected our acquisition offer, but at least they gave us this trash ass “Partnership””