Microsoft Considered Buying Sega, Niantic, And Bungie To Bolster Game Pass And Mobile Business
Sega's game portfolio would have helped «accelerate Xbox Game Pass both on and off-console,» Xbox head Phil Spencer said in an email.
By Cameron Koch on
Microsoft over the past three years looked into potentially acquiring numerous gaming companies, including Sega, Bungie, and Niantic, internal documents have revealed. Microsoft hoped such acquisitions would bolster Game Pass and further expand the tech-giant's gaming audience.
Documents included as part of Microsoft's ongoing hearing with the Federal Trade Commission over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard (via The Verge) shine a light on all the companies Microsoft had looked to potentially acquire in recent years. One of the biggest was Sega, most well-known for Sonic the Hedgehog. In a November 2020 email, Microsoft gaming head Phil Spencer asked for a «strategy approval» from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Microsoft CFO Amy Hood to approach Sega about a potential acquisition.
«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 said in the email. He noted that as Sega is a publicly-traded Japanese company, there would be «deal complexities.» It's unclear if Nadella approved Spencer's request or how far any potential talks between Microsoft and Sega went.
But Sega was hardly the only company Microsoft had its eyes on for a potential acquisition. An internal company document from 2021 listed numerous other companies, including Destiny-developer Bungie (which was acquired by Sony in 2022), Pokemon GO-developer Niantic, mobile game giant Zynga (which was acquired by Take-Two in 2022), Hades-developer Supergiant Games, and
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