Xbox is still open to more acquisitions: ‘We definitely want to be in the market’

videogameschronicle.com:

Xbox is open to further developer acquisitions in the near future, Microsoft‘s gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said.

Microsoft has been one of the most active gaming companies in the merger and acquisition space in recent years, most notably landing the$69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

And speaking in a new interview with Bloomberg, Phil Spencer signalled that the platform holder hadn’t ended its spending spree, though he claimed that no deals were close.

According to the publication, Spencer said he was interested in deals that may add “geographic diversity” such as studios in Asia, and that he was also interested in buying another mobile company to add to those acquired in the Activision Blizzard deal.

“We definitely want to be in the market, and when we can find teams and technology and capability that add to what we’re trying to do in gaming at Microsoft, absolutely we will keep our heads up,” Spencer said.

However, he also noted that no deals were “imminent”, and any that may be agreed are unlikely to be of the scale of last year’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, given that Microsoft is still spending time absorbing those employees.

Spencer also identified China as a potential source of acquisitions, with Bloomberg noting that Age of Empires Mobile, released last month, was a collaboration with Tencent.

“It’s been a good area for us to learn from creative teams that have real unique capability,” Spencer explained. “The real opportunity is to partner with creative teams in China for global.”

Last month Microsoftreported a major jump in revenue for its Xbox division during its first fiscal quarter. For the three months ended September 30, 2024, gaming revenue was up 43% year-over-year, with all of the growth attributed to the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft announced in January that 1,900 staff would be laid off across Activision Blizzard, Bethesda and Xbox. At the time, Phil Spencer claimed that the decision to cut