Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has made it clear that Microsoft remains interested in gaming acquisitions.
Microsoft made history in the gaming industry when it completed its massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard King for $69 billion. While this transaction took a long time to close, it was a continuation of the corporation that had previously purchased ZeniMax Media, including Bethesda and all of its subsidiaries.
Currently, the company is primarily focused on absorbing Activision Blizzard employees across its business, but Spencer says it is still looking at other acquisitions in the future. “We definitely want to be in the market, and when we can find the teams, the technology, and the capabilities that add to what we’re trying to achieve in gaming at Microsoft, we’ll absolutely have no hesitation,” he said in an interview Bloomberg.
He added that deals that augment “geographic diversity” could be profitable, as could potentially another mobile development company. Microsoft is apparently eyeing talent in China after working with Tencent to bring Age of Empires to mobile devices. Spencer comments, however, that nothing is “inevitable.”
“It was a good area for us to learn from creative teams that have really unique capabilities,” Spencer said. “The real opportunity is to collaborate with creative teams in China on a global scale.”
Of course, if and when Microsoft plans to acquire more studios or publishers, it could have a domino effect on PS5 and PS4 users; anything produced under the company’s umbrella may not be ported to Sony hardware. This attitude toward exclusivity appears to be changing, however, at least on Xbox, with several first-party titles arriving earlier this year and Bethesda’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle set to arrive on PS5 next spring.
Speaking of which, the interview also touches on cross-platform releases of Microsoft’s games, with Spencer not ruling out any existing first-party games being released on PlayStation formats.