Updated:The document also shows that Microsoft had planned to acquire Square Enix, also to promote the growth of the Xbox Game Pass business.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission accused Microsoft of violating market monopoly in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.Proposed to acquire Japanese game company SEGA.
Documents show that Xbox head Phil Spencer wrote to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood, suggesting that Microsoft acquire SEGA. The internal letter, sent in November 2020, stated that Spencer believed SEGA's portfolio of games was popular globally and would help drive growth for the Xbox Game Pass business.
Since SEGA also has famous works such as "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Dragon Among Us", which are not only popular in the Asian market, but also attract many gamers in Europe and the United States, Phil Spencer expects that the acquisition of SEGA will help increase the richness of Xbox games and meet the gaming needs of players in various regions of the world.
However, Microsoft did not make any subsequent preparations to acquire SEGA. Instead, it acquired Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard for US$678 billion.
Prior to this, Microsoft had also considered acquiring Nintendo. It also planned to acquire Bungie, which created "Halo" and "Destiny" in the early days and was later bought by Sony. IO Interactive, which launched the "Assassin's Creed" series, and Zynga, which launched many small games and was acquired by Take-Two Interactive, were also on Microsoft's list of acquisition targets.
