Microsoft considered buying Bungie and Sega to “accelerate” Game Pass

Court documents have revealed that in 2020, Xbox leadership wanted Microsoft to make an acquisition bid for Sega, while a “watchlist” also marked the likes of Bungie, IO Interactive, and Niantic as studios to consider buying.

Currently, Microsoft is in court to defend its proposed £50billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is fighting to block.

As part of the case, a number of internal emails from Microsoft have been unearthed. This includes an email sent from Xbox head Phil Spencer in 2020, which requests approval to “approach Sega Sammy regarding a potential acquisition of their Sega Gaming studios” (via The Verge).

Sent to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood, Spencer claimed he was “supportive” of the purchase due to the benefits it would offer Xbox’s Game Pass service.

“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,” wrote Spencer. “Sega is the most attractive next acquisition target due to its global PC catalogue, presence on mobile in Asia, and global brand affinity on console through its classic IP.”

Meanwhile, a 2021 slide documenting Microsoft’s “final watchlist” also revealed the company considered buying Destiny 2 developer Bungie — now owned by Sony — and mobile giant Zynga, which Take-Two Interactive bought for £9.3billion last year.

Another six companies were also listed in the document, including Pokémon Go creator Niantic, Hades developer Supergiant Games, and Hitman studio IO Interactive.

Also listed were mobile developers Playrix and Scopely, along with Thunderful — the publisher behind Cursed To Golf, The Gunk, and Planet Of Lana.

While it’s unclear what ultimately happened to these potential acquisitions, Thunderful recently told NME that “working with Xbox and Microsoft has been instrumental in [its] go-to market strategy for Planet Of Lana“.