when Microsoft wants to aim for the very long term
Confidential documents reveal discussions between Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer and Microsoft pundits on the idea of a Nintendo takeover.
We know this thanks to confidential documents: Microsoft has considered numerous acquisitions in recent years. We can cite Bungie, Sega, Crytek or even IO Interactive, but also Nintendo.
The Japanese manufacturer, father of franchise like Mario Or Pokémonhas long been in the sights of the American giant, since the very beginnings of Xbox in fact.
In 2020, Microsoft covets the idea and is far from putting it aside. It would even be the giant’s dream target.
Play the long term
We owe these new indiscretions to a leak of uncensored documents on the sidelines of the trial between the FTC and Microsoft in the Activision Blizzard takeover case. This leak which has already allowed us to discover the next Xbox consoles planned for 2024 and even the next generation of Xbox console for 2028.
This time, it’s an exchange of emails between Phil Spencer, Chris Capossela and Takeshi Numoto, respectively heads of gaming, communications and marketing.
We can read that the acquisition of Nintendo by Microsoft would be “THE” absolute jewel for the group’s video game activity. According to Phil Spencer, however, we should not count on it immediately, because the Japanese manufacturer “ is sitting on a huge pile of cash “.
The boss of Xbox remains enthusiastic and believes that Microsoft must continue to work partnerships with Nintendo so that the two companies come closer: “ if an American company had a chance with Nintendo, we are probably best positioned “.
The takeover of Nintendo must therefore be “ played in the long term ” and Microsoft should definitely not consider the idea of a takeover ” hostile “. For Phil Spencer, achieving such a goal would be a “ career moment » and ends with his very personal opinion.
I honestly think it’s a good thing for both companies. It just takes Nintendo a long time to understand that its future doesn’t lie in its own hardware. A long moment… 🙂
Three buyouts at the same time
Still in this exchange dated 2020, we discover that Phil Spencer is then in discussions with Zenimax Bethesda, an acquisition which will be revealed several months later, and Warner Bros Games. He says he asked Satya Nadella, the boss of Microsoft, and Amy Hood, the financial director, if Microsoft should pause buyouts in video games.
It is important to understand: this email is sent a few days after Microsoft publicly positioned itself to buy TikTok. The answer reported by Phil Spencer is clear: “no”. He explains that carrying out three acquisitions at the same time would not pose a problem for Microsoft.
In the end, neither TikTok nor Warner Bros Games will be bought by Microsoft. For the latter, we can assume that the firm lost interest, because Warner Bros Games did not have ownership of the juicy licenses on which the studio is working: Harry Potter, Batman, Suicide Squadetc.
The publication of these confidential exchanges once again opens the window on the real ideas that Microsoft executives exchange internally, out of sight, and on their more or less long-term strategy. Don’t wait for the announcement of a takeover of Nintendo by Microsoft in the years to come. But in 15, 20 or 30 years, water will have flowed under the bridge and a merger of the two companies might no longer seem so strange.
