Microsoft considered purchasing Bungie and Sega

More information has come out from the FTC vs Microsoft hearing and it looks like at one point Microsoft considered acquiring Bungie and Sega to bolster Xbox Game Pass. An email revealed this that included Xbox chief, Phil Spencer who sent an email to CEO Satya Nadella and Amy Hood, Microsoft CFO which requests to approach Sega Sammy about potentially acquiring Sega Gaming Studios.

“I’m writing to request a Strategy Approval to approach Sega Sammy regarding a potential acquisition of their Sega gaming studios” Phil Spencer asked in the email.

Microsoft’s vision was that a Sega acquisition would bring more Xbox Game Pass subscribers across PC, Cloud, Mobile and Console.

Along with Sega, Microsoft had other companies on their list to potentially acquire and one of them was Bungie which is now owned by Sony. The list also included Zynga, Thunderful, IO Interactive, Niantic and a couple others.

It remains to be seen how serious these conversations got, but there were rumors at the time that Microsoft was interested in both Sega and Bungie, but it was shot down saying it was false. Bungie, the creators of Halo, Destiny and bringing back Marathon would’ve been a strong addition to the Xbox Game Studios once again. Before going on their own, Bungie was owned by Microsoft up until the release of Halo: Reach where 343 Industries took over toward the end of its life.

IO Interactive is another that was on the final watchlist in 2021 who are the masterminds behind Hitman. It was clear Microsoft had a great vision for mobile gaming with a company like Zynga on the list as well.

Source: The Verge