Microsoft wanted to spend Sony out of business in order to strengthen the XBOX

Microsoft and SEGA: How to deal with the Sonic Pooh problem in a game platform? A question for Microsoft and Booty at the Game Pass 2020 hearing

Internal documents from a hearing show that Microsoft was considering acquisitions of both games publisher Bungie and Japanese game publisher SEGA. Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox, wrote to both Microsoft CEOs asking them to approve a strategy to approach Sonic the Pooh over a potential acquisition of its gaming studios.

Spencer wrote in an email in November 2020 that he thought that there’s a well-balanced portfolio of games that will help him accelerate the Xbox Game Pass.

IO Interactive was a part of the “Final List” in 2021, alongside mobile companies like Supergiant Games and Playrix. Microsoft was in talks to acquire Zynga before it ultimately turned its attention toward Activision Blizzard for its mobile ambitions (Zynga was eventually acquired by Take-Two). It is not clear if the other companies had any talks with Microsoft.

“We (Microsoft) are in a very unique position to be able to go spend Sony out of business,” said Booty, referencing spending $2 billion or $3 billion in 2020 to avoid competitors getting ahead in content at a later date.

3 to 4 years from now, you can’t play games in a studio if you don’t have one. There is no ability for Amazon to execute on game content. Content is one of the main assets that we have, it’s a catalog that runs on current devices and capability to create new. Sony is really the only other player who could compete with Game Pass and we have a 2 year and 10 million subs lead.

Game Pass vs. Xbox Game Pass: a Reversed Way of Reversing on Day and Date in a Game-Changing Environment

The email is part of a thread discussing Xbox Game Pass, with the rest of the chain redacted. Apparently, Microsoft was considering reverting to the day and date releases of its own games on Game Pass, something Booty wasn’t happy about. It will be hard for people to believe that things like xCloud have any chance of surviving scrutiny if we reverse course on day and date.