Xbox Boss Teases New Studio Acquisitions

We are in a merger and acquisitions era, and leading this has been Microsoft. The past few years, Xbox has been gobbling up studios and publishers, including the likes of Bethesda, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine Entertainment. If you thought Xbox is satisfied with what it has, it's not. Amidst rumors that it's looking at Sega, Square Enix, IO Interactive, Avalanche Studios, and Crystal Dynamics, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has teased that more acquisitions are always on the table.

Of course, Spencer doesn't go to divulge anything specific, but he notes there is no quota or timeline. If a deal makes sense for all parties, a deal will be made, a luxury afford to Spencer and his team thanks to the massive war chest Microsoft has.

"So we're always out there looking for people who we think would be a good match and teams that would be a good match with our strategy. So we're definitely not done. There's no quota. There's no kind of timeline where I have to go acquire studios by a certain time, but if we find a studio where we have a good fit, we share what we're trying to go do and what they're trying to go do, and if we feel we can both get better together, absolutely. "It's one of the privileges we have of being at Microsoft and having the capability to take a long-term approach, and adding amazing creators to the portfolios is an important part of that."

Of course, in addition to gobbling up IP and talent, one of the big appeals of acquiring studios is it's easier to buy a pre-existing studio than to build one from scratch. What's tricky though is managing these teams, especially if they have their own unique culture. To this end, Spencer is very happy with the business he and his team have done so far. 

"I'm really proud of some of the creators that have chosen to become part of Xbox," said Spencer. "So many of these creators, they have choice. If you look at some of the people we've acquired and partnered with, it's people we've had long-term relationships with, and they've come inside of Xbox now and they see our roadmap on platform and service, and I want them to be able to do their most amazing creative work as part of this team."

For now, it remains to be seen who Xbox will acquire next, but we wouldn't be very surprised if the next acquisition announcement happens before the end of the year.

H/T, VGC.