Microsoft have been aggressively acquiring new studios over the past year and a half, but even though they’ve said that they’ll be focusing more on delivering content with those studios rather than purchasing even more, they’ve also said that they’re not yet done with acquisitions either. And if a recent report is to be believed, Microsoft might be looking to add a Polish developer to the Xbox Game Studios lineup.
During his recent podcast, Polish filmmaker Borys Nieśpielak (who directed a documentary on indie game development called We Are Alright) said that Microsoft reps were recently in Poland, because the company is reportedly interested in new studios that they can purchase (translated by Twitter user S3V8). Nieśpielak said he knows for sure that Microsoft talked to at least one studio, but it’s not yet known known whether they have purchased anyone yet.
Of all the studios in Poland that pop into he head, there are at least a couple that we can rule out- one of them being CD Projekt, who have an absolutely massive valuation. There’s also Techland, who might not be as huge as CDPR, but is still a big company- they’d certainly a big get for Microsoft, but they also seem less likely to agree to an acquisitions.
There’s Bloober Team, the developers of Blair Witch and the Layers of Fear games and 11 bit Studios (Frostpunk), but apparently Microsoft doesn’t have a history of acquiring publicly traded companies. That would leave the likes of People Can Fly, The Astronauts, and The Farm 51- and of those, People Can Fly seem the likeliest partners for Microsoft, having already worked on Gears of War: Judgment.
If this is even true, that is. There’s no guarantees that it is, so for now, take with it a grain of salt. In related news though, head of Xbox Phil Spencer was recently talking about the possibility of more acquisitions in the future- and he apparently has his eye on Asian developers.