Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media brought the total number of first party studios in the Xbox Game Studios portfolio to 23, and even before that, they’d been making waves with a number of major acquisitions, adding the likes of Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games, inXile Entertainment, Double Fine Productions, and more to their lineup.
Microsoft has explicitly mentioned before that it has no intention of stopping its acquisitions spree anytime soon, and Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty has reiterated that once more. Speaking during briefing to media and analysts this week (via VGC), Booty expressed that Microsoft is “committed to building a diverse collection of studios that deliver a predictable pipeline of high-quality games” and “creating games that generate excitement, anticipation, and engagement with our fans”, and that for those purposes, going out and buying new studios is something that will remain central to Microsoft’s strategy.
“We are growing our studios organisation through acquisition,” Booty said. “We use a filter of ‘people, teams and ideas’ to keep us disciplined. People that we have relationships with, teams who have delivered games through both success and have seen some adversity, and studios that have a proven track record of new ideas.
“The support that we get from the company has enabled us to acquire smaller studios like Tim Schaefer’s Double Fine, mid-size studios like Obsidian, and of course, industry giants like Bethesda.”
Booty went on to say that Microsoft wants to deliver at least one new first party game every quarter, and as such, they will continue to buy more studios as Xbox Game Pass grows.
“Games take up to four or five years to make, and the reality is that not every project we start will make it to launch,” he said. “But if you add all that up, that’s how we’ve gotten to our state today, with two dozen studios making games across a variety of genres.
“And we know that a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content. So our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows.”
A recent rumour suggested that Microsoft might announce another new studio acquisition at its E3 2021 event on June 13. Read more on that through here.