Some interesting details are coming to light as part of Microsoft’s preliminary injunction with the FTC regarding its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In 2021, it prepared a merger and acquisition document for potential studios and publishers to purchase. Before that, in a December 2019 email, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said the company was “in a very unique position to be able to go spend Sony out of business.”
As revealed by The Verge, Booty wanted to spend $2 to $3 billion to prevent the competition from getting ahead in content. “It is practically impossible for anyone to start a new video streaming service at scale at this point.” Regarding its competitors, he said, “In games, Google is 3 to 4 years away from being able to have a studio up and running. Amazon has shown no ability to execute on game content.
“Content is the one moat that we have, in terms of 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.”
In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft GM of public affairs David Cuddy said, “This email is three and a half years old and predates the announcement of our acquisition by 25 months. It refers to industry trends we never pursued and is unrelated to the acquisition.”
Interestingly, Microsoft even thought of going back on releasing first-party titles day and date on Game Pass. Booty wasn’t enthusiastic about this. “If we reverse course on day and date, it’s going to be hard to convince folks that things like Mixer or xCloud have much of a chance of surviving scrutiny, either.” Mixer would shut down, but at least xCloud is thriving in delivering cloud-based gaming experiences on Game Pass.
Time will tell what other information will emerge from the injunction. Thus far, we’ve learned that Microsoft also wanted to acquire Sega and Bungie and that IO Interactive’s fantasy RPG Project Dragon will be exclusive to Xbox Series X/S and PC. Bethesda VP Pete Hines also said the pitch for MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones title made anyone who heard it go, “‘I have to play that game right now.'”
