Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella, has told CNet that his company is open to more acquisitions because it’s easier than building a video game studio from scratch.
“You can’t wake up one day and say, ‘Let me build a game studio,'” said Nadella. “The idea of having content is so we can reach larger communities.” Xbox boss Phil Spencer added that content is an “incredible ingredient” for Microsoft that the company will “continue to invest in.” “This doubles the size of our creative organization,” he added.
Microsoft has long been criticized for Xbox One’s lack of system-selling software. For Sony, this generation has been marked by a large number of award-winning exclusive games, whereas Xbox One’s exclusive lineup remains scant. However, Microsoft is known to have a financial advantage over Sony, and there have been rumblings about major acquisitions in the works for a while now.
“We’ll always look for places where there is that commonality of purpose, mission and culture,” Nadella continued. “We will always look to grow inorganically where it makes sense.”
ZeniMax Media’s acquisition shook the industry this week. The sheer number of talented studios and IPs now under Microsoft’s wing certainly puts the Xbox Series X in a strong position going forward. For its part, Sony has reportedly been securing major third-party deals behind the scenes, one of which was revealed to be Final Fantasy XVI as a timed exclusive for the PlayStation 5.
Time will tell if Sony has a response to Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax or not.
[Source: CNet]
