Xbox has shifted focus to acquisitions to strengthen Game Pass and its gaming ecosystem. The gaming giant is currently in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard, marking the biggest merger in the gaming industry.
However, this has led to a court case against the FTC, which has also revealed plenty of interesting details that were previously hidden from the general public. Following various pieces of information, a new internal email from Microsoft provides more insight into its strategy from 2019.
According to the email, Xbox believed it could use its financial status to spend Sony out of business.
Why it matters: Microsoft is a much bigger company than Sony. This allows the gaming giant to make bigger acquisitions, and Matt Booty intended to use this advantage a few years ago.
Back in 2019, Microsoft was planning to spend up to $3 billion to prevent competitors like Sony from making strong third-party deals. Referencing this amount, Matt Booty said:
“We are in a unique position to go spend Sony out of business.”
This means Microsoft was ready to spend enough money, potentially becoming the only dominant force in the gaming industry. Following this statement, he clarified that Xbox wanted to avoid a situation where:
“Sony became the Disney of games and owned most of the valuable content.”
While this email seems concerning, Microsoft has come forward to address the situation. According to Matt Booty, Xbox did not go with this approach, and plans changed after 2019.
Currently, the gaming giant is busy improving its offerings with Game Pass. This includes various acquisitions and third-party deals, but nothing on a scale that would be a massive threat to PlayStation’s existence in the gaming industry.
Microsoft also argues that this email is not reflective of its aims with the Activision Blizzard merger.
Contrary to Microsoft’s intentions from a few years ago, Phil Spencer recently claimed that PlayStation uses revenue from Xbox games to make Xbox’s survival difficult.
Recent emails have also revealed that Xbox was considering several studios for acquisition before Activision Blizzard, potentially hinting at more acquisitions from the gaming giant after the $68.7 billion deal.
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