CMA: Microsoft Bought Studios To Acquire Talent, Not Hoard Games

The CMA has made an interesting observation when it came to Microsoft’s acquisition of other game companies and studios prior to Activision Blizzard King.

In page 11 of the document titled Addendum to Provisional Findings, they had this to say (edited for clarity):

“In light of the significant change in the lifetime value model, we also reassessed the evidence of Microsoft’s acquisition of other studios.

We confirmed that most of these were, in effect, acquisitions of talent. The majority of studios that Microsoft has acquired (with some notable exceptions such as Bethesda) did not have regular releases of popular gaming franchises available on different platforms.

As such, Microsoft did not have to decide whether to make multiplatform games with a large customer base exclusive to Xbox following these acquisitions; it acquired those studios with the specific purpose of making exclusive games for its platform.”

Microsoft’s studio acquisitions run the gamut when it comes to size, genre, etc. They also did not feel the need to stick to these studios for their game ideas, as they have done work with outside studios many times.

But to briefly review, the studios Microsoft owns includes:

Rare – one time the developer of the Banjo-Kazooie games, now the main developer for Sea of Thieves

Mojang – still the main studio and steward of the Minecraft franchise

Ninja Theory – the studio behind upcoming game Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Obsidian Entertainment – currently working on The Outer Worlds 2

It can definitely be said that all these studios made popular and well regarded games. But they aren’t quite at the level of Call of Duty. Well, I’ll give you Minecraft, but even that game isn’t particularly known to fuel console rivalries, as it’s a more recent multiplatform title.

But what the CMA saw is that Microsoft’s acquisitions were not about making a moneyhat warchest, as much as it was about diversifying what kinds of developers Microsoft owned, and consequently, diversifying what kinds of first party games were being made for the console.

But what’s the point of having many different kinds of games? Let me put it this way. They may get gamers who bought that Xbox One for one bigger game, but will stick around for the smaller games they like. That could be a gamer who wants to play Diablo IV now, but also has a budding interest in Forza Horizon or Hellblade too.

It’s an organic way to get gamers to choose Xbox, but it was also clearly something meant to build up to their larger acquisitions.