Microsoft will continue to buy more game development studios, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event on Monday, Spencer said Microsoft will “definitely” buy more studios, though there is no timeline for when the deals might happen.
“We’re definitely not done,” Spencer said, as reported by Tom Warren. “There’s no quota, no timeline where I have to go acquire studios by a certain time, but if we find a studio where we have a good fit… absolutely.”
Phil Spencer on Xbox Game Studios acquisitions @WSJ Tech Live: “We’re definitely not done. There’s no quota, no timeline where I have to go acquire studios by a certain time, but if we find a studio where we have a good fit… absolutely.”
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) October 18, 2021
Spencer didn’t give any indication as to what studios Xbox might be looking at to acquire, but he has said Microsoft wants to buy another Japanese studio.
Microsoft’s last big gaming acquisition was ZeniMax/Bethesda, which it paid $7.5 billion to buy. Microsoft now has 23 game development studios spread across the world, working on a variety of projects.
For its part, Sony has been buying up studios of late, too. In 2021 alone, Sony has acquired four studios, including Bluepoint, Firesprite, Nixxes, and Housemarque.
Also during the interview, Spencer addressed the rumors that Xbox Game Pass has reached 30 million subscribers. He downplayed the rumor, instead pointing to the 18 million figure that Xbox announced in January.
No doubt the number of Game Pass subscribers has increased since then, but Microsoft likely won’t share a new number until it wants to–perhaps at the Microsoft earnings on October 26.
In other news, 2021 is the 20th anniversary of Xbox, and Microsoft has a lot of celebrations in store.
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