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Xbox Boss Refutes Reports That They're Trying To Acquire Japanese Devs

Rolla

Banned
According to a new report by Bloomberg, the US company has been eyeing Japanese studios for potential acquisition, looking to bolster its lineup despite Xbox historically underperforming in Japan. However, in an interview with GameSpot, Xbox boss Phil Spencer says that, as far as he knows, this isn't true.

"I don't think so... I mean, I'm not in every meeting that every team has, but I'll say not from me," Spencer says.

 

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
He can’t speak on it even if they were.

He does not need to answer a question he can't answer. He'd simply decline to.

There was a report somewhere saying MS is rumoured to do a partnership with Tecmo/Koei. Not an outright buy out.

No. There was not. KT simply says they'd be willing to release more games for Xbox if Microsoft keeps the interest up for Japanese games. Nothing more.
 
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Javthusiast

Banned
bee204a4d8d0e64f0820d83ebf90977c--quick-meme-dog-memes.jpg
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
He is clearly saying that because they already bought Sega and are announcing it later. They aren't getting anymore Japanese devs after this...duh!
 

spons

Gold Member
Not really surprising considering they've already thrown around billions in dollars acquiring companies. Somewhere along the line you have to make some profit on this shit, and they've likely seen from their own data that Japanese games probably don't sell Xboxes.

I do wonder how xCloud on Game Pass Ultimate fits into this. When it matures I am sure they'll get games on and for this service and not just to sell devices, so you'll have people without any Xbox device paying for Game Pass.
 

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
Not the first time he makes up stuff covering his ass with the "anonymous sources" disclaimer.
I wonder if at Bloomberg they are taking notice of the situation...

Bloomberg just cares about the money all the clickbait makes them, unfortunately.
 
Is there any actual on the ground evidence of this happening? What single shred of fact did the first rumor even purport to have? I'd like to know. Also knowing Microsoft and Zenimax, they can keep such things super secret until the moment they announce. So I'm not saying there are not in talks to acquire Japanese dev, just that they are good at keeping such a thing very secret.

So this is from the Bloomberg article:

On top of that, there’s evidence Microsoft is seeking to make acquisitions in the country, though it hasn’t yet landed a deal with a big name there. Several Japan-based game developers, from small to big, said it had approached them about buying their businesses. They asked not to be identified as the talks were private, and declined to give details on how the discussions went.

Not a single source provided. Typical modern journalisming.
 
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lock2k

Banned
Why would he admit something like that? It would be incredibly stupid.

I work at a big corporation and the first rule we have is "never comment/confirm future plans, acquisitions, endeavors, etc."
 

OuterLimits

Member
Kind of a weak denial to be honest. Lol. Basically "Well, I'm personally not doing that, I don't think others are, but they could be. I don't know. I could have missed that team meeting".
 

ZehDon

Member
... "I don't think so... I mean, I'm not in every meeting that every team has, but I'll say not from me," Spencer says.
The Head of Xbox doesn't know for certain if Xbox is planning Japanese acquisitions? Hmm, that doesn't feel likely. I think, if its happening, its more likely Matt Booty is handling it, and Spencer can deploy "its not from me" line without actually lying.
 

LectureMaster

Gold Member
Damn the Bloomberg reports are all over the place recently .

I guess it isn't an easy cause for MS. I remember phil went to Japan to make big deals but only secured DQ11S and Yakuza for their console.
 
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