After $69 Billion Acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Here’s 4 Other Companies Where Microsoft Can Spend Big
After acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is on its search for potential investments that will give this tech behemoth more exposure in gaming.
- It's been a year since Activision Blizzard merged with Microsoft.
- Once again, Phil Spencer expressed the company's plans to expand its business by investing money in other companies.
- We have listed some potential names that will be suitable for Microsoft to expand its gaming base.
Microsoft is trying to expand its business, just like almost all the big organizations, in order to become more profitable. This is a general tendency in the business world. Therefore, as a tech behemoth, Microsoft’s trying to acquire smaller companies to expand its business is understandable.
In recent years, one of the biggest spends that Microsoft did was to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2023. It was a $69 billion investment, which has marked a new milestone in the gaming world. It’s been a year already, but until this point, Phil Spencer and co. haven’t yet absorbed the entire employee capacity of Activision Blizzard. However, still, Microsoft is eyeing new investments.
Microsoft Wants to Expand Its Gaming Territory Further in the Coming Years
This year, Xbox has received multiple renowned games, and according to some reports, the Xbox controllers have been doing great in recent years. However, this has not satisfied the Microsoft Gaming boss, Phil Spencer. He has further plans to expand the business to make Microsoft a much bigger foundation in the gaming world.
According to his latest interview with Bloomberg, Phil Spencer expressed that the company wants to go for deals that will add geographical diversity. Therefore, they would like to expand their empire in Asia and other continents as well.
As per his statement,
“We definitely want to be in the market, and when we can find teams and technology and capability that add to what we’re trying to do in gaming at Microsoft, absolutely we will keep our heads up.”
The gaming boss of Microsoft wants to take some inspiration from China as to how teams work there to make games. “It’s been a good area for us to learn from creative teams that have a real unique capability,” he expressed and mentioned it would be great to get an opportunity to work in partnership with any Chinese developer team to develop a game.
This highlights that Microsoft has further plans to spend money on different companies to bring some excellent games for Xbox games in the future. Though Spencer didn’t mention any company they are eyeing, below we have listed the top 4 potential companies that Microsoft may partner with.
1. Electronic Arts
When it comes to sports simulation games, Electronic Arts is almost unbeatable. EA Sports gaming series, including NFL, MLB, EA Sports FC, and UFC, are some of the most popular gaming series that players wait for throughout the year. Whether one considers the popularity of these games or sales, these won’t disappoint in any way.
Aside from that, Electronic Arts has different other franchises like Titanfall, Dead Space, The Sims, etc., which deliver hit games whenever new installments appear. Therefore, spending money on EA and becoming a partner will be a massively profitable deal for a giant company like Microsoft. Additionally, this partnership may help Spencer get some Xbox-exclusive games from EA.
2. SEGA
Now that Phil Spencer and co. are trying to expand their gaming business, focusing on some companies making JRPGs won’t be a bad idea. SEGA is one of the biggest and most successful Japanese game developer and publisher companies, with several immensely popular franchises in possession, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat 3, Bayonetta, etc.
Spending some money in this company and becoming a partner will help Microsoft gain some talented Japanese developers and incredibly well-designed JRPGs to release in the future, and some can be released exclusively on Xbox to make the console more popular among gamers.
3. Bandai Namco
Not sure whether Microsoft is considering it or not, but while trying to expand the gaming business and make some good deals with other companies, Bandai Namco must be on the list. Being one of the best Japanese multinational companies, Bandai Namco has multiple renowned games in possession, and this year, this Japanese company has presented the gaming world with two of the biggest games, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero and Shadow of the Erdtree.
Therefore, investing in Bandai Namco will help Microsoft attract a massive audience for Xbox, especially if this collaboration brings some Xbox-exclusive games that raise the standard of Xbox gaming to a new height.
4. Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a gigantic name in the gaming world, though in recent times this company has suffered its worst time. After some repeated failures, now Ubisoft is in an unstable situation where Assassin’s Creed Shadow and The Prince of Persia Remake are two potential hopes to save it from bankruptcy.
However, Ubisoft has no shortage of hit franchises. Therefore, investing a significant amount in Ubisoft won’t go wrong for Phil Spencer. It will help both companies. On the one hand, Ubisoft will overcome its crisis, and on the other, Microsoft can try making some Ubisoft games Xbox-exclusive to increase its standard of gaming further.
These are all speculations, as Spencer or any other official source hasn’t ever revealed anything about which companies Microsoft is trying to get after Activision Blizzard in the upcoming years.
