Xbox Head Phil Spencer Considered Acquiring Nintendo And Warner Bros. Interactive At One Point

Xbox made some significant purchases this generation. Its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, and its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard are just two examples. Microsoft and Xbox spent much of this year working in court to have their purchase of Activision Blizzard legalized. Many documents were kept from the press and public during these proceedings. Documents from the proceedings were leaked. In an email, Xbox’s Phil Spencer revealed that he had considered acquiring Mortal Kombat 1 and Mario creator Nintendo at some point. 

Axios’ Stephen Totilo tweeted a leaked email that Spencer sent to Chris Capossela (executive vice president at Microsoft) and Takeshi Numoto (chief marketing officer), dated August 2020. In this email, Spencer discusses acquiring Nintendo, referring to its possibility as a “career moment” and a “good move for both companies.” He also says it’s taking a long time for Nintendo “to see that their future exists off of their own hardware,” likely referring to Nintendo games becoming part of the Xbox ecosystem in this potential acquisition. 

Spencer casts doubts on the possibility of acquiring Nintendo. He says that Nintendo is sitting on “a lot of money.” Spencer also says that without an equity buyout catalyst, there is no way to see a mutually beneficial merger between Nintendo and Microsoft in the near future. [Microsoft].” Microsoft “plays the long game” because he doesn’t believe hostile action is a wise move.

Spencer also mentions the potential purchase of ZeniMax Media (the company that owns Bethesda), which Xbox bought in 2021. He also talks about Warner Bros. Interactive as the publisher behind this year’s Hogwarts Legacy, and Mortal Kombat 1, which was released this week. 

“Confidentially, we have two fairly active M&A discussions in Gaming right now,” Spencer writes in the email. Warner Brothers Interactive acquired ZeniMax […] I won’t say WB or Zeni is Nintendo but both are for sale and gettable by us if things align.”

Spencer explains the IP ownership issue with Warner Bros. Interactive, explaining that even after a potential acquisition Xbox would not own the IP. This, he says, “hurts flexibility in the long run.” He says the biggest obstacle with ZeniMax Media is “valuation expectations of founders,” before noting that he thinks “it’s likely one or both of these happen which will help us continue to double down on our Gaming relevance.” 

The leaked emails and other documents come at a moment when Microsoft still struggles to convince the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority regulator agency that it should approve its $69 Billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Here you can read all about it.

What do you think about the acquisition of Nintendo by Xbox? Warner Bros. Interactive is another option. Tell us what you think in the comments!