“We will always look to grow inorganically where it makes sense.”
– Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks acquisitions with CNET.
Xbox has become somewhat known for flashy studio acquisitions over recent years, including headline-stealing buys like last year’s Double Fine Productions get or this week’s big $7.5 billion purchase of Bethesda parent ZeniMax Media.
But, despite that recent big price tag buy, Microsoft and Xbox aren’t looking to wrap up its acquisition days quite yet. Speaking to CNET, both Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox head Phil Spencer explain that fresh content is key to Xbox’s plans, and the best way to bring new content into the fold and extend its reach is via acquisitions.
“You can’t wake up one day and say, ‘Let me build a game studio.’ The idea of having content is so we can reach larger communities,” offers Nadella.
Spencer echos the same sentiment in same CNET interview, saying: “Content is just the incredible ingredient to our platform that we continue to invest in. This doubles the size of our creative organization.”
Bringing ZeniMax and its several subsidiaries into the fold boosts Xbox’s content pool and makes its services like Xbox Game Pass a more enticing subscription as all first party Xbox games can be played via the service right at launch.
But even after spending $7.5 billion to gain control of all nine companies in the ZeniMax Media family, Spencer notes in the full CNET interview that the plan isn’t to change the studios’ day-to-day dealings too much, and that Bethesda at least will operate semi-independently in order to maintain the culture of those teams.