Xbox Isn’t Done Acquiring Studios Says Phil Spencer

Xbox and Microsft’s acquisition spree is not going to stop anytime soon. Earlier this year, Xbox struck an agreement with ZeniMax Media, the parent company of the studio Bethesda Softworks, and acquired both the company and all its IPs in a multibillion-dollar deal.

And now it looks like Xbox is eyeing to strengthen its exclusive lineup of games even more. In a recent interview with Wall Street Journal, Xbox chief Phil Spencer stated that “there’s no quota” or time frame to buy studios. Xbox and Microsoft are still not over with adding new companies to their umbrella and there’s a chance that the company might have selected some possible recruits. 

While talking on Wall Street Journal Tech Live, team green boss Phil Spencer talked about future acquisition plans for the company and stated, “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.” 

Spencer’s statement clearly indicates that the company is still on the hunt and looking to add new game studios to their camp. Xbox first-party titles have not been a strong suit, and the company is working strenuously to change that. Sony has been winning the race when it comes to exclusive games and has a great lineup of first-party studios.

Spencer further added, “we’re always out there looking for people who we think would be a good match and teams that would be a good match with our strategy, so we’re definitely not done.” Speculations and rumors about Xbox looking to acquire studios have been doing rounds on the internet for some time now. And it will be interesting to see which studios the company ends up buying.

Xbox has heavily weighed on and invested in its cloud streaming service and has even managed to make games as a service feasible and realistic. And with Spencer explicitly saying that the company wants to add new studios, it seems like Xbox is doubling down on producing and releasing more first-party games.

With its first-party lineup of games for 2021 and beyond, Xbox looks pretty strong almost on par with Sony, with Halo Infinite dropping later this year and Redfall sometime in the summer of 2022. Xbox’s latest acquisition, Bethesda, will also release its first IP in more than 25 years, called Starfield, in 2022. These games are major AAA titles, and Microsoft would want these titles to succeed.