Microsoft Leak Reveals Company Wanted to Buy Nintendo, Valve

Leaked emails have revealed Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wanted to buy Nintendo, Valve, and several other companes.

As posted on the ResetEra forums, a 2020 email from Spencer to sees him telling executive Takeshi Numoto that “Nintendo is THE prime asset for us in Gaminig and today Gaming is our most likely path to consumer relevance.” He continued to add that he’s “had numerous conversation with the [leadership team] pf Nintendo about tighter collaboration.” He did also note that problems for a merger or acquisition included Nintendo’s large cash reserves. “We are playing the long game,” he said, after noting a hostile takeover wouldn’t be a good move.

Related: Elder Scrolls 6 Won’t Come to PlayStation 5, Releasing in 2026 or Later

Among other companies, Spencer also mentioned Valve, Warner Bros. Interactive, and ZeniMax. He noted the “biggest obstacle in WB is IP ownership, we wouldn’t own any of the IP which hurts long term flexibility.” For reference, Warner Bros. as a company owns the rights to such IPs as Batman and Superman, as it’s the parent company of DC. As for ZeniMax,. Microsoft announced two months after the date of the email that they’d entered in an agreement to buy the company for approximately $7.5 billion. ZeniMax is the parent company of several studios, the most notable of which is probably Bethesda Softworks, which is behind such massive titles as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Starfield.

These leaks, which are related to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial over Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard, are one of several high-profile reveals in recent days. Among other things, the leaks revealed plans for Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion remasters, among several other games. Microsoft’s plans for a mid-gen refresh for the Xbox were also revealed, as were details about the company’s timeline for its next-gen console.

At the time of writing, it’s unclear how much more will leak out from these proceedings, but we’ll be covering the biggest and most relevant pieces of news right here on The Escapist.