Court documents once again confirm that Microsoft did plan to acquire Nintendo

Recent court documents not only revealed Microsoft’s plans to introduce a new Xbox gaming console, but also shed light on an internal correspondence in 2020 between Xbox’s head, Phil Spencer, and Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Consumer Business, Chris Capossela, as well as the Head of Consumer Business Marketing, Takuo Numoto. Within this communication, they discussed the reasons Microsoft ought to acquire Nintendo and their inherent capability to do so.

Indeed, Microsoft had previously endeavored to secure Nintendo. In a 2021 interview with Bloomberg, former Microsoft Xbox Director of Third-Party Relations, Kevin Bachus, divulged Microsoft’s intent to purchase Nintendo, an overture that was summarily dismissed by the latter.

Image: Nintendo

This recent court disclosure further corroborates that there were internal deliberations within Microsoft concerning the acquisition of Nintendo. Phil Spencer, at the time, even believed that a successful acquisition of Nintendo would be the crowning achievement of his career.

Given Nintendo’s current trajectory and undeniable success, especially with the persistent commendable sales of the Nintendo Switch and the consistently high performance of both their first-party games and those from third-party collaborators, the aspiration of Microsoft to annex Nintendo seems improbable.

Furthermore, Microsoft’s announcement to acquire Activision Blizzard for 69 billion dollars has already prompted scrutiny from regulatory bodies in various regions. There were even legal proceedings with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the potential monopolization of the gaming market. If Microsoft were to successfully persuade Nintendo for an acquisition, they would undoubtedly encounter opposition from regulatory authorities worldwide.