The improperly redacted court documents uploaded to a public website have leaked many of Microsoft’s plans for the future, such as Xbox Series X|S console refreshes and a host of projects Bethesda is working on, including The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 remasters.Looking away from future plans, however, the documents have also revealed that Microsoft was having internal discussions about acquiring Nintendo in 2020, with Warner Bros. Games and TikTok purchases also being considered before it purchased ZeniMax Media. Microsoft looked at purchasing Nintendo, Warner Bros. Games, and TikTokAlthough we already knew Microsoft had looked at acquiring Warner Bros. and TikTok, newly surfaced emails used in Microsoft’s court battle with the FTC reveal that Nintendo was also in the company’s sights. According to the emails sent between Microsoft’s head of gaming and Xbox boss Phil Spencer, chief marketing officer Chris Capossela, and executive vice president Takeshi Numoto, Spencer was keen to nurture “tighter collaboration” with Nintendo in 2020.In an email, Phil Spencer said that a former Microsoft board member was acquiring stock in Nintendo, which Spencer hoped would create “opportunities” for Microsoft. “Without that catalyst I don’t see an angle to a near term mutually agreeable merger of Nintendo and Microsoft and I don’t think a hostile action would be a good move so we are playing the long game,” Spencer said. “But our BoD [board of directors] has seen the full writeup on Nintendo (and Valve) and they are fully supportive on either if opportunity arises as am I.”Spencer later added: “At some point, getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies. It’s just taking a long time for Nintendo to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time…”Although only mentioned once in the above emails, it looks like Steam was also in Microsoft’s sights at one point. Honestly, we’re lucky we managed to get through this story without Microsoft buying us.
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