Amongst the leaks that emerged from internal Microsoft documents that were accidentally made available is the discovery that the company was angling to acquire Nintendo.
On August 6, 2020, an email sent by Microsoft CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer to chief marketing officers Chris Capossela and Takeshi Numoto discussed the possibility of purchasing Nintendo.
Spencer described that an issue arose in the fact that Nintendo’s board of directors were comfortable and were not that interested in “market growth or stock appreciation”.
He continued to say that “hostile action” would not be appropriate and it would be better to “play the long game” regarding a potential acquisition.
Then the topic turned to acquisitions of Warner Bros. Interactive (now Warner Bros. Games) and ZeniMax Media, and the advantages and disadvantages of both.
A Nintendo Switch OLED model Credit: Zac Edmonds via Unsplash
“At some point, getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies,” concluded Spencer. “It’s just taking a long time for Nintendo to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time…. :-)”.
This email was sent five months after the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was the best-selling entry in the simulation series as well as the second best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch. Moreover, it is the best-selling game of all time in Japan after Pokémon Red and Blue, released in 1996.
These leaks have also led to discoveries like a new Doom game, a Fallout 3 remaster and three unknown titles that are slated for the fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Two are codenamed Project Kestrel and Project Platinum whereas the last is a licensed IP that is not specified.
However, like the email, this presentation was created in 2020 and so might not represent Microsoft and Bethesda‘s current plans as it stands at the moment.
In other gaming news, Spiritbox showed off a custom Nintendo Switch controller and carrying case inspired by their first album ‘Eternal Blue’.
