The acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft sparked all sorts of speculation about possible further buyouts by the house of Xbox.
The latest rumors comes from a report by Bloomberg from the usual anonymous sources, that alleged that Microsoft was in talks for possible acquisitions of Japanese studios.
Xbox division head Phil Spencer talked to Gamespot (via NeoGAF) and was rather clear in squashing the rumors.
“I don’t think so. I say, I don’t think so… I mean, I’m not in every meeting that every team has, but I’ll say not from me. Most of the opportunities that we’ve had to date have been a long-lasting relationship, and so, I don’t think we’re out there with our business card, throwing them out on the corner, trying to find people. I’ve talked about my affinity for Japanese studios and thinking back in the day when we had more games that were created in Japan as part of our first party, I’m excited when the deal closes to get to spend more time with Tango [Gameworks] and the work that they’re doing. So it’s an area that I’m interested in, but no, I don’t think it’s… I think that’s not accurate.”
As Spencer mentioned, and as some tend to forget, Microsoft already acquired a Japanese studio with Shinji Mikami’s Tango Gameworks (which at the moment is working on Ghostwire Tokyo) via the purchase of Bethesda.
